Emerging technologies like Data Science, Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) have shown their potential in the past few years. They will continue impacting businesses and consumers alike in the future too. Coding is at the heart of these technologies, and in future, it may become a skill that will not remain limited only to the field of information technology.

Coding among kids, of late, has become hugely popular, which has resulted in an increased awareness of Computer Science education and the importance of learning Coding at the school level. Even the  National Education Policy 2020 affirms the importance of Computer Science education in the school curriculum, with teaching Coding as a subject right from the middle grades to the inclusion of AI in the relevant grades. 

Coding competitions for kids are becoming increasingly popular. With tech giants like HPE, Google and many others collaborating with schools and coding platforms encourage kids to learn coding at a global level and across age groups. These competitions are a fun way to motivate children to learn to code and provide them platforms to gauge their competencies at a global level. Parents should also encourage their kids to participate in these competitions, as they are planned across age levels and can help cultivate a growth mindset where they view winning and losing positively.

Here I share a few reasons why children should keep learning through competitions: 

1. Competitions encourage problem-Solving skills

Coding competitions usually involve solving quizzes in a set time frame. These competitions, accordingly, start getting more challenging towards the higher grades. Such competitions help build analytical and problem-solving skills, which are considered healthy and recommended by psychologists as a brain development exercise for students.

2. Competitions gamify learning CS

Gamification of learning is one the best ways of introducing CS to kids, especially for the early ages. Gamifying Coding learning not only helps capture their full attention but also generates their interest in learning the language. Python and Java are considered to be some of the easiest coding languages for beginners.

Game developing Coding competitions allow kids to show their creativity in building interactive games which then can be showcased and played on. 

3. Prepare kids for future real-life situations 

One of the foremost benefits of coding competitions is that it attempts to understand what their future could look like if they pursue coding as their profession. This also helps clarify finding out the right career path for the future. Kids can accordingly select and start working on their area of interest right from an early age. For example: In competitions organized by tech companies, students often win internship opportunities, which may give them a know-how of how an actual coding job may be. Typically in Hackathons students think out of the box to come up with a solution. This encourages ground-up innovation skills.

4. Help kids interact with like minded-peers and develop teamwork skills

In the presence of the right company, one continuously learns something new. These competitions, too, provide a platform for students to compete and interact with their like-minded peers, which often encourages and inspires them.

Several big tech firms organize coding competitions at different levels, where they invite schools and colleges to participate and compete amongst each other at national and international levels. In addition, group coding competitions allow students to work and compete in teams. This helps them inculcate teamwork and at the same time gives them a feeling of belongingness.

5. Give a quick sneak-peek into kids learning capabilities 

Competitions allow a quick sneak-peek into a child’s learning capabilities, giving an accurate picture of how well they are learning. In other words, competition-based learning is becoming hugely popular across the edtech players, schools and among parents, teachers and students alike, as it shows the almost immediate impact and the result of online learning in the current times.

6. Encouraging entrepreneurship at a young age

Being part of competitions helps students taste what competing in the real world could be like. Competitions also provide students with a platform to confront real-world issues and develop solutions to solve them. Some competitions also allow students to earn extra bucks or even secure a scholarship, giving them a taste of being independent and responsible.