Code Ninjas: Where Kids Have Fun and Parents See Results

ACMB is partnering with Code Ninjas to share this sponsored post written by Jackie Randall, center director/owner of Code Ninjas Shavano Park.  

Why Code Ninjas? Besides a delivering on our slogan “kids have fun, parents see results,” Code Ninjas has skill and substance to offer your child.

Code Ninjas incorporates important building blocks that we want our kids to develop with fun and engaging tech activities. As parents, we know that critical thinking, problem solving, and reflection on why something works, or does not work, are important in our everyday life. We want our kids to have experience with those principles early on, right? We give them toys, games, and puzzles to start that exploration and critical thinking as soon as possible. We also know that technology is being developed and integrated in schools, homes, businesses, and basically all around us. Who doesn’t have an Alexa, Google Home, a tablet, or desktop? We believe that learning to be a tech native in this day and age needs to start early enough for our kids to build some sort of foundation, framework, and work ethic before it’s too late!

The core of Code Ninjas is based in teaching principles through video game building. Most parents acknowledge that kids are naturally drawn to video games. At Code Ninja, we use video game building to teach the basic skill of coding. While not every coder will be a video game builder, many may pursue video game building beyond childhood. Parents at Code Ninja greatly appreciate that we provide a safe environment to facilitate that exploration. We know that the internet can be a scary place, so we are here to karate chop those fears with you and your ninja. We provide a safe space for both tech-savvy ninjas and ninjas who need a bit more support to grow, explore, and build those problem-solving principles.

     

For a sneak peek of this, consider our free, 30-minute game building session. Kids build games using MIT’s Scratch, a block-based interface used to create games primarily by children for children. With the help of a sensei, kids will create a simple game based on the fundamentals of most programming languages, such as variables (score, time, hunger), control statements (while loops, for loops, if-else statements), and attributes (size, color, speed)—all while having fun! During the session, the sensei guides and explains the logic (X-axis, Y-axis, positive and negative numbers, operators, etc.) and code behind the game. After the session, your child should be able to then explain the concept of the game, as well as the logic, not just to you but to everyone they interact with. We believe that after this experience your child will gain a new perspective on videos games—and so much more.

We invite you and your ninja to come and check out a center near you. Come experience video game building and coding (did I mention robotics too?!) incorporated into our kitschy concept of ninjas, complete with a sensei and even a dojo! With almost 300 locations set to open by the end of 2019, including international centers, our future looks bright and we would love for you to be part of it.

We have all sides of town covered, from Cibolo to Stone Oak, to Shavano Park, to Alamo Ranch! What makes us different from the rest? Our ever-popular daily flexible drop-in option gives you the ability to drop in for two hours each week at YOUR convenience—NO CLASS SCHEDULES to follow!

If you’re looking for summer plans to keep your kids both entertained and educated, check out the Code Ninjas’ summer camp schedule! Code Ninjas has camps based on app building, HTML, Minecraft, robotics, and more; and our camps are customized for a fun, exciting, educational experience.

Find your nearest Code Ninja location here: https://www.codeninjas.com/locations.

Guest Author
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