Tween Coding for Gamers

Tween Coding for Gamers kicks off at the Salt Lake City Public Library Marmalade Branch on Tuesday, October 27, and it's a six-session workshop for tweens ages 9 to 13 who want to learn how to make their own video games. The library is putting this one on, and it's built around Fiero Code, a free online software that handles the coding part. You don't need any previous experience to get started, so it works just as well for a kid who's never touched a line of code as it does for one who's been messing around with it on their own.

The series runs over six weeks, with sessions on October 27, November 3, 10, 17, and 24, plus one more to round it out. Each one runs from 4:00 to 6:30 PM on Tuesdays, so it's an after-school thing. The whole point is to move from the basics to something you can actually play, and since it's a multi-week course rather than a one-off, there's time to actually build something instead of just following a tutorial. The seventh week brings the showcase, where everyone gets to show off the games they've spent the previous six weeks making.

Registration is required to take part, so you'll want to get your spot held before the first session. The workshop is free, and it's held at the Marmalade Branch, 280 W 500 N, Salt Lake City, UT 84103. If you've got a tween at home who spends more time playing games than talking about them, this is a good way to flip that around and let them see how the things they're playing are actually put together.