We’re a household of geeks, so it was no surprise to find that Alfie was instantly a fan of Hopscotch, a clever little app that allows children to create and view their own programs using quirky characters and colour-coded ‘action’ blocks. It’s an ingenious way of introducing the concept of coding to little ones and I’d highly recommend. The blurb suggests it’s suitable for age 8 upwards, but Alfie (nearly 5) gets a lot out of it, making monsters whizz across the screen, rotate and double in size was never not going to be fun. It’s the 21st century equivalent of
10 PRINT “HELLO LUCY!”
20 GO TO 10
RUN
– ah, the fun we used to have with BASIC – but a whole lot cooler. Not only is proficiency in computer science going to be an essential for the best jobs in the future, coding also improves problem solving and critical thinking skills. Free from the App Store – why not share your creation on our Facebook page?