Coding — sounds technical and boring to many and those who don’t know what coding is, let me put it in simple words, ‘coding is a process of using programming language’ which allow us to build, create, animate and design games, movies, websites, programmes, apps, etc.

Yes, from the movies we love, to the websites we visit, to the animation in our favourite films and TV shows, all these are shaped by codes. The sooner you learn about the basics of computer science, the easier it will become for you in the future. Though there are hundreds of websites teaching kids about coding, here is an interesting site for beginners to learn coding while playing with their favourite Disney characters from the movies like Moana, Big Hero, Star Wars, etc., at https://partners.disney.com/hour-of-code.

Once you open the site, you will see a beautiful Disney’s Moana interface, welcoming you. If you go down the homepage, you will see Star Wars, Code with Anna and Elsaand Big Hero, all having coding tutorials. It is totally up to you to jump into any of your favourite character and start learning coding with.

Let’s start by hitting the button Beginnow, you will see an introductory video starts which tells you how to use the three coding panels on the screen. The one on the left is Moana ‘Game Space’, where the code runs (Moana with Maui in boat will move on your command), you can read the instructions for each level above this game space; the panel in the middle is ‘toolbox’, with commands that Moana and Maui can understand.

Lastly, the panel at the right beside the toolbox area is the ‘Workplace’ — this is where you are going to build your programme. Start by dragging the commands on the workplace and animate Moana and Maui on the game space. Easy, isn’t it? But this is just the beginning into the world of coding. Once you are in it, there is no stopping.

The site was developed a few years back by Walt Disney Company in collaboration with Code.org and they called it ‘Hour of Code’ tutorials featuring Disney characters that inspire kids of all ages to learn coding. Every year, Disney holds the ‘Hour of Code’ event with its Disney characters encouraging students of all ages around the world to participate and learn coding. Though ‘Hour of Code’ is held once a year, Disney encourages kids to learn coding from the tutorials and activities it provides on the site all year round.

So what are you waiting for, learn coding with your favourite Disney characters at: https://partners.disney.com/hour-of-code

Published in Dawn, Young World, May 23rd, 2020