Kids Coding Classes in the Bay Area

When I was in high school, I got my first taste of how much fun it is to teach coding by being a counselor at a computer camp. Back then, a “computer camp” was a rare beast, but now, there are more and more of them popping up – which is awesome, because it means that more kids get exposed to programming in a fun and friendly environment and have the opportunity to figure out whether they want to keep going with it.

I thought I’d do a little research into what kid-friendly coding camps, clubs, and classes are available in the bay area, and share that here. To find them, I first went to code.org and used their “Find a school” search engine, which lets you find things other than just schools, and filter by format and level. Then I added a few that I’ve heard about personally, like GirlsWhoCode, who is bringing their clubs to the bay area for the first time this year.

Besides these classes, there are also K-12 coding events that pop-up, like the upcoming Level the Coding Field hackathon. I discovered a Bay Area kids programming events calendar which hopefully includes those sort of events.

If you know of other coding classes for kids in the bay area or have experience with any of these, please let us know in the comments. If you’re not in the bay area, just search code.org for options in your area and if there are none, consider starting a chapter of a club like CoderDojo in your own city.

Year Round

What

Who

Technovation

Android Apps

High school

Girls

CoderDojo SF

HTML5 Games

Ages 6-16

BlackGirlsCode

Mobile apps, HTML

Ages 7-17

Girls

BreakoutMentors

Custom (tutoring)

K-12

CoderDojo Silicon Valley

Python, HTML, apps

K-12

WizBots

Lego Mindstorms

Grades 2-8

Menlo App Academy

Games

Ages 11-16

HeatSV

Data science

High school

Digital Monkey School

Art, animation, games

High school

ComputerMagix

Games, Graphics

K-12

CodeNow

Ruby, Robotics

Grades 9-12

Minorities

GirlsWhoCode

Programming

Grades 6-12

Girls

SMASH Prep

Video games

Grades 6-8

African-American males

Summer Camps

What

Who

Digital Media Academy Stanford

Film, robotics

Ages 6-18

Ohlone

Robots

Grades 4-11

BFOIT

Programming

Grades 6-12

Minorities

TechKnowHowKids

Robotics, Games

Ages 5-14
Digital Media Academy at Berkeley

Film, Programming, Robotics

Ages 12+
SF BaseCamp

Python Games

Middle school