Coding Classes for Kids in the Netherlands

In short

Modern Age Coders teaches coding live online to children in the Netherlands aged six to twelve. The youngest start with Scratch, building games from blocks; children from about eight build simple apps and learn what AI tools are and when not to trust them; from about nine, most move on to typed Python. Every lesson has a live teacher, children are grouped by what they can do, and a parent is involved from the first call. Lessons fit after school or at the weekend and need a laptop or desktop, not a phone or a social media account. The first lesson is free; after that a group place is USD 100 a month and one-to-one lessons USD 150.

Start here

Three courses most Dutch children start with

One for the youngest, one for the child ready to type real code, and one for any child who uses AI tools and should understand them. Each opens its own page with syllabus, timetable and fee.

KIDS / 01

Scratch Coding for Kids

Games built from blocks for children from six: characters that move, score points and react, and the first experience of finding and fixing a bug.

Open the syllabus →

KIDS / 02

Python and AI for Kids

For children of nine to twelve ready to type: turtle drawings, small games and a program that learns from examples, in real Python.

Open the syllabus →

KIDS / 03

AI Literacy for Kids

What a chatbot really is, why it can be confidently wrong, and what a child should never type into one, for children from eight.

Open the syllabus →

Screens with a purpose

What the 2025 Dutch screen guidelines say, and where coding fits

On 17 June 2025 the State Secretary for Youth, Prevention and Sport, Vincent Karremans, presented the Richtlijnen gezond en verantwoord scherm- en sociale mediagebruik. They were drawn up from research by scientists, experts and civil-society organisations, and they are advice to parents, not law.

The main points of the 2025 guidelines, as the government and the national early-childhood centre report them
Guideline	What it says
Under 2	Screen use is advised against
2 to 4	At most 30 minutes a day
12 and over	No more than 3 hours a day behind a screen
First smartphone	From groep 8
Social media such as Instagram and TikTok	From 15
Beyond the minutes	Balance screens with other activities, use media together, look for positive experiences
For young children	Calm media without violence; encourage play, movement and screen-free activities

The guidelines are careful not to treat every minute on a screen as the same. Healthy use, they say, is more than limiting time: it means balancing screens with other things, using media together and helping children have positive experiences online. They also stage the steps: chat apps such as WhatsApp in secondary school first, social media later.

Coding classes sit comfortably inside that advice. A child needs no phone and no social media account to learn to code, only a laptop or desktop at home. The screen is used to make something, not to scroll, and a teacher is present for the whole lesson.

For children aged six to twelve, where the guidelines give no single number, the guidance on balance and shared use matters most. Two short lessons a week are a small part of a child's screen time, and they can replace a less purposeful part of it rather than add to it.

Many parents sit with a younger child for the first few lessons, which is exactly the shared use the guidelines encourage. Older children usually want to work alone, and the teacher keeps them on task.

Sources: Rijksoverheid, Duidelijk advies voor ouders: wacht met sociale media tot 15 jaar (17 June 2025); Landelijk Expertisecentrum Jonge Kind, advies schermgebruik (2 to 4 years, calm media, screen-free play). Read 15 September 2026. The view that coding is purposeful screen time is ours, not the guidelines'.

The school years

Eight years of basisschool, and where coding classes sit beside them

Dutch children usually start school at four and must attend from five. Coding at home fits around the school years; it does not compete with them.

From four, compulsory at five

Every child living in the Netherlands is leerplichtig between 5 and 16. Leerplicht starts on the first day of the month after the fifth birthday, although most children already go to school at four. Our classes start at six, around groep 3, when reading takes off and a child can follow a simple instruction on screen.

At least 7,520 hours

Over eight school years a primary school must give at least 7,520 hours of teaching, with at least 3,520 in the first four years and 240 hours that schools may place where they choose. There is no legal maximum per day. Two short coding lessons a week at home are a very small addition to that.

One test at the end, changing

In groep 8 every pupil takes the doorstroomtoets, as a second opinion on the provisional school advice. In 2027 it falls between 25 January and 12 February. On 2 July 2026 the State Secretary, Judith Tielen, announced a plan for all pupils to take the same single test from the 2029/2030 school year, instead of a choice of six.

None of those school milestones involves coding, and none needs to. What a child builds with us is extra: something made for fun and for its own sake, which is also how most programmers started.

The most useful thing a parent can do is keep it light and regular. A child who codes for a short while twice a week for a year usually surprises everyone, including themselves.

In the groep 8 year, many families slow down around the doorstroomtoets and pick up again afterwards. That is a sensible rhythm, and lessons can pause without losing a place.

For older children, the page on coding classes for teens in the Netherlands continues the route from the brugklas onwards.

Sources: Rijksoverheid, leerplicht; Rijksoverheid, onderwijstijd; Rijksoverheid, when the doorstroomtoets is taken; Rijksoverheid news, 2 July 2026. All read 15 September 2026.

