How to crack coding as your 2024 resolution!

The decorations are down, the nights are long (and seriously lacking in festive twinkly lights), and Spring seems ages away! But, the New Year’s resolutions are freshly made and hopes are high.

And, if you’ve got the goal of coding more in 2024 (yourself, or with children) and are feeling a bit overwhelmed, remember you’ve got this! We know it can feel daunting, especially if you’ve never coded before, so we’ve put together some tips to help you stay on track this year.

Setting an elaborate goal can seem really exciting at the time especially if you’re caught up in the moment. But sometimes once you embark on such lofty targets it can all feel a bit too much; so much so it’s easy to throw the towel in. So, we recommend starting small!

For example, if you’re not a runner but you want to take up running you wouldn’t start with a marathon, instead, you’d begin running a few times a week for 20 minutes at a time and gradually build up.

Well, the same goes for learning how to code; set bite-sized, achievable aims to ensure you don’t get overwhelmed, and let the smaller achievements be the impetus for the bigger ones.

Square image, cream background, dark grey stars border, text in the center reads "Happy 2024 New Year!"

A few useful tips to help get you started this new year:

  • You could maybe set a weekly target to help you meet your goals; plan it out, and meet targets week by week. 
  • Commit to a schedule - the same time each day can help you with consistency and dedication.
  • Do a little every day instead of cramming lots into one day; this will also help you retain what you’re learning.
  • Make your goals public knowledge - tell your friends and family about your goals (and progress) as this will make it harder for you to give up.
  • Learning to code isn’t just about watching videos and tutorials or reading articles, you have to also get stuck in and do it! So, consider messing about with someone else’s code as part of your learning process.
  • Be kind to yourself - remember that one little setback doesn’t mean you’ve failed. Failure and challenges are part of the process and you should think of them as stepping stones, not roadblocks. As the saying goes: ‘You only fail when you stop trying!’

And if you feel spurred on to give scratch coding a go, as your 2024 New Year resolution, and want more information or a 14-day trial of Rainforest Coding, click here: RainforestCoding - Coding Games for Kids