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The answer to this question is Yes and No. I know, I know, not what you wanted to hear. Incorporating offline learning into how kids learn to code is a great way to keep their attention and help them think outside the box.

What Kids Can Learn Offline

Offline learning is a great way to teach kids some of the basics of coding. Offline activities can introduce and improve their skills in fundamentals like logic, decomposition, sequencing, and patience. These are vital concepts of coding that kids must understand in order to be able to code even simple projects online.

What Kids Need to Learn Online

Offline learning can get kids pretty far, but to really sink their teeth into coding, eventually they’ll need to give it a try online. There are some great programs out there that introduce coding online to kids in simple ways that prepare them for more difficuly coding languages and projects.

Starting off with offline coding activities first will gives a great foundational understanding of coding basics that will really give them a headstart when they start coding online. A great introduction to online coding is ScratchJr and Scratch. You can learn more about why we love Scratch here. We also curated a list of the top 10 Free Coding Programs for kids here.

Offline Coding Resources

Here are some of our favorite offline coding resources! (To see all of our favorite coding resources, both online an offline, click here.)

Robot Turtles

In this board game, students guide turtles through mazes, while learning the coding basics of logic and sequencing in a fun and creative way! Kids write programs with playing cards and parent get to play too!

Wonder Workshop Dash

Dash arrives charged and ready to go out of the box. Kids can give Dash Robot voice commands and explore loops, events, conditions, and sequences with the five free apps that come with Dash Robot. 

Kamigami Scarrax Robot

This is build-it-yourself robot. At this pricepoint, it’s a no-brainer for kids who love coding and robots!

Hello Ruby

“Hello Ruby” is a fun guide for children as young as 4 years old. You don’t even need a computer to use the book and learn about coding! It’s half picture book and half activity book. It takes your children along the journey with Ruby, a little girl who goes on a fun adventure. There are also two additional Hello Ruby books which you can find here.

Check out more of our tried and true offline coding games here.

We hope that this post has been helpful in answering the question, “Can Kids Learn to Code Offline?” Let us know what you think in the comments!

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