Parents' Guide to

Code Monster from Crunchzilla

By Mieke VanderBorght, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 11+

Fun programming lessons from a friendly monster guide.

Website http://www.crunchzilla.com/code-monster
Code Monster from Crunchzilla Poster Image

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What’s It About?

CODE MONSTER BY CRUNCHZILLA is a website that shows kids how to code using JavaScript. It has a very simple design: the googly-eyed blue Code Monster and his speech bubble are at the top of the screen where kids read straightforward explanations, commands, and questions. Below are two boxes: on the right, Code Monster provides a piece of code for kids to manipulate; on the left, you see the output from the code. Fifty-nine lessons progress from simple (make a square) to complex (change its shape, color, and position and make more shapes), to really complex (make complicated fern leaf patterns and animated sequences). There also are "quizzes" in which Code Monster asks kids to write their own code. Though lessons progress in order, you can go back and repeat or choose lessons at will. You also can exit the program and return where you left off if you use the same computer (and if no one else has visited Code Monster in the meantime).

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
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Kids say (1 ):

Code Monster is simple but mostly effective as a self-led journey of programing discovery. The hands-on manipulation and immediate feedback can give kids satisfaction and joy in discovering how what they're writing changes what they're seeing. It should also help them understand how the different pieces of code work. This can be a fun exercise, even for kids who wouldn't normally be excited about computer programming.

Yet Code Monster teaches almost exclusively through example rather than explanation, and there's little to no help for kids having trouble. When kids can't come up with the right code (such as in a quiz), Code Monster moves on ahead (which may discourage kids from trying to get through a tough coding challenge). More hints or code analysis could help kids who can't figure out where they're going wrong. An option allowing kids to save what they've created also would be a nice addition.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Discuss and explore the many things computer programmers have been able to create with this kind of code.

  • Talk to your kids about careers that use coding, from video game design to engineering.

Website Details

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