programming software for 9 year old

[HeXploiT]

Story here..

So I have the feeling this kid has the potential to be an complete and total computer junkie. I'm looking for suggestions for programming software that would be appropriate and possibly even entertaining for a nine year old.
I remember when I was his age I was using the likes of logo.
Is there anything on the market like this today?

 

[Net]

visual basic. you can use visual basic 6 or .net

its easy to use and fun. he can work up to making simple games or screen saver stuff. like a box bouncing off the sides of the window border, etc...

when i was in high school my first programming language was visual basic. i made a game over Christmas break and had tons of fun.

 

[Noobsa44]

VB.NET or KPL are probably good starter languages. I've never used KPL, but it's supposed to be similar to VB but with a simple syntax for building simple games, etc.

 

[Drakkon]

http://www.clickteam.com/eng/index.php - this was demoed to me at an Education Technology conference and it is being used by schools to teach kids at beginning stages how to program. Its really neat though as you drag and drop different icons and shapes and then though simple check boxes select how they will interact. Plenty of tutorials and ideas are included to get you started.

 

[nakedfrog]

Squeak?

 

[Journer]

there is some kind of software written by one of the major technology universities that is specifically for kids. can't think of the name but it is a visual based programming suite that can do things like little 3d scenes and what not

 

[HeXploiT]

Originally posted by: Journer
there is some kind of software written by one of the major technology universities that is specifically for kids. can't think of the name but it is a visual based programming suite that can do things like little 3d scenes and what not

I think you're referring to MIT's Scratch.
It was the first one I looked at. Although it looks really fun I'm not sure how much code you're actually learning. I haven't tried it yet but it seems like it might be best suited to give kids an idea of what programming is all about rather than directly teaching them to code.

Thanks for all the input so far. I'm leaning towards VB at the moment but it looks like I might end up putting a few different apps on as well.
Whatever I end up with I want it to ultimately spark the kids imagination.

 

[Cogman]

I started with VB6 when I was about 11-12, I can't see that as a bad way to go for a younger age. (Just teach him what a function is and how to detrmine if something should be a function... PLEASE. I started by putting everything in one big function and calling it good, only using other functions when someone on the internet recommended it)

 

[Modelworks]

LOGO
Very easy to use and learn basic concepts.
Its targeted at kids as well.
http://www.the-hunters.org/logo/

 

[HeXploiT]

Bump for myself. I am finally getting to work on this project. I'll be installing everything this week so still looking for suggestions.

 

[reverend boltron]

Is GML still around? The Game Maker Language... that might be something too.

 

[lousydood]

Thumbs up for Squeak, too. http://www.squeakland.org/

 

[Unknown Person]

Might I suggest something that probably isn't well known. Take a look at BYOND (http://www.byond.com)). It's essentially a free game making and playing suite where people can learn how to program games (everyone likes games ). It's not kid programming either: the programming language has roots in syntax of C/C++, and has a methodology similar to Python. 9 years old may be a bit young, considering the community is still growing and isn't exactly the cream of the crop for that age group (there are many anime games, since that seems to be the everlasting fad, which may or may not be good), but there is much promise. The DM programming language is full fledged programming language, and isn't the type of drag-drop programming you'd see in Game Maker. Programming for graphics, networking, audio, and interfaces is all pretty much done for you, so it takes the boring parts out of game programming, which is a good thing for, really, any programmer who wants to develop games without the months of solitude in the basement.

Links of interest:

http://www.byond.com/?page=Start
http://www.byond.com/?page=MakingGames
http://www.byond.com/?page=WhyBYOND

Download: http://www.byond.com/download/
The "Developer Central"- Dream Makers: http://www.byond.com/developer/

 

[mcmilljb]

Lego Mindstorm for the win!

You can program it and play with it. If you had a ton of money, Sony Aibo for the ultimate win!

 

[CTho9305]

Originally posted by: Perry404

Originally posted by: Journer
there is some kind of software written by one of the major technology universities that is specifically for kids. can't think of the name but it is a visual based programming suite that can do things like little 3d scenes and what not

I think you're referring to MIT's Scratch.
It was the first one I looked at. Although it looks really fun I'm not sure how much code you're actually learning. I haven't tried it yet but it seems like it might be best suited to give kids an idea of what programming is all about rather than directly teaching them to code.

Thanks for all the input so far. I'm leaning towards VB at the moment but it looks like I might end up putting a few different apps on as well.
Whatever I end up with I want it to ultimately spark the kids imagination.

How about Alice?

Personally I'm not sure VB is a good choice because you usually start out doing event-driven programming (e.g. code gets run only when a button is pressed / when a timer fires)

 

[ChristianV]

I started programming with about 9-10 years and I used Pascal. I did some very simple things like prime generators and the like.

 

[tfinch2]

Python

 

[acole1]

Originally posted by: CTho9305

How about Alice?

Personally I'm not sure VB is a good choice because you usually start out doing event-driven programming (e.g. code gets run only when a button is pressed / when a timer fires)

+1 for Alice

It's creative, fun, and helps more with the concepts of programming than the syntax of a particular language.

Make sure and encourage good program design, too... as much as possible. By the time he is in the workforce, automated tools will be doing most of the actual coding. Only the people with good design skills will be paid good $$. No one will really care that much about coding skills.

 

[Patt]

I remember playing with Logo at school and at home

 

[sourceninja]

I still play with Scratch. I think it is an awesome teaching tool. I'm trying to get approval to use it in my intro classes for people new to programing.