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Ask HN: How to teach a 4 year old to code?

5 points kamphey | 1 comments | 28 Aug 25 23:40 UTC | HN request time: 0.204s | source

Have you had any experience teaching a 4 year old how to code? I'm thinking about not just typing but the mindset of automation and programming. My son is in a weekly class called Kiddie Coders and they are learning directions and how to put arrows together on a sheet of paper to get someone through a series of squares.

I was thinking of putting together activities at home so he can see how to tell instructions to someone who is blind, or follow instructions like a recipe (the favorite analogy to coding seems to be cooking)

1. calgoo ◴[29 Aug 25 02:06 UTC] No.45059238[source]▶
My 5 year old is playing Minecraft and watching YouTube videos. He has now started asking about the automations, switches etc. so I'm teaching him the basics of coding, but in visual minecraft.when i asked about if and else the other day and referenced the switches he understood instantly what meant.