Why Choose Us?
Your child will have more FUN at Coding NPs’ legendary coding summer camp AND gain more valuable STEM skills than at the big institutional “camp factories”
We revolutionized kids coding by introducing the idea of having them write their own video games. Many have imitated us, but nobody comes close to our magic mix of a friendly space for all genders, creative freedom, positive encouragement, peer recognition, and… joy.
On Friday, they may not want to leave our summer camp! Don’t worry, this is normal!
We keep our class sizes small to maintain the best in-person “learn to code experience” possible for your child. We also use these small class sizes to increase engagement between students, and they’ll love socializing with other kids throughout the week!
Whether they’re a beginner or an expert, and no matter what age they are, our classes are designed to fit the needs of any student, with minimal “lecture” time, and tons of hands-on, fully-supported learning from teachers who have the time to get to know your kid. Our “pay what you can” program also strives to make classes affordable for all students.
We pioneered this concept 13 years ago, and now have the most experienced teachers you’re likely to find anywhere. Our talented, dedicated teachers are trained to help your child gain the confidence and strategy to approach coding effectively, and they truly care that students enjoy themselves and feel fully supported.
Our coding summer camps don’t just teach kids to code- they give them the tools they need to succeed in any STEM pursuit. Our teachers are trained, more than anything else, to help kids develop resilience to making mistakes, to focus on solutions rather than problems, to break down and prioritize tasks, and the joy of learning.
STEM Skills Our Coding Camps Teach
Our summer camps are about so much more than just code. We’ve worked hard to create a system where your kids bring THEIR ideas to life, giving them an unmatched feeling of accomplishment and pride in their work. Here’s how we set your student up with the skills they need to succeed in any pursuit, within STEM or otherwise
Summer Camp Details
We meet Monday-Friday at the beautiful Good Shepherd Center, and offer a variety of times:
Coding Camp Schedule
Our summer camps are our flagship learning experience, designed to create the best possible environment for kids to learn coding. Here’s why it works so well:
Show Up
Make something cool with computers
Small Breaks
Every 45m to keep minds fresh
Rest
Commit everything to long term memory
Ready for Another Day!
providing access for all students
Our “Pay What You Can” Program
We are committed to serving families across Seattle neighborhoods, making sure our classes are affordable for ALL KIDS, regardless of financial ability. But as a parent-supported grassroots organization, the only way that works is if everyone helps each other, including paying the retail price if you can. So please carefully consider your budget, and the educational value, and pay as much as you can afford, so we can continue this policy for the next student in your community.
Our Reviews
Don’t take our word for it- here’s what other parents say
Our Method
Over the past 11 years, “Founder Dad” Eric Fredrickson has developed the “Creative Coding Method” of teaching kids to code at CreativeCoding.com, which he founded and ran from 2013-2024 prior to getting hired at our nonprofit Coding NP as Executive Director. His entire teaching staff followed him here and now teach for Coding NP. This summer we will continue to teach and inspire kids to code using these core principles of the Creative Coding Method.
Boys and girls and every variation on the gender spectrum must feel welcome and safe. It’s been the core of our training from the very beginning. Everything starts with kids feeling safe and being kind to each other.
The most important thing is to make sure the kids are having fun, and are fully engaged with their own creative project. We celebrate successes and mistakes. It’s all a part of their coding adventure. If they’re having fun as they create, we literally cannot stop them from learning!
Every class confronts your child with the question “What do you want to make?” Then we help them do it! Nothing is more exciting than your child’s own ideas. Every session is a non-sequential learning experience driven by their own project.
Our teachers engage with students, and are trained to see non-verbal signs of frustration. They aren’t there to give answers, but to lead your child through the process of finding answers. By jumping in at the right time with effective questions, your child will discover and create their own solutions for bugs or new features. We are teaching them to teach themselves.
Coding is hard. Your child will fail a million times before they succeed – but it feels incredible when they face adversity and emerge victorious with a solution they discovered on their own! Our teachers give students guidance during this emotional cycle and help them navigate barriers.
After taking our class, your kids will get excited about facing a tough problem because they’ve developed a taste for success. They’ll think, “Wow this is really hard… and it’ll feel GREAT when I succeed!”
FAQs
In our summer camps, we want kids to be able to focus on having fun and learning the coding FUNDAMENTALS- loops, conditional logic, bug location, consistent testing, and so much more. The block-based coding provided by Scratch provides the perfect structure for this and also allows our classes to be incredibly inclusive, regardless of a student’s age or ability. As an added bonus, the blocks look less intimidating to kids, which goes a long way to lowering the barriers to getting started in STEM.
Lastly, reports from previous students indicate that focusing on programming logic over syntax actually helps kids way more than tackling both at the same time, translating to way more success, confidence and comfort with coding as kids grow and learn more common languages.
Kids also LOVE making games and sharing them with their peers, and Scratch allows kids a ton of freedom to get creative, or even to recreate their favorite games. Additionally, Scratch has a very high learning ceiling, allowing us to teach increasingly complex programming concepts as kids progress, enabling our “endlessly repeatable” class structure.
No! We strive to make our classes affordable and accessible to all students, so our nonprofit is committed to providing Chromebooks to all kids who want to take our coding classes.
Yes! We’ve seem countless of our students return to tell us that they have benefited greatly from our classes, and look back on their time with us fondly. Don’t take our word for it though. Below are some links showing that data and experts agree!