iOS and Android Games That Will Teach Your Kids To Code

As a coder and a father, I’ve always been keen for my kids to try their hands at programming. It’s not that I particularly want them to have careers as software developers — an understanding of the principles of code will give them a head start in so many areas of their education, and in whatever career they do end up pursuing. Logic, creative problem solving, and analytical thinking are just some of the valuable skills that coding classes for kids will help to develop.

Ever since they were very young I’ve encouraged them to play games - both digital and analog - that involved logic and some element of computational thinking. If they’re going to play games on a device, they may as well be fun and educational, right? We’ve had some hits (see below) and some misses, but the end result is that they very much enjoy a logic challenge. And they’re good at them too!

My kids have a couple of favourite games that they’ve kept coming back to on the iPhone/iPad for a few years now - and they’re both available on Android too. They’re exceptionally well-made, great fun, and do a good job of developing a logical mindset. If you’d like to give your children a headstart in logic and coding, I highly recommend giving these games a try...

Box Island

Complete with rich animation, beautiful scenes and some fun and original characters, Box Island is a great game that kids will love getting stuck into, but it’s underpinned by logic puzzles that must be solved to move from level to level. In each level, the player will apply logic tools and techniques to move their character along a maze-like series of squares, avoiding enemies and obstacles, to reach an end goal.

There’s a story that children can follow — something to do with rescuing another character from a volcano — and as the narrative progresses, the puzzles get more and more difficult. They start out very easy, helping to develop the child’s confidence, but grow more complex while teaching an ever-growing range of techniques.

Box Island is available on iOS and Android, and is free for the first few levels, by which time you’ll know whether or not your child has taken to it. After that there’s a low one-off cost to unlock the rest of the game.

Lightbot: Code Hour

Lightbot looks more minimalistic than Box Island, but it’s simple gameplay is incredibly addictive and just as effective at teaching logic and coding principles. Your job is to move your little robot-like character around a small landscape, completing a number of tasks along the way.

The game features a series of simple lessons that teach kids new tools and techniques every few levels — how to move forward, how to turn, how to jump, how to use procedures to repeat common moves. They’ll basically be programming their robot to complete the course, and those learnings are directly transferable to coding.

Lightbot: Code Hour is completely free on iOS and Android, although the makers do sell other games to take your kids’ logic education even further.

Coding Classes for Kids

If your children enjoy games like these, they’ll love our online coding classes for kids. They’ll pick up new skills, build games, apps or animations, and also learn how coding and logic fit into the world around them.