Coding Classes for 9 and 10 Year Olds in Australia

In short

Coding classes for 9 and 10 year olds take children from simple Scratch animations to complete games with scores, timers, levels and moving enemies, using variables and the stage's coordinate grid. Many children of this age are ready to start Python too. The Australian Curriculum expects the same growth: by the end of Year 6, students implement algorithms "as visual programs that include variables and respond to input".

Start here

Three strong courses for ages 9 and 10

Choose by whether your child is new to coding, already confident in Scratch, or keen on games above all.

KNIN / 01

Game Development for Kids

For game-mad 9 and 10 year olds: complete Scratch games, then Roblox and Minecraft worlds.

Open the syllabus →

KNIN / 02

Python and AI for Kids

For children already happy in Scratch who are ready to type real code, from nine.

Open the syllabus →

KNIN / 03

Coding for Kids

For complete beginners of this age: a year-long path that moves quickly through Scratch.

Open the syllabus →

This age

What nine and ten year olds can build

This is the age when children start to finish projects on their own and improve them without being asked. A typical term ends with a game a sibling actually wants to play.

Coding at nine and at ten (our teaching experience)
	Typical nine year old	Typical ten year old
Projects	A complete Scratch game with a score and a timer	A game with levels, lives and several kinds of enemy
Ideas	Variables, coordinates, simple decisions	Lists, messages between sprites, first functions
Typing	Short words and numbers	Comfortable enough to start Python
Debugging	Finds and fixes most bugs with a hint	Tests deliberately to find bugs before others do
Next step	Larger Scratch projects	Python, web pages or Roblox Studio

Scratch or Python at this age?

Both. Most nine year olds still gain a lot from Scratch, because it lets them build big, ambitious games without typing errors getting in the way. Most ten year olds who are confident in Scratch are ready for Python.

The two support each other: ideas learned in Scratch, such as variables and coordinates, turn up again in Python with almost the same meaning.

Signs your child is ready for Python

They build Scratch projects with several sprites and variables, they get annoyed when a project becomes hard to organise, and they type short words without hunting for every key.

Our page on moving from Scratch to Python goes through the handover step by step.

Most Australian nine and ten year olds are in Year 4 or Year 5, depending on the state and their birthday. Younger siblings may suit our guide for 7 and 8 year olds, and older ones the page for 11 and 12 year olds.

A worked example

The Scratch stage is a 480 by 360 grid

Almost every game a ten year old wants to make depends on one idea: knowing exactly where things are. In Scratch, every position on the stage is a pair of numbers.

Scratch's own source code fixes the stage at 480 steps wide and 360 steps tall. The centre of the stage is the point (0, 0). So x, the left-and-right number, runs from -240 at the left edge to 240 at the right, and y, the up-and-down number, runs from -180 at the bottom to 180 at the top. Blocks such as go to x: ... y: ... and change x by ... use exactly these numbers.

Key points on the Scratch stage (our worked example)
Where	x	y	What children use it for
Centre	0	0	Starting position for the player
Right edge	240	any	Detecting when the player runs off screen
Top-left corner	-240	180	Placing a score label out of the way
Bottom edge	any	-180	The floor for falling objects
Bottom-right corner	240	-180	Where enemies enter in many games

Numbers hiding in the grid

Multiply the sides and the stage holds 480 times 360, which is 172,800 square steps. From the centre to any corner is 240 across and 180 up or down.

That corner distance is exactly 300 steps, because 240, 180 and 300 are 60 times the famous 3, 4, 5 triangle. Ten year olds will not need Pythagoras for years, but they enjoy checking with a ruler on screen that the diagonal really is 300.

What children do with it

They make a ball bounce by checking whether its x is past 240 or its y is past 180 and turning it round. They spread enemies evenly by placing them at x = -180, -60, 60 and 180.

They make a falling apple reappear at the top by setting y to 180 and choosing a random x between -240 and 240.

Predict the position

Before running, children write down where a sprite should end up after a few moves, then check the x and y Scratch shows.

Find the bug

When a sprite vanishes, the coordinates usually explain why: it went past an edge. Reading the numbers turns a mystery into a fix.

Carry it to Python

Python drawing and game libraries use coordinates too, so a child who owns the Scratch grid has already learned half of their first Python game.

