36 Outstanding Hour of Code Resources for Parents & Teachers
You never know what future activities or jobs your children will have that might require some coding knowledge. Plus, your child will use the logic and problem-solving skills they develop in many future situations, not just a career.
Use the Hour of Code week and some of the resources below to introduce your children to coding.
Don’t have a computer to use?
If you are short on computer resources, you can still teach your child programming logic and concepts. There are some unplugged Hour of Code activities listed below too. See the Unplugged section. You can use these throughout the year, just let these Hour of Code resources help your child get a start in coding!Table of Contents
New to Hour of Code? START HERE
Here are two Hour of Code resources to read to get familiar with the event:-
- Hour of Code Parent Guide from Kodable.com. This post is from 2021 but is still relevant and a good starting point if you are new to this project.
Brand New to Coding?
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- If you have never coded before or are just starting with coding in your homeschool, co-op, or classroom, here is a basic intro to block programming from code.org.
- Learn about conditional coding and loops from Tynker.com.
List of Coding Resources for Varying Levels
- Hour of Code activities from Code.org
- PBS Kids
- Try An Hour of Code with Kahn Academy
- UCode has opened their classes starting at $10 per for class homeschoolers
- An Hour of Code activity for beginning coders from NASA.
- Google has a large library of coding resources.
- Codespark Academy Hour of Code activities for all skill levels. Includes information for parents and teachers.
- Minecraft Hour of Code sessions from Microsoft
- CodeMonkey.com ‘s Hour of Code activities
- Hour of Code challenges from Tynker – Check out the links to other challenges. Difficulty ranges from beginner to advanced.
- Big list of coding activities and challenges from Code.org. There are resources for all skill levels.
- Raspberry Pi sponsored activities
- Activities from Scratch Jr.
- Code a simple app with MIT’s App Coder
Apps to Help Teach Coding
- Preschool: Lightbot
- Kinder: Beaver Achiever
- First Grade:
- Second Grade: Frozen
- Third Grade:
- Fourth Grade: Star Wars
- Fifth and Sixth Grades:
Unplugged Hour of Code Activities
- 6 Unplugged Code Activities for Hour of Code from Thinkfun.com
- Move It, Move It from Code.org.
- Real-life Algorithms: Plant a Seed.
- Happy Maps – An Algorithm Activity
- Binary Images
- Mostly for 5th Grade and Up – Envelope Variables
- Tangram Algorithms
- Mad Glibs
- Code.org has a library of unplugged activities for all ages.
Other Resources You Might Like from The Homeschool Scientist.com
STEM Guide for Parents and Teachers Girls in STEM: 10 Things to Do Preschool to GraduationI hold a master’s degree in child development and early education and am working on a post-baccalaureate in biology. I spent 15 years working for a biotechnology company developing IT systems in DNA testing laboratories across the US. I taught K4 in a private school, homeschooled my children, and have taught on the mission field in southern Asia. For 4 years, I served on our state’s FIRST Lego League tournament Board and served as the Judging Director. I own thehomeschoolscientist and also write a regular science column for Homeschooling Today Magazine. You’ll also find my writings on the CTCMath blog. Through this site, I have authored over 50 math and science resources.