What children build

From a cat that moves to a program that learns

Children progress by making things. Each stage below produces something a child can show a parent, a grandparent or a friend.

At six or seven, a child in Scratch makes a character move, then makes it jump when a key is pressed, then turns that into a game with a score. The ideas underneath, sequences, loops and conditions, are the same ones every programmer uses, dressed as play.

From about eight, children can build simple apps with blocks and start to learn what AI tools are: where their answers come from, why they are sometimes wrong, and why personal details never go into them. More on these routes is on Scratch coding classes for kids and AI classes for kids.

From about nine, most children are ready to type real code. In Python they draw with a turtle, build small games and write a first program that learns a pattern from examples and then gets one wrong, which teaches more about AI than any explanation.

Ideas for projects at home are on Python projects for kids. The national AI and Python Academy shows where the route leads later.

The rungs for children

Blocks first, then apps, then real code

Children move up when they are ready, not when a birthday says so. The free lesson places each child, and the teacher moves them on when the current rung is comfortable.

The route for Dutch children aged 6 to 12
Stage	Usually	What the child makes
1. Blocks	Groep 3 to 5, ages 6 to 8	Games and animations in Scratch
2. Apps and AI literacy	Groep 5 to 6, ages 8 to 10	Simple apps with blocks, and a clear idea of what AI tools are
3. Typed Python	Groep 6 to 8, ages 9 to 12	Drawings, games and a first learning program in real code
4. Small projects	Groep 7 to 8	A finished project of their own, shown to the family
5. On to the teen route	From the brugklas	The next course, picked up without a gap

Why blocks come before typing

Young children can think logically long before they can type quickly or spell commands correctly. Blocks remove the typing and keep the thinking, so a six-year-old spends the lesson solving problems rather than hunting for keys.

The complete order of subjects is on the coding roadmap.

Fitting it around the basisschool

Most families choose a late-afternoon or weekend slot that avoids sport, music and homework. In groep 8, lessons are often kept light around the doorstroomtoets.

Children at international schools follow the same stages; the free lesson places them by what they can do.

The catalogue

Seven live courses for children aged 6 to 12

Grouped by age and stage. Each card opens the full course page with its schedule and fee, and the free lesson decides where a child actually begins.

I

Ages 6 to 8: blocks and first games

Playing with logic before typing anything

KIDS / BLOCK / 01

Scratch Coding for Kids

From a moving character to complete games with levels and scores, all in blocks, over about three months.

Open the syllabus

KIDS / BLOCK / 02

Minecraft Coding for Kids

Coding lessons set in a game world many children already know, a familiar place to practise loops, conditions and events.

Open the syllabus

II

Ages 8 to 10: apps, the web and AI explained

Making things other people can use, and understanding the tools

KIDS / APP / 01

App Making for Kids

Real apps built with blocks, such as a quiz, a timer or a drawing app, that a child can show on a tablet.

Open the syllabus

KIDS / AI / 01

AI Literacy for Kids

How AI tools produce their answers, how to check them, and what stays private, for children from eight.

Open the syllabus

KIDS / AI / 02

Vibe Coding for Kids

A child describes a game to an AI tool, gets a first version back, and learns to find and fix what it got wrong.

Open the syllabus

III

Ages 9 to 12: typed Python and first AI

Real code, real projects

KIDS / PY / 01

Python and AI for Kids

Typed Python from the first line: turtle art, games and a small program that learns from examples.

Open the syllabus

KIDS / WEB / 01

Web Development for Kids

Real websites built from HTML and CSS, from a first page to a small site about the child's own interests.

Open the syllabus

How the classes run

After school or at the weekend, with a teacher on screen

Our teachers work from India, which keeps one time all year while the Netherlands switches to summer time and back. The gap is three and a half hours in summer and four and a half in winter, which puts children's lessons naturally in the late afternoon or at the weekend. The regular time is agreed with the family during the free lesson.

After school

Late afternoon, Dutch time, once school and a snack are done. The favourite slot for most children.

Wednesday afternoon

Where a school finishes early, some families use the free afternoon. We arrange it where a teacher is available.

Weekend

Saturday or Sunday morning. Popular with families whose weekdays are full of sport and music.

A free first lesson

The child makes something real while the teacher watches how they think. By the end, the teacher knows where to start and the child usually wants to come back.

Small groups by level

Five to ten children who can already do the same things, from several countries, so a quick seven-year-old and a careful ten-year-old can each be in the right group.

One to one if it suits

For a child who is shy in groups, needs extra attention, or is racing ahead and wants their own pace.

A parent in the loop

We speak with a parent before anything is booked, and younger children often have a parent nearby for the first lessons.

In English

Lessons are in English. Children at Dutch schools usually pick up the programming words quickly, and teachers keep instructions simple and visual.

Things to show

Every few lessons a child finishes something they can show the family, which does more for motivation than any certificate.

Student work

What students have made

Four projects our students published online. More, including work by younger children, are on the student labs page.