Source, read 7 October 2026: the Scratch Foundation's open-source scratch-vm engine, file src/engine/runtime.js, where STAGE_WIDTH returns 480 and STAGE_HEIGHT returns 360. The corner distance and area are our arithmetic, checked in Python.

Variables

Variables: the idea that turns animations into games

A variable is a named box that holds a value which can change: a score, a number of lives, a timer, a level. Nine and ten year olds meet variables properly, and it changes what they can make.

Variables in a typical first complete game
Variable	Starts at	Changes when	Game ends when
score	0	The player catches a star: change score by 1	Never, it only goes up
lives	3	The player touches an enemy: change lives by -1	lives reaches 0
timer	60	Each second passes: change timer by -1	timer reaches 0
level	1	score passes 10: change level by 1	level passes 3, the player wins

Why variables feel hard at first

A variable is invisible. Children cannot see the box, only its effects. That is why we show variables on screen while the game runs, so a child can watch the score change as it happens.

Once they see it, most nine year olds grasp it within a lesson, and they start inventing variables of their own: speed, power-ups, bonus points.

Where it leads

Variables lead to decisions that depend on them ("if lives is 0, stop the game"), then to lists, which are collections of values such as a high-score table.

In Python the same idea is written as plain text, score = 0, so the concept transfers almost unchanged.

The Australian Curriculum

How this lines up with Years 4 to 6 at school

Nine and ten year olds sit across the Years 3 and 4 band and the Years 5 and 6 band of the Australian Curriculum v9. The band descriptions show the step up clearly.

Digital Technologies around ages 9 and 10, Australian Curriculum v9 (quoted)
Point in school	In the curriculum's words
By the end of Year 4	children design and implement "solutions as visual programs"
Years 3 and 4 (AC9TDI4K03)	"recognise different types of data and explore how the same data can be represented differently depending on the purpose"
Years 5 and 6 (AC9TDI6P03)	"design a user interface for a digital system"
By the end of Year 6	students implement algorithms "as visual programs that include variables and respond to input"

Variables and input arrive on time

The Year 6 band description names variables and input explicitly. That is exactly what a game with a score and keyboard controls contains, so the projects on this page are not extra to the curriculum: they are it, done with more ambition.

States and territories implement the curriculum in their own ways, so the exact timing at your child's school may differ.

Designing for someone else

For the user interface description, ACARA's example is "drawing the designed layout of the landing page of an app to order lunches from the school canteen". Designing for a real user is a big step for ten year olds.

We use the same idea: children sketch the start screen of their game before building it, and ask a classmate to try it.

Quotations from ACARA's Foundation to Year 6 Digital Technologies content, read on 7 October 2026.

A term of games

Projects a nine or ten year old can finish

Each project adds one idea on top of the last, so by the end of a term the child is combining them without help.

A term of projects for ages 9 and 10
Project	New idea	Uses the stage grid how
Bouncing ball	Edges and direction	Turns round past x = 240 or y = 180
Apple catcher	A score variable	Apples restart at y = 180, random x
Maze runner	Walls and lives	The start point is a fixed (x, y)
Space defender	Enemies as clones	Enemies spaced at fixed x positions
Quiz show	Asking and checking answers	Buttons placed by coordinates

Children who love games may want our dedicated guide to game development for kids, which follows the path from Scratch to a real engine.

Stages

Four stages for nine and ten year olds

With one lesson a week, most children of this age reach the third stage within a school year.

Coding stages at ages 9 and 10
Stage	What your child can do
1. Coordinates	Places and moves sprites precisely using x and y, and explains where they will end up
2. Variables	Builds a game with a score, lives and a timer that all work together
3. Complete games	Designs, builds and tests a game with levels that someone else enjoys playing
4. First Python	Rewrites a small Scratch game as a Python program and explains the differences

Is this too much screen time?

Coding is making, not watching, and children of this age often spend time away from the screen sketching levels and planning rules.

One or two lessons a week, plus some optional tinkering, is plenty for steady progress.

Fitting into the school year

Many families keep lessons going across the four school terms and pause over the summer holidays. Billing is monthly.

We agree a regular day and time in the free first class.

The catalogue

Courses for ages 9 and 10

Grouped by what your child most wants to make.

I

Games

The favourite at this age

KNIN / GAME / 01

Game Development for Kids

Complete games in Scratch, Roblox and Minecraft.

