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 | |