In his book ‘Lifelong Kindergarten,’ Mitchel Resnick refers to the concept of little-c creativity. Little-c creativity occurs when you generate an idea that proves useful in your daily life. It doesn’t matter if similar ideas have been conceived by thousands or millions of people in the past. If the idea is novel and beneficial to you, it embodies little-c creativity. For instance, the invention of the paper clip represents BIG-C creativity, while every time someone discovers a new way to employ a paper clip in their everyday activities, it showcases little-c creativity.

Now, the question arises: what kind of activity precedes that enlightening “Aha!” moment when a fresh purpose for a paper clip is rediscovered? Although it may seem like these moments arise out of nowhere, they actually emerge after numerous cycles of imagining, creating, playing, sharing, and reflecting. These concepts are integral to the process of learning to program a computer, commonly known as coding. Similar to writing, where most individuals may not become professional journalists or novelists but it remains important for everyone to learn, coding follows a similar pattern. Most people may not pursue careers as professional programmers or computer scientists, yet acquiring fluency in coding holds value for all individuals. Mastering a language, be it verbal or coding, aids in the development of thinking skills, the expression of one’s voice, and the shaping of identity.

To foster the growth of creative thinkers among children, we must create environments where they feel comfortable making mistakes and where they can learn from those mistakes. This is one of the reasons why I find the prospect of children learning to code so exciting. Compared to many other activities, coding tends to be more forgiving. In traditional crafts like woodworking, once you cut a piece of wood in half or join two pieces together, it often becomes challenging to make adjustments. However, in coding, it is easier to undo whatever you’ve done. Writing code allows for testing, adjustment, and refinement with relative ease if necessary. 

So parents, think of coding as an approach to instill resilience in your children. It’s a great feeling when a piece of code you write works as intended, but it’s even more euphoric when you work out why a buggy program doesn’t work (and then share your learnings!).