JavaScript for Kids: A Playful Introduction to Programming

JavaScript is the programming language of the Internet, the secret sauce that makes the Web awesome, your favorite sites interactive, and online games fun!

JavaScript for Kids is a lighthearted introduction that teaches programming essentials through patient, step-by-step examples paired with funny illustrations. You’ll begin with the basics, like working with strings, arrays, and loops, and then move on to more advanced topics, like building interactivity with jQuery and drawing graphics with Canvas.

Along the way, you’ll write games such as Find the Buried Treasure, Hangman, and Snake. You’ll also learn how to:

• Create functions to organize and reuse your code
• Write and modify HTML to create dynamic web pages
• Use the DOM and jQuery to make your web pages react to user input
• Use the Canvas element to draw and animate graphics
• Program real user-controlled games with collision detection and score keeping

With visual examples like bouncing balls, animated bees, and racing cars, you can really see what you’re programming. Each chapter builds on the last, and programming challenges at the end of each chapter will stretch your brain and inspire your own amazing programs. Make something cool with JavaScript today!

Ages 10+ (and their parents!)

Table of Contents

Part I. Fundamentals
Chapter 1. What Is JavaScript?
Chapter 2. Data Types and Variables
Chapter 3. Arrays
Chapter 4. Objects
Chapter 5. The Basics of HTML
Chapter 6. Conditionals and Loops
Chapter 7. Creating a Hangman Game
Chapter 8. Functions

Part II. Advanced JavaScript
Chapter 9. The DOM and jQuery
Chapter 10. Interactive Programming
Chapter 11. Find the Buried Treasure!
Chapter 12. Object-Oriented Programming

Part II. Advanced JavaScript
Chapter 13. The Canvas Element
Chapter 14. Making Things Move on the Canvas
Chapter 15. Controlling Animations with the Keyboard
Chapter 16. Making a Snake Game: Part 1
Chapter 17. Making a Snake Game: Part 2