Open the syllabus

KNIN / GAME / 02

Roblox Game Coding

Luau in Roblox Studio, from age eight.

Open the syllabus

KNIN / GAME / 03

Scratch Coding for Kids

For children new to Scratch.

Open the syllabus

II

Text coding

Ready to type

KNIN / TEXT / 01

Python and AI for Kids

First Python, turtle drawings and small AI projects.

Open the syllabus

KNIN / TEXT / 02

Web Development for Kids

Real web pages with HTML and CSS.

Open the syllabus

KNIN / TEXT / 03

Maths Through Coding

Python and maths together, from ten.

Open the syllabus

III

Making and thinking

Other interests

KNIN / MAKE / 01

App Making for Kids

Phone apps built with blocks.

Open the syllabus

KNIN / MAKE / 02

Vibe Coding for Kids

Scratch and kid-safe AI tools.

Open the syllabus

KNIN / MAKE / 03

AI Literacy for Kids

How AI works and how to use it wisely, from eight.

Open the syllabus

How lessons run

Live lessons that suit Australian families

The teaching team works in India, behind Australia by a few hours whichever state you are in. Australian after-school and weekend slots therefore sit inside the Indian working day.

Weekday, after school

The most popular choice for this age.

Weekday, early evening

Fits around afternoon sport.

Weekend

A longer session for ambitious game builders.

A free first class

Your child builds part of a small game and the teacher judges whether Scratch or Python suits better.

Groups

Fifteen to twenty children of similar ability who play-test each other's games.

One to one

For a child who wants to move faster or build one big project.

Built by the child

Teachers explain and question. Every block and line is the child's.

Watch any time

Lessons are live, so parents can see exactly how they run.

School tasks stay theirs

We never complete school assessment work.

Student work

Projects built by our students

A few of our students' finished projects. Many began with a bouncing ball at nine or ten. See more in our student labs.

AI and ML

NutriLife

An AI nutrition coach that reads what you eat and works you toward a target.

by Bhavya · Open it

AI and ML

Misti

A chatbot that answers mathematics and programming questions, built and deployed by a student.

by Harshit · Open it

AI and ML

GuardianX

An assistant that helps a young person recognise unsafe situations online.

by Vivaan · Open it

Web app

SkyCast

A weather forecasting site with live conditions for any location.

by Krish

Fees

Fees for ages 9 and 10

Families in Australia pay a monthly fee in US dollars, with no charge to join and no contract.

Free first class

USD 0

no card required

Part of a small game, built together
Advice on Scratch or Python
No card or bank details

Book it

Group batch

USD 100

a month, billed in US dollars

Fifteen to twenty children per group
A regular teacher
Classmates who play-test games
Stop after any month

Start here

One to one

USD 150

a month, billed in US dollars

Your child's project, your child's pace
Flexible timing
Ideal for an ambitious game

Enquire

What families say

Rated 4.9 across 547 Google reviews

As written by parents and students on our Google profile, without edits.

★★★★★

"The one step solution for my son. Modern Age Coders make learning coding so simple that kids love it. The teachers explain complex concepts clearly with practical exercises and interactive content."

Ria Mukherjee

Parent

★★★★★

"Modern Age Coders has been a game-changer for me. I struggled to grasp IT concepts and coding before joining, but their classes transformed everything. I can now confidently write complex programs with ease."

Samriddha Mondal

Student

★★★★★

"One of the most wonderful education centres out there. Education is not limited to school syllabus but focuses on skill development."

Vansh Agarwal

Student

★★★★★

"My child Dhairya is really enjoying the Modern Age Coders classes. This is his first online class and he eagerly looks forward to it. I can already see his improvement, and the teachers are very cooperative."

Sonam Oswal

Parent of Dhairya

★★★★★

"Modern Age Coders have wonderful teachers who teach in a clear, easy and practical way. The teacher boosts students' confidence and inspires them to learn without hesitation."

Sonu Goyal

Parent

★★★★★

"I highly recommend this computer coding class! The teachers are incredibly knowledgeable and passionate about coding."

Ritu Kedia

Parent

Questions from parents

What parents of 9 and 10 year olds ask

What coding should a 9 year old learn?

Most nine year olds do well building complete games in Scratch with variables and coordinates. Confident nine year olds can start Python alongside.

Can a 10 year old learn Python?

