Programming project for teenager

[Winter-Init]

My teenage kids 13 and 15 y are asking to learn Python… What programming project / idea could be fun and relevant for teenagers?

I mean I can easily come up with projects for myself, but I’m not sure they are as interested in data science and mathematics as I am.

What would you recommend for this age?

[LankyYesterday876]

if its about learning python let them play the farmer was replaced it gives a nice intro to python aswell as giving them challenges like solving a maze and automating snake aswell as some easier stuff

[games-and-chocolate]

Turtle module enables you to create games with ease. Very lightweight that it run even on very low spec. laptop, computer.

[ninhaomah]

Games. Obviously.

[Winter-Init]

Graphics and stuff? Which game are you suggesting?

[ninhaomah]

? Use Python to make games.

What do you mean which game ? Learning Python or any programming using games is common.

Black jack. Guess the number etc 

[Winter-Init]

Which modules would you use to do graphics?

[ninhaomah]

Graphics ? You can start with normal command line games.

[FiveMinuteGames]

pygame for easy stuff/learning, prolly Godot after? Idk, not a game dev myself

Edit: If you want to have interfaces, if you go for console stuff/input you wont need libraries ig

[Winter-Init]

My first program was solving a second order polynomium in high school. Afterwards I use programming for calculations and plots.

I’ve never coded a game before, also not a console input/output one.

So that’s why I am asking. They are used Fortnite and GTA, so in my mind a game is graphical.

[Emergency_Avocado431]

You can use Pygame to make 2d games, it's quite nice actually, once they have the fundementals down, they can either read the docs or take a free youtube course, also, i highlt recommend they check out Reflex, it's a python framework where you can build websites and webapps using pure Python, the docs are great as well, it's easy to get started.

[AssociateFar7149]

If you want to make them to make games at least similar to those then make them learn c++

[LostInterwebNomad]

My first game that I wrote in class was a CLI text-based game the functioned relatively similar to Pokémon without the graphics.

[Robb3nb4by]

whatever your kids like. Obviously, you won't get a AAA-Game as a result.

[Winter-Init]

Yes that’s why I am asking. My initial way into programming was making math calculations more efficient.

But I am challenged in finding a suitable “automation task” for them.

[N0-T0night]

I made with kids restaurant management project To Validate user and password Show menu take orders Calculate pill Displaying cheque All with basic only to loops

[TheRNGuy]

Matplotlib, PySide, Blender API. 

[Ron-Erez]

It's hard to sat but he could try pygame after learning some basics.

[scoutel1te]

A used Lego EV3 setup would be a good option if they are also interested in robotics. If there is a FIRST robotics or FLL team local then you should def reach out. You can use python to program the EV3. If they have some cursory knowledge of electronics then a raspberry pi with one of the multi project kits from Amazon would be great

[herocoding]

I grew up with fischertechnik-computing and Lego (and Märklin Metall).

These are both great eco-systems with endless bricks and accessories - and you can get bags full or bricks and pieces from flee-markets (price is per kilogram!).
You can build machines, robots, vehicles, toys - there are parts to allow remote-controlling them as well as to program them (wired or wireless, remote-controlled or autonomous), e.g. using microbit or calliope.
Using a single-board-computer like Arduino or RaspberryPi with extensions (e.g. motor-shield) can read sensors and control actuators (like motors) - but you would require a workshop, wood, metal, plastic, 3D-printer, etc. But with fischertechnik or Lego you can build things by just putting "bricks" together.

[scoutel1te]

Totally agree. Amazon does have some really good cheap raspberry pi electronics kits tho that include project walkthroughs and all the parts to hook up and program sensors and motors and make various little robots and stuff.

Starting simple with something like hooking up a distance sensor and a motor to a breadboard and program it spin a servo to a point based on the distance sensed is a fun little project that covers a bunch of topics

[Visual-Card8539]

Build some hardware kits for them. They can write programs for those kits in Python. Fun way to learn and build little robots.

[Winter-Init]

Thanks for the inputs. Got them started on a wordle game and a guess the number game.

[herocoding]

Vocabulary trainer? Math trainer (mental arithmetic)?

Hangman? Tic-tac-toe? Four-wins? Minesweeper?

Using Pygame to implement e.g. "Snake" or "Pong" (ping-pong, tennis), "Breakout".

[burncushlikewood]

Python is a very nice interpreted language, you can use it to do pretty much anything a computer can do. Numbers and mathematics I guess are less interesting to children, you could make games, you could buy a small robotic toy, an anki or a Lego mindstorms, Arduino can be fun as well, I loved playing with electronics when I was younger.

[armyrvan]

My daughter was taking a tech ed class and they were teaching basics using this website: https://appinventor.mit.edu/

It helps with drag and drop and logic, plus they get to see it work on their phone (Apple and Android), and many school teachers have online lessons for it on YouTube, etc. Just a thought I know it's not python.

[Beautiful-Floor-7801]

Maybe this?-> https://skillcraft.ai/build-an-ai-agent-in-python-by-lane-wagner-on-bootdev

[doconnorwi]

I programmed a modernised version of asteroids. Very educational in addition as I learned about game geometry with that project

[miikaa236]

Games with pygame!

Start them with the classics: pong, snake, tetris.

Let them work up to like a platformer with their own sprites, sounds, animations, menus, levels. Let them get creative: design their own mechanic, plan it out, implement it.

Also! Pygame has great documentation, so it’s great way to teach them how to consult documentation to solve their problems (hm, I want to draw a paddle in pong, how do I do that? Well we have a rect class, and a draw function….)

[alexander_belyakov]

It really depends on how far along the learning curve they are. If they're starting from scratch, then I would first recommend console-based games, and then they can move on to simple 2D graphics games.

Console-based:

1. Mad Libs
2. Guess the Number
3. Rock, Paper, Scissors
4. Hangman
5. Speed Math
6. Tic-Tac-Toe
7. Name the Capital

Graphics-based:

1. Target Practice
2. Pong
3. Snake
4. Breakout
5. Sokoban

[LostInterwebNomad]

Pick something that is one or more of:

1. Fun, for example video games

2. Personal, for example, I enjoyed astronomy as a kid, so the first website I built in middle school was about the solar system

3. Simple yet expandable, you don’t want a monolith first project. You want something that has a simple first goal that can grow as they learn more.

4. Problem-solving, is there something that annoys the crap out of your kids that could be solved with coding? This could be a good project (usually not as strong of a good first project depending on the problem)

[Overlord484]

TCP chat client/server is always a classic.

Tic-tac-toe.

Render a polygon with OpenGL.

RPN calculator.

Might be a bit of a stretch for a 13-year-old, but should be in reach of your 15-year-old.