Coding is a necessary skill in the modern world. With it, you can create apps, websites and more. But learning to code can be overwhelming. There’s a lot of information out there, and it’s hard to know where to start.
That’s where coding games come in handy. They’re fun and engaging, so kids will want to play them over and over again—which means they’ll learn the fundamentals of coding without even realizing it!
If you’re looking for some great options for your middle schooler to try out this summer, here are five free coding games that are sure to get them excited about coding:
Free Coding Games For Middle School
Middle school computer teachers have their hands full teaching Microsoft Word, Google Sheets, and more to hundreds of students every marking period.
Now that most course standards have changed, you need to teach coding as well!
Because coding is becoming a critical skill in many careers, you have a lot of options out there to help you teach your students to code.
But if you never learned to code yourself, how do you even know where to begin?
To help you get started, we’ve put together a list of the five best free middle school computer science resources to help you teach coding:
LightBot
SpriteBox
Hour of Code
Code.org
Scratch
In this article, we’ll give you some detailed information about each resource to help you decide which one(s) to use in your classroom.
Let’s get started!
- LightBot
lightbot-logo
LightBot is a puzzle game that helps students understand basic programming practices and concepts. Specifically, students learn:
Sequencing
Overloading
Procedures
Recursive Loops
Conditionals
While the full app does have a small price ($2.99 per download), they have a free demo version that will fill about an hour of class time.lightbot-screenshot
To go along with the LightBot demo game, they have a great overview that explains how the game teaches coding.
This is an excellent resource for teachers who are unfamiliar with coding, with examples and screenshots to make sure you can answer common questions from students.
Overall, you could easily use the free LightBot game to introduce the basics of coding in one class period.
You could also combine LightBot with the next option on our list — SpriteBox!
- SpriteBox
spritebox-logo
SpriteBox is another logic puzzle game from the creators of LightBot. SpriteBox is more of a platformer-style game (like Super Mario Bros.) that teaches the basics of coding.
While going through the game, students will enter “code mode” at certain points to advance through the levels.
The concepts students learn from SpriteBox include:sprite-box-screenshot
Sequencing
Parameters
Loops
Procedures
Basic Swift / Java Syntax
The full version of SpriteBox costs $4.99 per download, but like LightBot, there is a free version available.
The free version of SpriteBox is made up of four levels, with each level relating to different aspects of coding. While these lessons will only fill about an hour of class time, it’s a great way to introduce the basics to your students!
If you want more than just a one-off activity, the next resource on our list has an abundance of options!
- Hour of Code
hour-of-code-logo-header
The Hour of Code is a one-hour introduction to computer science that takes place during Computer Science Education Week every year.
However, you can use the resources on the Hour of Code website any time of year! With hundreds of activities to choose from, it’s a great place to get your feet wet with teaching your students to code.
You can find the most relevant activities to your classroom by using the filters such as grade level and classroom technology.
What’s great about the Hour of Code website is they don’t just link to the coding activities — they also show you details like:hour-of-code-activity
The creator of the activity
An overview
Related resources
Level of student experience needed
Classroom technology needed
Topics
Activity type
Length of activity
Available languages
Related standards
Because each activity takes approximately one hour, Hour of Code resources are perfect additions to your existing course materials without you needing to rearrange too many lessons!
But if you want something more structured than an activity here or there, our next option could be the perfect fit for you.
- Code.org
code.org-logo
Code.org is one of the most well-known computer science resources out there. While they are the organization behind the Hour of Code, Code.org has its own separate computer science curriculum.
The two options for middle school classes are called Computer Science Discoveries and Computer Science Fundamentals Express.
code.org-computer-science-discoveriesThe Computer Science Discoveries curriculum is designed to be taught in a semester-long course with a minimum of nine weeks of class time.
Code.org describes the Computer Science Discoveries curriculum in this way:
“Students engage with computer science as a medium for creativity, communication, problem solving, and fun.
The course inspires students as they build their own websites, apps, games, and physical computing devices.”
The curriculum covers foundational topics across six units:
Problem Solving
Web Development
Animations and Games
The Design Process
Data and Society
Physical Computing
Because Computer Science Discoveries is a fully-fledged curriculum, Code.org includes a 46-page curriculum guide. In the guide, you’ll find your lesson plans, standards mappings, teacher resources, and more.
Overall, Computer Science Discoveries could be everything you need to teach a coding class from day one.
But if you’re looking for something more supplemental, Code.org’s other middle school computer science curriculum could be a better fit.
The Computer Science Fundamentals Express course teaches foundational programming concepts by using drag-and-drop blocks. It’s a 30-hour course that Code.org encourages you to teach in-class or as part of an afterschool program.code.org-computer-science-fundamentals-express
This “express” course is an accelerated version of the Computer Science Fundamentals elementary school courses.