Yes. Many ten year olds who are comfortable in Scratch and can type short words are ready for Python, especially for games and drawing projects.

What is a variable in coding?

A variable is a named place that stores a value which can change while a program runs, such as a score, a number of lives or a timer.

How big is the Scratch stage?

The Scratch stage is 480 steps wide and 360 steps tall, with (0, 0) in the centre. So x runs from -240 to 240 and y from -180 to 180.

What are coordinates in Scratch?

Coordinates are the pair of numbers, x and y, that say exactly where a sprite is on the stage. Blocks such as go to x and y, and change x by, use them to move sprites precisely.

Is my 9 year old too young for game development?

No. Nine is a great age to build complete games in Scratch. Real engines such as Unity are better left until the teenage years.

What does the curriculum expect by Year 6?

The Australian Curriculum v9 expects students to design algorithms with branching and iteration and implement them as visual programs that include variables and respond to input.

Should my child learn Roblox coding?

If they love Roblox, it is a motivating route into a real text language, Luau. We usually suggest some Scratch first if they have never coded.

How much practice should they do between lessons?

None is required. Many children choose to tinker with their games between lessons, which speeds progress, but the lessons stand on their own.

What does it cost?

There is no charge for the first lesson, and no card details are needed. Monthly fees for group and private lessons are listed under Fees, with nothing to pay on joining.

Elsewhere on this site

Related pages

More for Australian families of children around nine and ten.

Coding classes in Australia

Our Australian guides, gathered in one list.

Coding for 11 and 12 year olds

Binary, data and getting ready for high school.

After Scratch: Python

The move from blocks to text.

Game development for kids

From Scratch games to real engines.

Coding for 10 year olds

Our general guide for ten year olds.

Python for 10 year olds

What a first Python course looks like at ten.

Start here

Book a free first class

Send your details and we will ring at a convenient time. In the free class your child builds part of a small game with a teacher, and you leave knowing whether Scratch or Python is the better starting point.

If you would rather read first, how we teach walks through a real lesson and the full course list shows the road ahead.

WhatsApp us · +91 91233 66161 · connect@modernagecoders.com

Many Australian families reach us fastest on WhatsApp. We are based in India, so the number begins +91, and we do not run an office in Australia.

Want a class sooner? Book a priority demo

A priority demo is a full class of about 45 to 60 minutes. After the class the mentor sends a written skill report and a personal learning roadmap on WhatsApp. If you enrol, the demo fee is adjusted against your first month's fee. Share your demo Order ID with us on WhatsApp and we take it off.

Book a priority demo

Three strong courses for ages 9 and 10

Game Development for Kids

Python and AI for Kids

Coding for Kids

What nine and ten year olds can build

Scratch or Python at this age?

Signs your child is ready for Python

The Scratch stage is a 480 by 360 grid

Numbers hiding in the grid

What children do with it

Predict the position

Find the bug

Carry it to Python

Variables: the idea that turns animations into games

Why variables feel hard at first

Where it leads

How this lines up with Years 4 to 6 at school

Variables and input arrive on time

Designing for someone else

Projects a nine or ten year old can finish

Four stages for nine and ten year olds

Is this too much screen time?

Fitting into the school year

Courses for ages 9 and 10

Games

Game Development for Kids

Roblox Game Coding

Scratch Coding for Kids

Text coding

Python and AI for Kids

Web Development for Kids

Maths Through Coding

Making and thinking

App Making for Kids

Vibe Coding for Kids

AI Literacy for Kids

Live lessons that suit Australian families

A free first class

Groups

One to one

Built by the child

Watch any time

School tasks stay theirs

Projects built by our students

NutriLife

Misti

GuardianX

SkyCast

Fees for ages 9 and 10

Rated 4.9 across 547 Google reviews

What parents of 9 and 10 year olds ask

What coding should a 9 year old learn?

Can a 10 year old learn Python?

What is a variable in coding?

How big is the Scratch stage?

What are coordinates in Scratch?

Is my 9 year old too young for game development?

What does the curriculum expect by Year 6?

Should my child learn Roblox coding?

How much practice should they do between lessons?

What does it cost?

Related pages

Coding classes in Australia

Coding for 11 and 12 year olds

After Scratch: Python

Game development for kids

Coding for 10 year olds

Python for 10 year olds

Book a free first class

Want a class sooner? Book a priority demo

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