Computer Programming

CodeCombat - very awesome

Code.org Learn page (aka The Hour of Code page) - an excellent entry point

MIT Scratch - a project of the Lifelong Kindergarten Group at the MIT Media Lab
Blockly - an open-source visual programming editor (like Scratch) - including maze (a introductory teaching game), turtle (drawing), graph (graphic calculator), and code (export a Blockly program into JavaScript, Python or XML). Paikea won Honorable Mention in a March 2013 Turtle Graphics Contest for making cool graphics in Blockly (her design is #5 of 22 in the
slideshow).

Pencil Code - another Scratch-ish project. Blocks, CoffeeScript, Javascript, HTML, CSS.

DIY.org n00b skills challenge. "Becoming a n00b is the first step to becoming a programmer."

Gaming-centered:

  • Kodu Game Lab - "Kodu is a visual programming language made specifically for creating games. It is designed to be accessible for children and enjoyable for anyone." Requires download/install. Tutorial videos on this website (scroll down).
  • Gamestar Mechanic - online game teaching video game design (not programming per se)
  • Sploder 

Al Sweigart:

Nice lesson books, about high school level, free to download:

iPad apps:

  • CargoBot - learn programming logic skills via a graphical puzzle game
  • LightBot - learn programming logic skills via a graphical puzzle game
  • Codea - an app the provides a cool programming environment (based on Lua language).

Logo:

MSWLogo, including links for downloading and lessons; also Logo Workshop, with ten lessons. (We had fun with this, although I guess Logo is outdated - use the Python Turtle module etc instead.)

Other:

  • TouchDevelop by Microsoft - web-based programming environment works well with tablets (Android or iPad) as well as browser. Includes fun beginner tutorials
  • Codecademy.org 
  • Made with Code - a "Girlie" gateway page. Programming in pink.
  • Ruff Ruffman PBS Kids digital media literacy program
  • Stick Animation:

Misc/unexplored: