5 Awesome Kindergarten Coding Projects for Your Tech Era Kid

You know it… you’ve heard everyone talking about it. Coding is the new reading. It is literally being talked about as a literacy… barely after we got a handle on computer literacy.

Now, let me give you a little idea of how tech literate I am.

We recently had to do some troubleshooting on our Internet, and in the mix, our telephone landline got cut temporarily. So my husband left his cell phone for me to use while he was at work. He called me on his break… I couldn’t figure out how to answer the darned thing.

I accidentally prank called two of his contacts… twice each.

Needless to say, keeping my kids on the edge of technology – they passed me on that a long time ago – much less something as specific as coding, seems like a joke. But… it isn’t as scary as it sounds, and trust me on this one, if I can do it, you will have no trouble at all.

Here are some awesome and fun kindergarten coding projects for kids to get you started!

1. Binary Name Wall Art

Sometimes I feel bad that I just basically suck at decorating. I see all these parents with these kid rooms that are perfectly colored with just the right accessories. Well, I came up with a project that is so easy and simple, all of us can do it!

And the best part is, your kid will do most of the work and love it – all while learning the fundamentals of coding!

All you need is 9 pieces of printer paper (cardstock will hold up longer if you have it), yarn or ribbon (tape will work in a pinch), coloring utensils (chalk would be pretty for this), and a hook or nail to hang the masterpiece up on your kid’s wall.

What your kid is going to do is translate her first initial into what is called binary code (basically, raw computing language). Check out this chart with your kid and tell her to find the letter her name starts with. Then, let her pick two colors – one each for the 1s & 0s.

The next part is flexible, but I imagine pieces of paper lying horizontally/landscape-oriented, in a vertical line. The top paper is for the alphabet letter, and the rest starting at the top are for the 1s and 0s, left to right. Something like this:

Let her color the pieces of paper, punch holes in the tops and bottoms, and attach with yarn or ribbon. Hole-punching is unnecessary if you are using tape.

Finally, use the very top hole to hang it up on the wall. If you want it to be extra pretty, put a hole in each corner and hang with yarn or ribbon. You can play this one up by using smaller pieces of paper and doing more letters – maybe all initials or whole first name, etc.

2. Coding Cupcakes

After you and your kiddo have done all that hard work, it’s time for a break! Here’s how you get your sweet fix while showing your kid the importance of sequence and precision of instructions.

Rummage through your cabinets and find that cookbook for kids that you used one time (more like never in my case). I mean I cook with my kids, but those cookbooks for kids I don’t know… I have an aversion.

Anyway, back to the point here… sometimes they actually have very good, simple, easy recipes with great pictures for kids to follow. If you don’t have one of those, no big deal. Find an easy recipe, like this one, and get in the kitchen!

Something really fun to do is ask your kid, “What happens if we try and cook this backwards?” This makes it really clear how important the order is!

You can also give your kiddo two or three different batter bowls to see what happens if they mix in any order, measure carefully or not, add things that weren’t listed, etc. Let them go crazy with it!

You might want to use food coloring, colored toothpicks that have been soaked in water, or some other oven-safe method to mark which ones are from which batter.

3. If/Then Sculpture

If/Then statements (commonly known as bribes in my house) are another fundamental of coding that kindergarteners can grasp. I’m sure you’ve seen this in action – “If” you pick up your toys, “then” I will give you this candy!

Let’s show your kids another way If/Then statements can work – to create something random and unique! This one does require a bit of prep, so if you are near the top of your max energy or patience expenditure for the day, feel free to save it for another time!

First, if you have air dry clay, great! If you have another type of clay like Play-Doh and you don’t care if this is a permanent creation, great! If not, you’ll have to get some or make some – here are a few different recipes.

Now, come up with any variety of If/Then statements you think your little one would have fun with and write them out on a piece of paper. “If” Mommy escapes for a time-out, “then” add 100 dots (totally joking… really).

One super simple way to do it without a lot of creative thinking (because, I’ll be honest… I really suck at creative… everything) is to use a die and make the “If”s the numbers as they appear on the die and the “Then”s simple actions he can do with clay. Like this:

And so on up to 6. Add circle, add cylinder, carve heart, etc. – whatever fits with your supplies on hand. Do this as long as your little one likes.

If you want to stretch it more, you can set up “If” die numbers to “Then” paint colors for the painting phase… or just call it done and put it away to dry. White is totally classy, you know. This one is for that sad-looking, empty shelf.

4. Object Book

Making books is something that keeps kids happy for hours. Or at least long enough for you to use the bathroom uninterrupted.

All you have to do is get your little genius set up by making a little book out of paper – just get a few pieces of printer paper horizontal, folded down the middle, and staple the folded edge or punch holes and tie off with yarn.

Put a category on top of each page. For kindergarten, beginning letters or colors of objects are the best to start with. Don’t do all 26 letters or every color under the sun… just do some of the common ones.

Let your little coding artist draw things or cut out and glue pictures from old magazines/catalogs/etc. onto the matching category page. This introduces the basic concept of classifying according to characteristics.

5. Graph Command Art

Draw a graph on some regular printer paper. Print it out if you’re lazy short on time, like me – something like this. If you want to get a little crazy, you could try this circle pattern.

Make some simple cards (or slips of paper) with arrows – left, right, up/forward, down/backward. Make sure you indicate the bottom of the card somehow to avoid confusion. Start with one arrow per card. You can add in cards with multiple arrows in a row if your kid gets bored.

You want to make enough that you can shuffle them and put them face-down for an element of surprise and randomness. Now, choose whatever fun art medium you have on hand – glue/glitter/fuzz, marker, paint, etc. – and have your kid fill in a starting place.

Next, little techie draws one of the cards and fills in the next space in the direction shown. There is also an opportunity here to introduce the concept of a “bug” in the program, if, for example, he is on the edge of the board and draws a command that would move him off the paper.

No need to complicate that – just make it fun. “Oh no, we have a bug! Let’s draw another card and see if it fixes it.” At the end, you have yet another beautiful masterpiece to adorn your little one’s room.

And there you have it! Five really simple kids’ coding projects that your little one will love doing and (if you are like me) will make you feel less like a slacker in the decorating department.