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

What it costs for a child

Monthly, in US dollars, at the same rates as every other country outside India. No separate Dutch price, no enrolment fee and no year-long contract.

Free first class

USD 0

no card required

A real lesson, not a sales call
Places the child at the right level
No card or bank details asked

Book it

Group batch

USD 100

a month, billed in US dollars

Five to ten children at one level
The same live teacher each week
Work reviewed every week
A certificate at the end

Start here

One to one

USD 150

a month, billed in US dollars

A teacher for one child
Pace set around the child
Extra support where needed

Enquire

What families say

Rated 4.9 across 547 Google reviews

Reviews as parents and students posted them on Google. We do not write, change or pay for any of them.

★★★★★

"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 Dutch parents

What parents of young children in the Netherlands ask us

Does coding count as screen time?

Yes, and the 2025 Dutch guidelines say healthy use is about more than minutes: balance, using media together and positive experiences. A coding lesson is active and creative, with a teacher present, and it needs no phone or social media account.

What age can my child start?

From six, around groep 3, with Scratch. Children usually move to typed Python from about nine, and some earlier if they are ready.

My child cannot type quickly yet. Is that a problem?

Not at all. Young children start with blocks, which need no typing. Typing comes later, when a child is ready for it.

Should my child use AI tools?

Understanding them matters more than using them. Our AI literacy course teaches children from eight how these tools work, why they can be wrong and what never to type into them. Social media, which the Dutch guidelines advise waiting with until 15, plays no part in our lessons.

Should we pause in groep 8?

Many families slow down around the doorstroomtoets, which in 2027 falls between 25 January and 12 February, and pick up again afterwards. A place is kept during a pause.

Are the lessons in Dutch?

No, in English. Children at Dutch schools usually manage well, because the programming words are English anyway and teachers keep instructions short and visual.

Do I need to sit with my child?

For the youngest, in the first few lessons, it helps. Older children usually prefer to work alone, and the teacher keeps them focused.

What does it cost?

USD 100 a month for a place in a small group and USD 150 a month for one-to-one lessons, billed in US dollars, with no joining fee and no yearly contract. The first lesson is free.

When are the lessons?

After school or at the weekend, Dutch time. Teachers are three and a half hours ahead in summer and four and a half in winter, and the regular slot is agreed at the free lesson.

What happens after I send the form?

We call you at a Dutch hour to arrange the free lesson. Nothing is charged and nothing is booked until you have seen the lesson and decided.

Elsewhere on this site

More for Dutch families with young children

Pages that go deeper into one subject or the next stage.

Coding classes for teens in the Netherlands

The next stage, from the brugklas to the exam year.

Scratch coding classes for kids

The block-based start, explained in detail.

AI classes for kids

How children can learn what AI is and how to use it safely.

Python projects for kids

Project ideas for children who have started typing code.

AI and Python Academy, Netherlands

Where the route leads, from Python to building AI.

Coding classes in the Netherlands

Every Dutch city and province page in one place.

Start here

Book a free lesson for your child

Leave your number and we will call at a Dutch hour. The first lesson is taught by a real teacher, your child makes something real, and by the end we know where they should start.

Want to read more first? See the course list, how we teach, and the coding roadmap.

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

WhatsApp from a Dutch number is free and usually quickest. Our number is Indian; we have no office or premises in the Netherlands.

Three courses most Dutch children start with

Scratch Coding for Kids

Python and AI for Kids

AI Literacy for Kids

What the 2025 Dutch screen guidelines say, and where coding fits

Eight years of basisschool, and where coding classes sit beside them

From four, compulsory at five

At least 7,520 hours

One test at the end, changing

From a cat that moves to a program that learns

Blocks first, then apps, then real code

Why blocks come before typing

Fitting it around the basisschool

Seven live courses for children aged 6 to 12

Ages 6 to 8: blocks and first games

Scratch Coding for Kids

Minecraft Coding for Kids

Ages 8 to 10: apps, the web and AI explained

App Making for Kids

AI Literacy for Kids

Vibe Coding for Kids

Ages 9 to 12: typed Python and first AI

Python and AI for Kids

Web Development for Kids

After school or at the weekend, with a teacher on screen

A free first lesson

Small groups by level

One to one if it suits

A parent in the loop

In English

Things to show

What students have made

NutriLife

Misti

GuardianX

SkyCast

What it costs for a child

Rated 4.9 across 547 Google reviews

What parents of young children in the Netherlands ask us

Does coding count as screen time?

What age can my child start?

My child cannot type quickly yet. Is that a problem?

Should my child use AI tools?

Should we pause in groep 8?

Are the lessons in Dutch?

Do I need to sit with my child?

What does it cost?

When are the lessons?

What happens after I send the form?

More for Dutch families with young children

Coding classes for teens in the Netherlands

Scratch coding classes for kids

AI classes for kids

Python projects for kids

AI and Python Academy, Netherlands

Coding classes in the Netherlands

Book a free lesson for your child

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