Tynker, an app that teaches kids to program is now also available on Android. It is probably the most fun way to teach and learn coding that there is. The game has two “modes”, a game mode, in which you play games by applying programming logic and a build mode, which lets you build your own games (with our without templates) and which is reminiscent of early Flash programming (i.e. highly visual) plus Google MIT Android App inventor.
The game teaches programming concepts such as:
- iteration (repeat, until (not))
- conditions (if)
- functions
- variables
- events handlers (on start, on touch)
- and more
I wouldn’t recommend this app if my son and his cousin weren’t in love with it and I am having a lot of fun helping them when they get “stuck”. It’s not as cool as Minecraft for them, but for an educational app it is pretty close.
Unfortunately there is no free tryout version for Android available yet as there is for iOS. The pro version is not very expensive, though and provides hours of instructional fun. If you are a teacher who has never coded before, it might be the right app to get you started.
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