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How to Use AI tools like Google Bard to Teach a 5 Year Old How to Code

Published on 29 October 2023

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Coding is a valuable skill that can help children learn how to think logically, solve problems, and be creative. But it can be challenging for them to learn how to code from scratch. That's where modern chat bots like ChatGPT or Google Bard etc can help.

Bard is a large language model (LLM) from Google AI that can generate text, translate languages, write different kinds of creative content, and answer your questions in an informative way. It can also generate code in a variety of programming languages.

This makes Google Bard a great tool for parents and kids to use together to learn how to code. Here are some ideas for how to use Google Bard to teach your youngster how to code:

Start with simple coding concepts.​

When you are first starting out, it is helpful to start with simple coding concepts, such as variables, loops, and conditional statements. You can ask Bard to explain these concepts to you in a way that a 5 year old can understand. You can literally ask "explain this to me like i'm 5", and it will rephrase the explanation in terms your child is more able to understand.

Use visual coding tools.​

There are a number of visual coding tools that can make it easier for young kids to learn how to code. These tools use blocks or other visual representations of code, which can make it easier for kids to understand what the code is doing. You can ask Bard to generate code for these tools, or you can use Bard to help you understand how the tools work.

Options:​

To get you started, some options for you to explore include:

Scratch Jr visual coding tool​

Scratch Jr is a free, graphical programming language and online community where children can create their own interactive stories, games, and animations.

Scratch visual coding

Blocky visual coding tool​

Blockly is a visual programming language that uses blocks to represent code. It is used in a variety of educational tools, including Google's Code.org.

Try Blocky

Code.org visual coding tool​

Code.org is a non-profit organization that provides free coding resources for kids of all ages. Their Hour of Code program is a popular way for kids to learn the basics of coding.

Try Blocky

Have fun!

Coding should be fun for kids. So, make sure to incorporate games and activities into your coding lessons. You can ask Bard to help you create games or activities that use coding.

Example​

Here is an example of how you could use Google Bard to teach a 5 year old how to code:

  • Prompt Bard to "explain what a variable is."
  • Prompt Bard to "generate code that creates a variable called "my_name" and assigns it the value of your child's name."
  • Prompt Bard to "generate code that prints the value of the variable "my_name" to the console."
  • Have your child change the value of the variable "my_name" and see how it affects the output of the code.

This is just a simple example, but it shows how Google Bard can be used to teach 5 year olds how to code. With a little creativity, you can use Bard to create a variety of coding lessons that are both fun and educational.

I hope this blog post has given you some ideas for how to use tools like Google Bard to teach your child how to code.