There comes a point when dragging blocks feels slow and a child wants to type real code. For most children that is somewhere between 9 and 11. This page is about that step: why Python is a good language to take it in, how it lines up with Informatik at a German school, a first project on real German electricity data that goes wrong in an instructive way, and a free national contest to aim at afterwards.
Live classes since 2020 · 10,000+ students worldwide · typed code from the first lesson
At a glance
Python classes for kids in Germany at Modern Age Coders are live online lessons in English for children of about 9 to 14 who are ready to type real code. Our Python and AI for Kids course begins with turtle drawings and small games, then moves to lists, functions and real German open data. A mentor based in India teaches at your child's speed, in German afternoons or at weekends, either in a class of fifteen to twenty or one to one.
Python courses
Three ways into Python for children in Germany
The main Python course, one that follows school Informatik in English, and one that uses Python to make school maths visible.
Is Python a good first typed language for a child?
For most children, yes. Python reads almost like short English sentences, it costs nothing, and it is a language adults use at work, so nothing learned is thrown away later.
Free, and kept current
Python is developed, in the words of python.org, "under an OSI-approved open source license, making it freely usable and distributable, even for commercial use". No family needs to buy a licence, and a child can install it on any computer at home.
It is also very much alive: python.org lists Python 3.15.0 as released on 9 October 2026 and 3.15.2 on 25 October 2026. The programs on this page were tested with Python 3.14.
Turtle, made for learners
Python ships with a drawing module called turtle. Its documentation explains that turtle graphics is "an implementation of the drawing tools introduced in Logo in 1967", created as an educational tool whose "instant, visible feedback" helps learners meet programming ideas.
That is why our nine year olds start there: four lines of code, and a square appears. Change one number, and it becomes a star.
Scratch or Python? How we decide for each child (ours)
Sign
Stay with Scratch a little longer
Ready for Python
Reading
Still reads slowly or guesses words
Reads instructions alone and enjoys it
Typing
Hunts for every letter
Can type a short line without help
Patience
Upset when a game breaks
Curious about why it broke
Projects
Still has Scratch ideas to finish
Asks how to do things Scratch cannot
Sources: python.org, About and Downloads pages; Python documentation, turtle module; both read on 3 November 2026. The table is our own placement guide; age alone does not decide it.
At a German school, typed programming arrives at different ages. The Informatik-Monitor 2026/27 shows Informatik for every pupil in grades 5 and 6 in Nordrhein-Westfalen, an Informatik focus in grades 6 and 7 at a Bavarian Gymnasium, one weekly lesson in grades 7 to 10 in Sachsen, and grades 9 and 10 in Niedersachsen. Which language a school uses is up to its curriculum and its teacher. What we teach is the thinking under any language: variables, conditions, loops, functions and data, so that whatever arrives on the school timetable feels familiar.
A real German dataset
Did the sun or the wind give Germany more electricity in 2025?
The Bundesnetzagentur publishes how much electricity Germany generated from each source, every day, on its SMARD platform, under a Creative Commons licence that allows reuse with credit. It is perfect for an eleven year old, and the first thing it teaches is that German numbers need translating before Python can read them.
The data
From SMARD's download centre we take daily generation for Germany for all of 2025: 365 rows, one per day, with columns for solar (Photovoltaik), onshore wind and offshore wind, in megawatt hours. We keep those three in a small file, strom_2025.csv.
The file is written the German way. Columns are separated by semicolons, the thousands are marked with a full stop and the decimals with a comma, so 56.781,25 means fifty-six thousand, seven hundred and eighty-one and a quarter.
The question
On how many days in 2025 did solar power produce more than all wind power together? A child usually guesses "summer, so about half". The program will tell us exactly, but only after we teach it to read the numbers.
The first version simply tries to treat the text as a number, which is what most beginners would do.
Version 1: just read the numberPython
import csv
with open("strom_2025.csv", encoding="utf-8") as f:
rows = list(csv.DictReader(f, delimiter=";"))
first = rows[0]
print(first["datum"], first["sonne"])
print(float(first["sonne"]) + 1)
It prints 01.01.2025 56.781,25 and then stops with ValueError: could not convert string to float: '56.781,25'. Python expects 56781.25, written the English way.
Nothing is wrong with the data, and nothing is wrong with Python. They are simply using different conventions, and a programmer's job is to translate. A small function, zahl, removes the full stops and turns the comma into a point. With that in place the real question can be answered.
