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4 min read 5 stepsApril 20, 2026Verified April 2026

Code.org: Free Coding Lessons and Hour of Code Activities for Students and Beginners

Code.org offers free, structured coding courses and the famous Hour of Code activity for children of all ages — no prior experience required.

At a Glance

Visit Code.org and explore the catalog

~18s

Go to code.org in a web browser. On the home page, click "Learn" in the top menu to see the full catalog of courses and activities. For the Hour of Code, click "Learn" and then "Hour of Code Activities" to find the themed one-hour tutorials. For structured courses, look under "Courses for Students."

Choose the right starting activity

~31s

For young children ages 4 to 7, start with "Course A" or "Course B" under CS Fundamentals — these use pictures and simple drag-and-drop blocks. For children ages 8 to 10, "Course D" or "Course E" introduce more complex concepts. For older beginners ages 11 and up, "CS Discoveries" covers web design, programming, and data science in a project-based format.

Quick Tip

Quick Tip: If your child is not sure where to start, try an Hour of Code activity first. It takes about an hour, requires no sign-up, and gives a good feel for what Code.org has to offer.

Create a free student account

~21s

Click "Sign In" at the top of the code.org website and then "Create Account." Choose "Student" as the account type. Students can sign up with a Google account, a Microsoft account, or a personal email. For children under 13, a parent email or parent-monitored address is recommended. The account saves all progress so your child can pick up where they left off.

Work through lessons at a comfortable pace

~30s

Inside a course, each lesson appears as a numbered puzzle. Your child will receive instructions, a hint button, and feedback when they complete each step. There is no timer and no pressure — students can take as long as they need on each puzzle and revisit completed lessons anytime. Encourage your child to try to solve each puzzle on their own before using the hint.

Quick Tip

Quick Tip: Code.org has an offline activity library at code.org/unplugged for days when internet access is unavailable. These hands-on activities teach programming concepts without a computer.

Print a certificate upon course completion

~19s

When your child finishes a full course, Code.org generates a printable completion certificate with their name. This is a meaningful motivator for younger children. Go to the course page and click the certificate option at the end of the final lesson. Print it and hang it somewhere visible as a recognition of their achievement.

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Code.org is a nonprofit organization with a mission to bring computer science education to every school in the world. Its website offers completely free, structured coding courses for students from kindergarten through high school, as well as for adults who want to learn programming fundamentals. Everything on Code.org is browser-based — there is nothing to download, and courses work on any device with a modern web browser.

The most well-known offering from Code.org is the Hour of Code — a one-hour introduction to programming concepts wrapped in themes from popular movies and games, including Minecraft, Star Wars, Frozen, and more. These activities use the same drag-and-drop block coding approach as Scratch, making them approachable for children as young as 5 or 6.

Beyond the Hour of Code, Code.org has complete courses called CS Fundamentals (for ages 4–10) and CS Discoveries (for ages 10–14) that cover everything from basic algorithms to web design and app development. These courses are broken into short lessons that each take 15 to 45 minutes, making them easy to fit into a school day or an after-school routine.

Students can create a free Code.org account to save their progress and earn certificates when they complete courses. Teachers and parents can also create classroom accounts to monitor student progress, assign specific courses, and view completion data. Code.org is used by over 70 million students in the United States and is supported by major technology companies and the US government.

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Scratch: Free Visual Coding Platform for Kids from MIT — No Experience Needed

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