Does your kid love to play video games? Maybe when you were younger you loved to play them as well, but now are unfamiliar with the kinds of games that kids are playing these days. Or maybe you’ve never really played a video game at all and have no idea what they’re all about. Well, we can help!
At Real Programming 4 Kids (RP4K) we offer video game programming courses for kids where they get to design and create their very own video game! Sounds awesome, right? For a kid who loves gaming and has mentioned that they want to make their own when they grow up – this is a perfect opportunity.
But if you’re a parent that doesn’t know much about video games, you may not understand what your kid is getting themselves into. Isn’t it difficult to make a video game? Doesn’t that require a whole team of professionals with years of experience in the industry?
The answer is yes and no – while some video games require whole teams of hundreds of professionals, others can be made by a single person. In fact, just in our classes alone we’ve worked with tons of kids to produce a whole bunch of original games that they codded all by themselves.
When you think of a video game you are most likely going to be thinking of the ones published by mid to large-sized publishers who have the money to produce flashy, expensive games. These are often referred to as AAA (or triple-A) titles and they are usually the kinds that your children will play (though not always).
You might recognize a few – for example, Super Mario Bros. by Nintendo is an AAA title, as well as Pokémon which is also created by Nintendo. These games have been around for generations and Nintendo has been consistently releasing great games for children.
There’s also Fortnite of course, which is really popular with kids right now. Whether your child plays it themselves or has friends who do, you’ve most likely heard this name being thrown around at least once recently. Despite being a free game, it has generated tons of money and doesn’t show any sign of slowing down.
Indie games, on the other hand, refer to the games created by individuals or small development teams who don’t have a large budget like AAA titles do. In fact, you may be familiar with one very popular indie game called Minecraft. This game is great for people of all ages (but especially young children!) so you’re bound to have heard of it.
You would naturally think that such a huge game that’s available not only on PC but on the Xbox and PlayStation as well would be considered an AAA title – especially because of how much money it’s made. But that’s not the case: you may be surprised to hear that the creation of this game started as a one-man project by a man named Markus Persson. Amazing, isn’t it?
By choosing one of our video game coding for kids programs your child could be well on their way to starting their own career in video game development. In the meantime, we’ll help them learn the fundamentals and build a basic game with them from scratch!
Are you familiar with the different genres of video games? Twenty-five years ago there wasn’t really a lot of diversity. Most games were side-scrollers, puzzle, or arcade-style. Do you remember Asteroids, an arcade-game where the player needs to shoot asteroids with a tiny ship in the middle of the screen?
Though simple, Asteroids was still incredibly fun. While there are many games today that remain simple, some of them can be more complex and fall under multiple-genre categories.
Here is a list of some of the gaming genre categories you might hear about from time to time:
This is just a small list of the kinds of gaming genres out there today. When you think about it, the gaming industry has really evolved over the years and is now a means for people to really get creative. With so many styles and mechanics to choose from, there’s no end to what a gamer creator can make.
The YouTube video on our main page gives you a glimpse into our world, and also lets you hear first-hand how parents and kids feel about RP4K. Check it out below!
You may notice that a number of the children mention how learning coding is useful for developing a career. This is because coding and programming can be used in multiple industries (not only gaming), like for website development, app development, and for general software development (i.e. ERP solutions).
One of the great things about our coding classes for kids is that we teach industry-standard programming languages like Visual Basic, Python, Java, C#, C++, and Unity. Other learning institutions may teach “dumbed down” versions of these languages, but we know that this isn’t the most effective way to learn about coding.
Children are smarter than we often give them credit for, and during the early ages their brains are like sponges that can soak up all sorts of information. The kids we work with are bright and eager, and with our help they are able to catch onto this stuff in no time.
It helps that we get kids learning code with video games because it mixes in an element of fun. Each challenge that they’re presented with can be expressed in a tangible, visible way, where they get to see the results of the code they write – and feel a sense of great accomplishment for it!
For instance, we may start with having a character on a screen walking on even ground, but then we ask, how do we get them to walk on a slope? What math is involved with that and how would we program the character to do that? It’s a step-by-step process where the child is constantly learning how to increasingly write more complex code, and where they get to see the results of their work first-hand.
Interested in trying it out? We offer free trial classes that are risk-free. If for whatever reason (like your child losing interest) you wish to withdraw, you can easily do so after trying out the first two classes and before the third class without losing any money – meaning you get a full refund. (Though, we are sure that your child is going to enjoy their experience!)
If you want to start right away, contact us to get your kid enrolled in our school season which starts this October. School coding classes for kids are held once a week on weeknights or Saturdays, and run for 18 to 27 weeks (though shorter classes can be arranged). Sessions are 1 to 2 hours long and two streams are offered: Core and Enhanced.
Our classes are held in multiple locations in Southern Ontario, including Toronto, Ottawa, Oshawa, Richmond Hill, Etobicoke, among others. You’re sure to find one that’s conveniently located near you where your kid will get the opportunity to work in small classes sizes of four with experienced instructors.
There’s nothing to lose. We guarantee that your kid will have a blast learning with us, so give us a call and get started today!
