Hopscotch looks great, and is really easy and intuitive to use, it helps children develop programming logic and have fun at the same time.

I was really impressed when first playing with this app, and have shown it to loads of people since and they’ve all loved it.

When you first load Hopscotch up you can see different projects from the community, with featured, how to’s, most branched, and newest tabs available it’s easy to explore and see what others are using the app for. To get into the app you’ll want to create something yourself. On the create tab there are 4 options, 1 a completely blank project, and 3 other basic projects that have already been started.

The Monkey Run project is reminiscent of a classic game called Frogger. Loading it up presents you with the following screen.

You can play the game just by tapping the iPad. After completing it and reaching the bananas another text prompt is coded to appear to edit the project and add another gorilla. At this point you’re free to add whatever you want to the project in terms of objects, and then the logic needs to be added. Selecting an object shows the options for when the command should run, then actions can be added to the command. There are pre-made blocks – called abilities, which combine multiple actions such as “Break Dance”, or “Do a Backflip”. With the inclusion of conditional statements, like ‘if’ and ‘then’, the possibilities really are endless.

The app is free on the app store (with optional in app purchases for extra characters), but there’s also an education edition which comes with all the characters unlocked.

Below is a video featuring Hopscotch co-founders talking about children getting excited about coding.

Learn more about Hopscotch on the Hopscotch website