Coding Gifts for Tweens
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Looking for cool coding gifts for the tweens in your life? Kids in this age group (around 10-12 year olds) are really fun to get coding gifts for! They’re old enough to start using more complicated products and programs, but young enough to still be curious and excited about something new!
Check out our list below for our top picks of Coding Gifts for Tweens!
Computers
Acer Predator Helios 300
If your tween is into playing games, this is the laptop for you (well, them, I guess)! Resource intensive games like Overwatch, Fortnite, APEX Legends, and so on, need a powerful PC., and this one is a great option. Although they aren’t super cheap, gaming laptops will last for a very long time, and you can do literally anything on it, from editing videos to hardcore gaming to heavy coding and game creation. For more gaming laptop options, check out this blogpost.
Apple MacBook Air
While we don’t usually recommend Apple computers as a general tool for kids and tweens (because you are getting a similiar laptop without any gaming capabilities - the graphics card isn’t good enough), this can be a good option. If you are looking for a laptop that will last 6-7 years and you don’t care about gaming, this is your best bet. And if your tween is really serious about coding in Swift and creating apps for the App Store, they pretty much need to have a Mac.
Coding Accessories
Micro:bit
The Microbit is a tiny computer that lets your tween get creative with digital technology! They can code it, customize it and control it from anywhere! Microbit has simple and advanced features your tween will love. There are controller buttons, a motion detector, compass and sensors. Tweens will use a combination of block-based and text-based coding to bring their ideas to life. This is a super fun hardware addition that will let your tween take their coding skills to the next level!
Arduino
Arduino circuit boards are super cool and can be used to control electonic devices like cameras, LEDs, alarm clocks, etc. It has 14 digital input/output pins (of which 6 can be used as PWM outputs), 6 analog inputs, a 16 MHz quartz crystal, a USB connection, a power jack, an ICSP header and a reset button. Arduino is an open-source hardware, software, and content platform with a worldwide community of over 30 million active users! If your tween is interested in exploring what they can really do, the Arduino is a great option!
Robots
Sphero SPRK+
This robot ball is super fun and engaging for tweens! It’s an app-enabled robot with programmable sensors and LED lights. The Sphero SPRK+ helps tweens learn JavaScratip, Scratch and Swift. Using the Sphero Edu app, you can program it across several platforms. It’s a great interactive robot that gets kids exctied and coding!
LittleBits Star Wars Droid Inventor Kit (680-0011)
Does your tween love Star Wars? Then this is the robot for them! They’ll improve their coding with 6+ block based coding missions. It has 22+ missions in the app so kids can teach their Droid new skills! The customizable missions lets kids be creative. It also comes with 20 authentic Droid sounds from Star Wars! It does require an iPhone or an Android to use. It also comes with a free droid inventor app with step-by step instructions and video tutorials.
KamiGami ATLASAR ROBOT
We love KamiGami robots! This is a build-it-yourself robot, and it’s really cool! Plus, at this pricepoint, it’s a no-brainer for tweens who love robots and coding! The robot can be controlled by any device that can download apps from the Apple or Google Play app stores. The free Kamigami Robot app allows you to build, connect and control your robot. It also has a coding mode where you can program the robot's actions, sounds, and light colors.
LEGO MINDSTORMS EV3 31313 Robot Kit with Remote Control
This robot is more expensive that the previous robots, but it is very cool! Your tween will get to build their robot and code it to walk, talk, play games and even complete tasks! It comes with the EV3 Brick, 3 servo motors, and color, touch and IR sensors. You downlard the free EV3 programmer app to control the robot once it’s built. It has instructions for 17 different robotic designs, each with unique features. It’s also compatible with all other LEGO sets. If your tween loves building and coding, this robot is a great option!
Books
Exploring Arduino: Tools and Techniques for Engineering Wizardry
This is a great book to go along with the Arduino we mentioned previously! Kids will learn about eletrical engineering, programing and human-computer interaciton through increasingly complex projects. This book also covers Arduino hardware, software and capabilities, and allows you to access downloadable materials and source code for every project they cover. This is a great book for beginners and more advanced tweens who are ready to explore with Arduino!
Creative Coding in Python
Crceative Coding in Python is a terrific book that teachers the fundamentals of computer programming and provides step by step instructions for over 30 creative projects using Python. Projects include: chatbots, geometric art, interactive fiction, dice games, and arcade games and apps. Tweens who are moving on from Scratch will love this book! The projects are cool and it’s a terrific option for Python beginners!
JavaScript for Kids
This is a great introduction book to teach tweens about JavaScript! They begin with the basics (strings, arrays, loops), and then move on to more advanced topics (drawing graphics and adding interactivity). This book teaches tweens to use JavaScript to build games as well as create functions, orgranize and reuse code, write and modify HTML, use DOM and jQuery to make web pages to react to user input, add and animate graphics, and program user-controlled games.
Conclusion
That’s our list for Coding Gifts for Tweens! We tried to cover different price ranges and a variety of products. What do you think? Did we miss any of your favorites? Let us know in the comments!
Be sure to check out our Coding Gifts for Kids blogpost for more ideas of awesome coding gifts for the kids in your life!
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