Programming for Kids (and Rolling Your Own Videogame)

As with most parents I have a strong sense of responsibility for making sure my kids are exposed to as many cool things as possible so as they get older the world is their oyster and not overwhelming, scary, and unknown. Giving them music lessons (my six-year-old son plays the drums, and my four-year-old daughter just started taking cello lessons) is part of that. Teaching them to eat sushi and dim sum is another. I also yearn to give them a grounding in the fundamentals of computer programming from a young age.

Wanting simple development tools is about more than just giving my kids good career prospects, and frankly it’s about more than just kids. I think of software as a wonderful way to express yourself, and just like everyone should be able to make music, I think everyone should be able to make software.

I’m doing a survey of all the super simple programming environments (for kids or otherwise) that are out there. These include tools that let you make your own videogames, and even Powerpoint. Not that Flash is so difficult, but I’m looking for things that people would consider easier to use than Flash as a development tool. (If I put my kid, or a non programming adult in front of Flash they wouldn’t know where to begin.

I’ve compiled a list of environments and tools that I’ve found:

• Quest Pro — text adventure creator
• Power Game Factory — mac sidescroller creator
• The Games Factory 2 — windows based general game toolkit
• Adventure Maker — Windows based toolkit targets Windows and PSP
• Gamemaker — Windows based, primarily for platform games
• Scratch — Windows and Mac development environments, game run on the web
• My Game — Really more of a quickie flash game customizer via image uploading.
• StageCast — From former Apple technology, a Java based IDE and runtime for Mac, Windows, and even Linux.
• ToonTalk — Java based, runs on windows, software is created in a virtual world.
• Lego Mindstorms — Download programs from your PC into a Lego-based robot to mess with your cat.
• Phrogram — Formerly ‘Kid’s Programming Language’ or KPL. This one requires typing.

I’m curious what other solutions people are aware of or what experience people have had with those listed above. I’ll update the list if I hear about any more.