Kids Coding Classes in the Bay Area

When I was in high school, I got my first taste of how much fun it is to teach coding by being a counselor at a computer camp. Back then, a "computer camp" was a rare beast, but now, there are more and more of them popping up - which is awesome, because it means that more kids get exposed to programming in a fun and friendly environment and have the opportunity to figure out whether they want to keep going with it.

I thought I'd do a little research into what kid-friendly coding camps, clubs, and classes are available in the bay area, and share that here. To find them, I first went to code.org and used their "Find a school" search engine, which lets you find things other than just schools, and filter by format and level. Then I added a few that I've heard about personally, like GirlsWhoCode, who is bringing their clubs to the bay area for the first time this year.

Besides these classes, there are also K-12 coding events that pop-up, like the upcoming Level the Coding Field hackathon. I discovered a Bay Area kids programming events calendar which hopefully includes those sort of events.

If you know of other coding classes for kids in the bay area or have experience with any of these, please let us know in the comments. If you're not in the bay area, just search code.org for options in your area and if there are none, consider starting a chapter of a club like CoderDojo in your own city.

Year Round

	What	Who
Technovation	Android Apps	High school	Girls
CoderDojo SF	HTML5 Games	Ages 6-16
BlackGirlsCode	Mobile apps, HTML	Ages 7-17	Girls
BreakoutMentors	Custom (tutoring)	K-12
CoderDojo Silicon Valley	Python, HTML, apps	K-12
WizBots	Lego Mindstorms	Grades 2-8
Menlo App Academy	Games	Ages 11-16
HeatSV	Data science	High school
Digital Monkey School	Art, animation, games	High school
ComputerMagix	Games, Graphics	K-12
CodeNow	Ruby, Robotics	Grades 9-12	Minorities
GirlsWhoCode	Programming	Grades 6-12	Girls
SMASH Prep	Video games	Grades 6-8	African-American males

Summer Camps

	What	Who
Digital Media Academy Stanford	Film, robotics	Ages 6-18
Ohlone	Robots	Grades 4-11
BFOIT	Programming	Grades 6-12	Minorities
TechKnowHowKids	Robotics, Games	Ages 5-14
Digital Media Academy at Berkeley	Film, Programming, Robotics	Ages 12+
SF BaseCamp	Python Games	Middle school