My 9 year old son Ian just finished his iOS Game "Meteor Kids" and we are waiting for review. Ian came up with the idea, drew the game art design on an iPad and programmed a draft version in Processing JS. He helped on the iOS version wherever he could. Obviously it is a very simple "game". You catch some falling meteors and avoid the red fire meteors. The style is quite sweet and for such a simple game idea it's quite addicting. Anyway the whole idea was to get him interested in math and programming. It worked He is hooked on khanacademy,org now. I threw up a website and you can read about our project here: http://www.gamebykids.com/?page_id=2 (You can watch Ian talk about his game here.) I keep you posted when (if) it gets on the app store.
Thanks Mike! What I actually wanted to ask yesterday (before I shamelessly promoted Ians "game") was ask other members about their experience how to get kids into programming. As said I think the programming tutorial at Khanacademy is great because it's all videos and tailored to kids. Processing JS as language seems a good starting point as it is very visual. With few lines of code you can actually draw stuff and animate it, which is definitely more appealing to kids than "Hello World". I'd like to hear about other online resources, apps or books that are recommended especially for children. I am even toying with the idea to make free kids online course myself, that's part of the reason I registered the domain I am using as nic.
Game Center achievements, leader board After Apple rejected the first version of our little game on Tuesday we worked hard on the necessary improvements over the last two days. Ian drew more game art design (UFO, Mars, etc.) and we implemented Game Center achievements, leader board functionality and proper menus. Now waiting again. My son is bugging me constantly if Apple has approved the app yet. What have I started.... Here are some screen shots. What you think? (Keep in mind it was made by a 9 year old not an adult).
To Hans and everyone who asked about it. It's out. Approved by Apple yesterday evening. So proud of my son. Thanks for all the kind words, and support on this forum. Meteor Kids
Purchased. Made my first game when I was 12 back in '81. At that time there was no easy way to self publish, no internet or online distribution. Probably less than 10 people saw that 1st game but it was an achievement and success nonetheless. Today, the possibilities are endless. Best of luck to your son!
wow than was quite ahead of the curve. C64? I started on one but it must have been a few years later. Loved doing simple basic programs but making a game was out of reach. thanks for supporting ian!!!
