Is Coding A Good Hobby For Kids?

The technological advancement that the world has perceived in this 21^st century is something to be proud of. From advanced software to wonderful gadgets, everything has showed the humankind a new method of easing their manual effort. The application of technology in our daily life has made completion of complicated tasks faster and easier. And all of it has become possible because of the existence of computers and codes.

All of us know what computers are, that does not require any explanation. To talk about coding, in simple words coding is the process of transforming various aspects like ideas and solutions into a language that can be understood by computers. Coding or programing is the base all computer science and it is a complex subject that is quite hard to understand.

Now-a-days not only the adults but also the kids have been showing a keen interest in this subject. However, since coding is complicated it is always a question if it is a good hobby for the children or not. We have developed this article to find justified answer to the mentioned question.

Why should kids learn coding?

The raising demands of technical jobs can be the sole answer to the above mentioned question. However, the amount of students apply in the computer science field each year, tells a different story. According to a research 71% STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) jobs are associated with computing, whereas only 8% of students graduate with computer science major. And the primary reason behind this gap is the fear of not being able to learn coding successfully. To combat this fear it is important to learn about coding before learning coding itself. But then again an aspirant university student does not have enough time to learn about a subject before choosing it. And this is exactly why kids, who are interested in technology, should take up coding as a hobby. However, there are a bunch of other reasons as well. For your better understanding we have made a list, which is provided below:

• Programmers are in high demand, which ensures a secure future for the kids
• Knowing coding can be a competitive advantage for university application
• Coding is fun, it can keep the kids engaged
• It can enhance the concentration of the kids as well
• Coding influences better soft skills of the children, which help them in their academic career.

Kids’ soft skills that are enhanced by adopting coding as a hobby

In the above passage it has been mentioned briefly that coding influences better soft skills of the children. This paragraph is dedicated to that explanation. Soft skills are the factors that we need for basic survival. Some of us are masters in these while others are not that good. Being good or bad mostly depends on the experience and influence that we gain. Coding can be one of the most effective factors to influence soft skills from an early age. The explanation and the soft skills are provided below:

Better problem solving skills

Knowing problem solving is one of the basic requirements of survival. All of us do stumble upon a ton of problems each day and if we do not know how to solve those, then we would not be able to sleep peacefully at night. A child may does not have as many problems as an adult but knowing how to solve an issue does not require the stamp of an age.

Coding is based on logic and logic is associated with providing solutions to various problems. Some of which may appear to be easy while others can be super hard. When a child learns how to seek a solution of a problem through coding, he or she gains a little bit of experience as well and this experience is what influence and builds better problem solving skills in them. This becomes one of the skills to treasure when they grow up.

Enhanced creativity

Just as most of the people may think, creativity is not only associated with art, it resides in technology as well. And coding is the primary instance of that. Developing an application / software always require a certain level of creativity. Thinking of how the application / software can be different from its competitors, what can be design, how can be user-friendly, gives birth to different creative ideas. The kids may not have to think these much when they take up coding as their hobby but creating different interfaces and making things work within that is enough to influence them to think creatively.

They can apply this creative thinking in their other activities, such as school projects, as well. It is expected to be different from the other, who do not know about coding.  

Promotes collaboration

While most of the other educational subjects push the students towards being competitive with each other, coding promotes collaboration. For carrying out a coding project it is important to learn how to collaborate and share works with each other. When you kids start to learn coding, they understand the importance of collaboration well. This understanding make them better in their academic field as well as in life. And there can be nothing better than kids learning these valuable things at an early stage of their lives.

Development of better understanding

For making a code successful the coders need to think from different perspectives. And they need to write code accordingly. Therefore, it is important for a coder to be observant. When a kid learn coding, he or she needs to develop the same skill in order to be successful in the given projects. And this is how the kids become observant from an early age. This observant nature make them more understanding than they already were. Being an understanding kid is always appreciated by the elders. Moreover, they can also easily understand the issues that can make a code go wrong, which allows them to adopt better measure with a bigger percentage of success.

Helps in communicating better

Communication is the most important soft skills that all of us require to get through academic, professional as well as the day to day life. Communication is the key of several issues and we need to learn to communicate in order to survive without having to face many issues. Learning coding directly and indirectly helps in communicating better. While learning to collaborate, the kinds needs to share their ideas with each other and make a plan out of it. This requires a good level of communication to be concluded successfully. And just like this the kids learn how to communicate better. This skill stays with them for the rest of their lives and helps them in getting by a little easier than others.

Gifts persistence and patience

Coding is a constant challenge, it is a subject of frequent mistake and the mistakes are always very small. When a code does not work, the coders have to go through the entire code and monitor closely to perceive mistakes and resolve those. This requires a lot of patience, without patience it is almost impossible to complete working with code. Learning code makes the kids patient as they also have to go through the entire code to look for their mistakes. It also urge them to take up challenges to be better and they learn how to work their way to achieve goals.

From the above discussion it is clear that coding is certainly a good hobby for the kids. You only need to send them to a good academy that can teach them about coding and computers in a way that develops interest in them. Hence, if your kids are inclined towards technology, admit them to a coding academy right away.