Coding for Kinders: CodeLand App for Kids

Written by: Lisa Bohaty

Computer science is such a fun and exciting thing to teach to elementary students. They get excited as they start to understand the concept of completing a program. The cheers and excitement felt by students are contagious. Yet, teaching computer science to kindergarteners can seem overwhelming and intimidating. Will they even understand what they are learning? How can we ensure they know and aren’t just playing the games? These are two big questions computer science teachers ask themselves. 

The tried and true game called “CodeSpark” has been around for years. It has great characters and key concepts of computer science. The students love the characters and love to get the Glitch. This is one that kindergarteners understand, but sometimes it gets difficult for them fast. It is one that I usually don’t teach until the second semester.  

I have been looking for a free app/game for kindergarten that is simple enough for the beginning of the year and gives the key concepts of sequencing and computational thinking without overwhelming them.  

I just happened to find this new, or at least new-to-me, app called CodeLand. This app is from Learny Land. It is fabulous! It costs $7.99 a month, but I found that schools can use it for free. I filled out a form on their website and got 200 licenses for free. You do have to put in each student individually, and they have to log in with a special 6-digit code, but if you are logged in to your account, they will only have to do this once. 

The levels of this game are great. There is a pre-code island that has 6 different games. This is where I have had my kindergartners start.  They seem to understand sequencing more and are getting lots of practice creating algorithms. The kids work to build sequencing using simple arrows. So no reading required. There are other levels with coding and multiplayer games. This is an app that can definitely be used in kindergarten through 2nd grade. The coding levels use block coding with loops and conditionals. So if you are looking for something new and free, try out CodeLand. Students love it, and you will too.