Version 2: translate first, then comparePython
import csv
def zahl(text):
# German style: 56.781,25 means 56781.25
return float(text.replace(".", "").replace(",", "."))
with open("strom_2025.csv", encoding="utf-8") as f:
rows = list(csv.DictReader(f, delimiter=";"))
sun_days = []
for row in rows:
sun = zahl(row["sonne"])
wind = zahl(row["wind_land"]) + zahl(row["wind_see"])
if sun > wind:
sun_days.append(row["datum"])
print("Days in 2025:", len(rows))
print("Days the sun beat the wind:", len(sun_days))
print("First:", sun_days[0], "Last:", sun_days[-1])
It prints: Days in 2025: 365, Days the sun beat the wind: 121 and First: 01.02.2025 Last: 08.11.2025.
So the sun won on 121 days, about one in three, the first on 1 February and the last on 8 November 2025. Version 3 counts the wins month by month, which turns one number into a pattern a child can explain.
Version 3: count the wins by monthPython
wins = {}
for row in rows:
month = row["datum"][3:5]
sun = zahl(row["sonne"])
wind = zahl(row["wind_land"]) + zahl(row["wind_see"])
wins[month] = wins.get(month, 0) + (1 if sun > wind else 0)
print(wins)
After Version 2, it prints: {'01': 0, '02': 5, '03': 11, '04': 21, '05': 16, '06': 17, '07': 16, '08': 22, '09': 8, '10': 4, '11': 1, '12': 0}.
Solar against all wind in Germany, 2025, by month (our sums of SMARD daily values)
Month
Solar, TWh
Wind, TWh
Days solar was higher
January
1.63
15.74
0
April
8.95
6.92
21
June
10.54
10.53
17
August
9.67
7.16
22
October
3.64
16.60
4
December
1.51
15.90
0
Whole year
73.78
132.96
121
Data: Bundesnetzagentur | SMARD.de, Stromerzeugung, daily values for Germany, 1 January to 31 December 2025, downloaded 3 November 2026, licence CC BY 4.0. Wind is onshore plus offshore. Monthly and yearly figures are our own sums of the daily values, in terawatt hours (1 TWh is 1,000,000 MWh), rounded to two decimals.
Over the whole year wind still produced far more, 132.96 TWh against 73.78. But the months tell a richer story. In April and August the sun led on most days; in January and December it never did once; and June was almost exactly a tie, 10.54 against 10.53. The sunniest single day was 20 June 2025, the dullest 5 January 2025, and the longest run of sunny wins was twelve days in a row, from 11 to 22 June.
Ages 9 to 10. Type float("56.781,25") into Python and read the error out loud. Then fix the text by hand until Python accepts it.
Ages 10 to 12. Run Version 2 and write zahl yourself without looking. Then find the sunniest day of the year with max.
Ages 12 to 14. Write Version 3, then add a line that prints a bar of # signs for each month, a text chart.
Going further. SMARD's full download also has a column for nuclear power, Kernenergie, and every day of 2025 shows only a dash there. What happens when zahl meets "-", and what should a careful program do instead?
A free contest
Is there a coding competition for children in Germany?
Yes. The Jugendwettbewerb Informatik, run by the Bundesweite Informatikwettbewerbe, is free, online and open in principle from grade 3. It sits one step above the Informatik-Biber puzzle quiz and is where real programming tasks begin.
Jugendwettbewerb Informatik levels, as published by the organisers for 2026
Level
Recommended for
Tasks and time
Bronze
Grades 5 and 6
3 tasks in 30 minutes
Silber
Grades 7, 8 and 9
4 tasks in 40 minutes
Gold
Grade 10 and up
6 tasks in 60 minutes
Source: Bundesweite Informatikwettbewerbe, bwinf.de/jugendwettbewerb, read on 2 November 2026. Rounds in 2026: round 1 from 23 February to 8 March 2026, round 2 from 17 April to 3 May, and round 3 from 1 September together with the Bundeswettbewerb Informatik, with a deadline of 23 November 2026. The organisers report a record 71,971 participants.
Entry usually runs through a school, so a child should ask their Informatik or maths teacher. We are not connected with the organisers and we never use or copy their tasks. In class we write our own problems in the same spirit, and the free past rounds on the organisers' website are the right place to practise for real. Children who want a structured route can take our German informatics competitions course.
Age by age
What can a child write in Python at 9, 11 and 13?
Roughly this, though children move at their own speed and the mentor sets the pace for each one.
Around 9
Turtle drawings with loops, a guess-the-number game, a quiz that keeps score. Short programs, typed carefully, with lots of running and fixing.
Around 11
Lists and functions, reading a small file, programs that answer a question about data, like the sun and wind file. Errors become clues rather than disasters.
