Anthony Beyer writes about the importance of game development for children, defines what it means, and gives tips on how to get your child started.

1. TO CHILDREN
BY ANTHONY BEYER
INTRODUCING GAME DEVELOPMENT
COVER ILLUSTRATION: BEVOULIIN
CC LICENSE, NO CHANGES WERE MADE

2. THE RISE OF PINBALL MACHINES
IN THE 1980S CREATED A WAVE
OF INTEREST IN GAMING BEYOND
THINGS LIKE KICKBALL OR HIDE
AND SEEK.
BACKGROUND

3. LIKEWISE, GAME CONSOLES FOR
THE HOME OCCUPIED MANY
HOURS OF DOWNTIME FOR
CHILDREN AND FAMILIES, AND
HAS BEEN THE FOUNDATION OF
MUCH OF THE GAMING WORLD
TODAY.
BACKGROUND CONT.

4. FURTHERMORE, DUE TO RAPID
ADVANCES IN TECHNOLOGY, NOT
ONLY ARE CONSOLES LIKE X-BOX
AND NINTENDO BEING USED FOR
THE ACTIVITY, BUT COMPUTERS,
MOBILE PHONES, AND TABLETS
ARE VERY POPULAR FOR GAMING
AS WELL.
TECH EVERYWHERE

5. STILL, AS THE WORLD BECOMES
MORE TECH FOCUSED, AND
EVERYTHING AROUND US
BECOMES DIGITIZED, THERE IS A
NEED TO KNOW HOW TO PLAY
GAMES FOR THESE PRODUCTS,
BUT ALSO TO UNDERSTAND AND
KNOW HOW TO CREATE THEM.
PURPOSE

6. THERE ARE NOW MOR INDIE
GAME DEVELOPERS AND
INDIVIDUALS CREATING AND
LEARNING HOW TO USE
COMPUTER CODE THAN EVER
BEFORE.
STATE OF GAMING

7. AS TECH IS ONLY EXPECTED TO
BECOME MORE UBIQUITOUS AND
ADVANCED OVER THE NEXT FEW
DECADES, IT'S EVEN MORE
IMPORTANT TO ENSURE THAT
WE'RE TEACHING THE NEXT
GENERATION SUCH SKILLS.
GAMING FOR KIDS

8. ONLINE, ONE CAN FIND A
NUMBER OF SCHOOLS AND
RESOURCES WHICH FACILITATE
THE PROCESS OF INTRODUCING
COMPUTER CODE AND GAME
DEVELOPMENT TO CHILDREN.
WHAT'S OUT THERE

9. HOWEVER, QUESTIONS REMAIN,
EVEN FOR ADULTS, ABOUT WHAT
DEVELOPMENT IS, WHETHER
CHILDREN CAN ACTUALLY LEARN
TO DO IT, AND IF SO, WHEN IS
THE RIGHT TIME.
THIS PRESENTATION

10. IN THIS PRESENTATION, I HOPE
TO MAKE THAT MORE CLEAR AND
INSPIRE FURTHER RESEARCH
AND UNDERSTANDING.
OBJECTIVE

11. GAME DEVELOPMENT INCLUDES A
NUMBER OF DIFFERENT
PROCESSES, BUT THE BASIS OF
CREATING SOMETHING FOR
PEOPLE TO PLAY INCLUDES TO
MAIN FACETS:
1. DESIGN
2. PROGRAMMING/CODING
DEFINING GAME
DEVELOPMENT

12. CHILDREN WILL LIKELY BE MORE
EXCITED ABOUT THIS PROCESS
BECAUSE OF THEIR PROCLIVITY
TO THE CREATIVE ASPECT OF
GAMES THAN THE LOGIC
PORTION. THIS IS BASICALLY
DECIDING WHAT THE GAME WILL
BE, DO, AND HOW IT WILL LOOK.
DESIGN

13. AFTER THE DECISION ON DESIGN
IS MADE, PROGRAMMING IS USED
TO TELL THE GAME TO REACT TO
CERTAIN CHOICES (I.E. PRESSING
THE RIGHT ARROW EQUALS
RUNNING, PRESSING DOWN
EQUALS BENDING, PRESSING R
EQUALS RESTARTING).
PROGRAMMING

14. THE POSSIBILITIES OF WHAT CAN
BE CREATED ARE ENDLESS; IT
WILL ULTIMATELY BE
CONTINGENT UPON THE
OBJECTIVE OF THE GAME, THE
IMAGINATION OF THE CHILD, AND
THE PROCESS BY WHICH THE
PROGRAMMING IS COMPLETED.
PUTTING IT TOGETHER

15. 1.VISUAL
2. SCRIPTING
3. TRADITIONAL
PROGRAMMING TYPES

16. ALLOWS USERS TO CREATE
PROGRAMS BY MAKING
CONNECTIONS WITH GRAPHICS
RATHER THAN TEXT. THIS IS
RECOMMENDED FOR CHILDREN
AND BEGINNERS BECAUSE YOU
SEE THE PROCESS AS IT
HAPPENS AND GET AN
UNDERSTANDING OF THE
CONCEPT FULLY.
VISUAL

17. USES TEXT FILES INSTEAD OF
VISUAL FILES TO TELL THE GAME
HOW TO REACT AND WHAT TO DO
WITH A GIVEN FUNCTION. IT CAN
BE USED IN CONJUNCTION WITH
VISUAL.
SCRIPTING

18. THIS IS THE MOST ADVANCED
AND LIKELY NOT SOMETHING
YOUR CHILD WILL BE LEARNING
AS A BEGINNER. IT REQUIRES
MORE DETAIL BUT IS ALSO TEXT
BASED VS. VISUAL.
TRADITIONAL

19. I RECOMMEND SCRATCH, A
VISUAL PROGRAM CREATED BY
MIT TO HELP CHILDREN
UNDERSTAND PROGRAMMING
AND DEVELOPMENT.
GETTING STARTED
HTTPS://SCRATCH.MIT.EDU/

20. ANOTHER TOOL IS CRUNCHZILLA
CODE MONSTER, ALSO FOR KIDS,
WHICH INCLUDES A DOUBLE
PANE FOR THE VISUALS AND THE
CODE (JAVA SCRIPT), AND MAKES
A CONNECTION BETWEEN THE
TWO.
MORE TOOLS
HTTP://WWW.CRUNCHZILLA.COM/

21. CHECK OUT THESE ARTICLES, WHICH
INSPIRED THIS PRESENTATION
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
HTTP://WWW.GAMEFROMSCRATCH.COM/POST/2014
/09/16/GAMEFROMSCRATCH-GUIDE-TO-GETTING-
KIDS-STARTED-IN-GAME-DEVELOPMENT.ASPX
HTTP://WWW.MAKEUSEOF.COM/TAG/10-TOOLS-
TO-GET-KIDS-EXCITED-ABOUT-PROGRAMMING/
HTTP://WWW.SITEPOINT.COM/6-REASONS-WHY-
YOUR-CHILD-AND-MINE-SHOULD-LEARN-TO-CODE/

22. PLEASE VISIT MY BLOG
THANKS FOR VIEWING
ANTHONYBEYER.ORG