Because of this, you may notice a few things that seem geared toward younger kids (because they are).
However, if you take time to sort through the content, it’s still a great way to introduce foundational programming concepts to middle school students.
As a bonus, Code.org has a self-paced course for instructors that you can take to teach yourself the ins-and-outs of what your students will learn in Computer Science Fundamentals Express!
Want something with a clear structure like Code.org, but not ready to implement a full curriculum? The last option on our list has the best of both worlds.
- Scratch
scratch-logo
Scratch is a popular system that allows students to create their own games, animations, and interactive stories.
It was designed specifically for students aged 8-16, so it will be a great resource to use in middle school.
Scratch has a few different areas on the website: Ideas, Explore, and Create.scratch-animate-character
In the Ideas section of the site you’ll find introductory activities that teach coding basics in engaging scenarios such as animating a character or creating a story.
In addition to the student tutorial, each activity comes with an educator guide–essentially a detailed lesson plan that will help you keep students on track with the tutorial.
These introductory activities will take approximately one hour each, so you could use them to easily fill your requirements for coding!
However, if you’d like to give students an opportunity to create more detailed projects, have them check out the Explore and Create areas.
In the Explore area they can look at projects others have created to get ideas or even create their own remixed version. This can serve as an excellent source of inspiration for your middle schoolers!
Then in the Create section your students can actually create projects “from scratch” using code. Giving students a chance to build their own creations could be the perfect way to round out your coding lessons!
Need More Computer Science Resources to Help Teach Your Middle Schoolers?
With the growing number of jobs in fields like software development and computer engineering, coding is becoming one of the most valuable skills in the modern workforce. And the foundation you lay for coding in your course could be the key to igniting passions and talents that drive your middle schoolers all their lives.
In this article, you’ve learned about some of the best resources to use to teach coding in your middle school computer science course. Whether you need a core curriculum, some supplemental material, or just a few games to engage your students and pad out your class, these providers will do the trick.
best coding apps for middle school
Looking for reliable apps to help your middle school students learn coding? The list below has you covered. This is a collection I carefully curated featuring some of the best educational coding apps out there.
These are apps you can use with your middle school students to teach them everything related to coding and programming. These include tutorials, guides, interactive games and several other materials ideal for use with students in class. For coding apps for elementary students, check out this collection.
12 Good iPad Coding Apps for Middle School Students
1- Mimo: Learn to code on the go
‘Learn to code, make apps, build websites, automate tasks, and more – whenever and wherever you have a minute! With 1,000+ bite-size lessons, real-world projects, and challenges, mastering the skills of the future has never been so easy to fit into your day.’
2- Lightbot : Programming Puzzles
‘Lightbot is a programming puzzle game- a game whose game mechanics require using programming logic to solve levels. Simply guiding a robot to light up tiles and solve levels using commands, Lightbot cultivates a real understanding of procedures, loops, and conditionals.’
3- Box Island
‘Box Island is a mobile game that takes boys and girls on an exciting adventure, while teaching the fundamentals of coding. Kids apply the basics, such as loops and conditionals, to progress through the super fun and challenging gameplay. ’
4- SpriteBox
‘SpriteBox is a unique puzzle-platformer; a mix of exploration and learning to code. By giving Sprite programs of instructions to follow, you can advance through unique worlds and help free Sprite’s bottled-up friends.’
5- Coda Game
‘In Coda Game you can be the boss of your own awesome games. Drag and drop the visual coding blocks to create games such as Air Hockey, Flappy Bird and Platform games and share them with the world! Your imagination is the only limit!’
6- Tynker
‘Tynker is the easiest way for kids to learn programming. Solve fun puzzles using visual blocks or Swift to learn the basics. Then you can create your own amazing games using over 100 step-by-step coding tutorials. Great for the Hour of Code!’
7- Hopscotch
‘Hopscotch is a free award-winning programming app for kids aged 9-13. Learn to code by creating your own games. You can use our video tutorials, or create your own projects from scratch. Play, download and remix millions of games made by other Hopscotchers.’
8- Move The Turtle
‘Move The Turtle is an educational application for iPhone and iPad that teaches children the basics of creating computer programs, using intuitive graphic commands.’
9- Codea
‘We think Codea is the most beautiful code editor you’ll use, and it’s easy. Codea is designed to let you touch your code. Want to change a color, or an image? Tapping will bring up visual editors that let you choose exactly what you want.’
10- Daisy the Dinosaur
‘This free, fun app has an easy drag & drop interface that kids of all ages can use to animate Daisy and make her dance on their screen. Kids will intuitively grasp the basics of objects, sequencing, loops and events by solving this app’s challenges.’
Conclusion
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