For younger children, especially those who are not yet reading well, coding using text-based languages definitely will be a tedious job. So, then what coding language should be used during online coding classes for kids. The answer to this question is Visual Programming.

What is Visual Programming Language

Visual programming is also known as block coding or programming utilizes a drag-and-drop learning environment, where programmers use coding instruction “blocks” to construct animated stories and games. It’s an entry-level activity, where kids can gain a foundation in computational thinking through visuals as opposed to coding that is based on text.

When we mention “blocks,” it’s a way to describe the “chunks” or “pieces” of instructions a user is putting together in order to tell their creation what to do.

Why Visual (Block) Programming Suitable For Kids

Because of the ease of using block coding, it has become very popular among kids and teachers alike. Following are the reasons which make block coding important for kids.

• Easy to Learn: This drag-and-drop approach to coding makes it so that literally anyone can do it. There’s no need to memorize anything (like functions or sentence structure) or type anything down.
• Easy to Teach: For teachers and instructors who only have the most basic grasp of coding and/or CS knowledge, block coding is a better option to teach coding. The drag-and-drop concept is so straightforward, you don’t need to have a masters-level understanding of programming.
• Focuses on Programming Concepts: Instead of highlighting proper syntax and sequencing, block coding allows kids (and beginners) to focus on the fundamental concepts of programming: operators, control structures, commands, loops, conditions, and so on.
• Encourages Creativeness: Experienced programmers can create new code and unique commands by experimenting with existing concepts. However, in the case of text-based coding, the risk of syntactical errors is quite high which discourages many to experiment with something new. Block programming allows kids and coding beginners to experiment with the existing script without the risk of starting over from scratch.
• Minimal Learning Frustration: Even seasoned programmers spend a majority of their coding time in debugging. Syntax errors can be incredibly frustrating when learning how to code or teaching coding for kids. It can get in the way of conceptualizing a solution in programming, forcing students to pay attention to the text details rather than the coding concept or the bigger problem at hand.

Popular Visual Programming Languages

As mentioned above visual programming languages are meant for beginners and are commonly regarded as kids coding languages. Some of the most popular in this category are:

• Scratch: Scratch is a high-level block-based visual programming language targeted primarily at children 8–16 as an educational tool for programming. Scratch is the world's largest coding community for children and a coding language with a simple visual interface that allows young people to create digital stories, games, and animations. Scratch is widely used in a foundation-level program to introduce coding to kids.
• Blockly: Blockly is a library for adding drag and drop block coding to an app. This is primarily used for computer science education, but can also give users a way to write their own scripts or configuration for an app.
• Snap!: Snap! (formerly Build Your Own Blocks or BYOB) is a block-based educational graphical programming language and online community aimed at students to explore, create and re-mix interactive animations, games, stories, and more, while learning about mathematical and computational ideas.
• MIT App Inventor: MIT App Inventor is an intuitive, visual programming environment that allows everyone even children to build fully functional apps for smartphones and tablets. Those new to MIT App Inventor can have a simple first app up and running in less than 30 minutes.
• Alice: Alice is a full-featured programming language designed for use in teaching programming to beginners on the basis of programming principles that are well recognized within the computer science community.

Conclusion: Visual or block-based programming offers young coders many benefits that are simply not possible with traditional text programming. For starters, the visual programming environment provided by these platforms is far more fun-filled and engaging. Once learners have a good hold on programming basics, they can move on to more advanced text-based languages, such as Python, building on their acquired skills.