My 9 year old really enjoys coding and wants to be a computer game designer when he’s older. I think he would enjoy school more if he had more IT lessons as these are definitely a favourite subject! Last year he signed up to a Coding Club at our local library and we’ve been trying to encourage him to learn more in his spare time.

You Can Code: Make your own games, apps and more in Scratch and Python

A few weeks ago we were gifted a copy of You Can Code by Kevin Pettman. This is a straightforward guide, giving you everything you need to start making your own fun programs, games, animations, utilities and more using the programming languages, Scratch and Python. You don’t need to know a single thing about coding to get stuck in!

My son already had a little knowledge of Scratch thanks to Coding Club so he was pretty pleased to receive this book. We actually packed it and took it away with us on holiday last week, it was perfect for when he needed some downtime after a busy morning at the swimming pool.

The book is well laid out and is a great introduction on coding for beginners, but also suitable for those with some previous knowledge. The book is very visual, which is a style my son enjoys, so I knew it was a book he would read and absorb the information.

Starting with Scratch, the free downloadable programming tool for kids, it then moves on to Python, a worldwide standard programming language that’s simple and fun. My son followed the instructions to create a game and took great delight in showing everyone what he had made.

The book is aimed at kids 9 and over so my son is the perfect age for it. As well as the step-by-step guides to create games, animations, utilities and more, there are also interactive fill-in puzzles, flowcharts, doodling and quizzes. It’s a great introduction to Coding and a great activity book to keep brains active over the summer holidays.

You Can Code by Kevin Pettman is published by Carlton Kids and perfect for ages 9 and over, priced £8.99.