Coding as a Playground: Programming and Computational Thinking in the Early Childhood Classroom (Second Edition)

For young children, coding can be more than a first encounter with computers: it can be a way to tell stories, test ideas, make choices, and learn through play. In Coding as a Playground, Marina Umaschi Bers sets out an approach to programming and computational thinking for children aged seven and under, connecting creative exploration with the social, emotional, and intellectual dimensions of early learning.

This second edition brings together ideas for educators who want children to make and express things with technology, rather than only consume it. Its scope reaches beyond coding activities to the language, teaching choices, and classroom experiences that can help make early coding meaningful.

From play to computational thinking

The book develops its argument in four parts: coding as playground, coding as literacy, computational thinking, and new languages for young children. Along the way, Bers considers how children encounter natural and artificial languages, move through coding stages, and engage with the coding process. The sequence gives educators a framework for thinking about both what children do with code and how they learn through doing it.

Connect coding with the wider curriculum

Coding is considered alongside literacy, mathematics, science, engineering, and the arts. A project-based approach makes those connections central to the discussion, inviting educators to see programming as one way children can explore and create across learning areas—not as a subject that has to stand apart from the rest of the classroom.

Meet ScratchJr and KIBO

Dedicated chapters examine ScratchJr and KIBO, followed by discussion of design principles for programming languages for young children and strategies for teaching coding in the early curriculum. The book also addresses powerful ideas in an early coding curriculum and the potential relationship between coding and children’s personal growth.

For educators working with young learners

With its focus on developmentally appropriate experiences, this book is particularly relevant to early-childhood teachers, education students, and others considering how to introduce programming to young children. The second edition includes new case studies, vignettes, and projects, and gives expanded attention to coding as a new literacy.

For readers shaping early learning experiences, Bers offers a perspective that keeps the child’s imagination, choices, and interactions in view alongside the code. ✨