Around 13
Dictionaries, larger games, simple simulations and first steps in how a machine learns from examples. Code that another person can read and reuse.
Through all of it, the rule is the same: the child writes the code and can explain it. We do not let children paste in code they do not understand, from an AI tool or anywhere else. A short program that a ten year old can defend line by line is worth more than a long one they cannot.
Example class times in Germany, and the mentor's side
In Germany
Mentor's time now
Mentor's time from 28 March 2027
Weekday 16:15
20:45
19:45
Saturday 12:00
16:30
15:30
Germany runs on MEZ (UTC+1) until 28 March 2027 and on MESZ (UTC+2) after it, under the Einheitenzeitgesetz; summer time last ended on 25 October 2026. India stays on UTC+5:30, so the mentor is four and a half hours ahead now and three and a half from late March. Examples only, not fixed batch times.
Milestones
Five Python milestones for children
Our own steps. They help us put a child in the right group and give parents a clear picture of progress.
From first line to real data (ours)
Milestone
Usual age
Your child can
1. Draw
9 to 10
Use turtle and a loop to draw a shape, and change it on purpose
2. Decide
9 to 11
Write a game that reacts to the player with if, elif and else
3. Reuse
10 to 12
Wrap a repeated job in a function and call it with different values
4. Translate
11 to 13
Clean messy text, such as German-style numbers, before computing with it
5. Ask the data
12 to 14
Answer a real question from a file and say how sure the answer is
For parents
Milestone 4 is the sun and wind project. Children who reach it stop being surprised by errors and start reading them.
We describe progress in what your child can build and explain, never in hours spent online.
For children
An error message is Python telling you exactly what confused it. Read it slowly before you change anything.
Data from another country may write numbers differently. Look at a few rows before you trust any total.
Next and alongside
Nine more courses for children learning Python in Germany
Some come before Python, some sit beside it, some come after. All are live and in English.
A weather forecasting site with live conditions for any location.
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Fees
Python class fees for families in Germany
The monthly fee buys eight live Python lessons. Prices on this page are euro figures derived from the European Central Bank reference rate, while the payment is processed in US dollars, so the final euro amount depends on your bank's own conversion.
Reviews left on Google by our families, reproduced as written.
★★★★★
"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
Parents ask
Python classes for kids in Germany: questions
Are the classes in German?
No. Lessons are live and in English only. Python itself is written in English words such as print, if and while, so learning it in English is natural. The mentor matches your child's pace and accent and keeps the language simple.
What age is right for Python?
Usually around 9 to 11, once a child reads well and can type a short line. Younger children start with Scratch and move across when they are ready; age alone does not decide it.
Does my child need to know Scratch first?
It helps but is not required. Children who have used Scratch already understand loops and conditions, so the first Python weeks feel easier. Beginners of 10 or older can start Python directly.
Is Python free to install?
Yes. Python is open source under a licence that python.org describes as making it freely usable and distributable. It runs on Windows, macOS and Linux, and at the very start it can also run in a browser.
Do German schools teach Python?
Schools choose their own tools within each Land's curriculum, and the language varies. What is fixed is when Informatik arrives, from grade 5 in Länder such as Nordrhein-Westfalen to grade 9 in Niedersachsen, according to the Informatik-Monitor 2026/27.
When are the classes in German time?
Weekdays or weekends, flexible: choose your batch, or for a very personalised plan choose 1-on-1 at your convenience, weekend mornings or weekdays. A class at 16:15 in Germany is 20:45 for the mentor in India until 28 March 2027.
Can my child enter the Jugendwettbewerb Informatik?
Usually yes, through the school. It is free, online and open in principle from grade 3, with Bronze, Silber and Gold levels from 2026. Ask a teacher whether the school takes part. We are not connected with the organisers.
Will my child use AI tools like ChatGPT in class?
No. We teach children to write and understand their own code. ChatGPT's own terms require users to be at least 13, with a parent's permission under 18, so it has no place in a class for younger children.
How are fees shown and paid?
The monthly fee appears in euro, calculated with the European Central Bank reference rate. Payment goes through in US dollars, and your bank converts it, so the statement may differ slightly. The first class is free.
What does my child need?
A laptop or desktop with a keyboard, a headset and a stable internet connection. We help install Python in class when the time comes.
Elsewhere on this site
Related pages
Where to read more about Python for children and about learning in Germany.
In the free class the mentor types a first Python program with your child, sees how comfortable they are reading and typing, and suggests whether to start with Python or with Scratch first.
Classes are live online in English, with mentors in India. WhatsApp reaches us fastest.
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.
