For younger kids in the 5-to-6-year-old age range, Wigl is aimed at teaching basic music skills. The robot can move in different directions and light up depending on what musical notes a child plays.

Code.org's new Code Studio program, designed for integration into classrooms, teaches kids coding as they create games and solve fun logic puzzles.

The app prompts kids to manipulate a character, Daisy, through challenges that involve loops, events, and other programming basics (e.g., when touched, move dinosaur forward).

But not all kids can or want to jump straight into these sort of environments. For them, there are plenty of games around that will teach the basics of programming in a fun and accessible way.

Toys and kits that are designed to teach kids hacking and basic programming skills abound, and they cater to a range of ages and skill levels.

Patrice Gans, a technology teacher and library-media specialist in Connecticut, reviews Jason Brigg's Python for Kids (No Starch Press, 2012).

Los Angeles – Boku, a simple game which teaches kids the basics of computer programming, will be released in early 2009, Microsoft has announced. It will be available for both Windows and the Xbox.

Not only is it “essential” that kids know the basics of computer programming these days, Neuson said, but it also helps parents like her, who are not computer programmers, understand the ...

Sphero’s launched a cute mini-car robot that teaches kids about the basics of computer programming.

Together they formulated the Introduction to Programming course comprising of 16 weeks of tutorials covering programming basics, though with a clear focus on games and interactive media.