Begin your coding adventure

Barclays Code Playground

The fun starts here

Welcome to Code Playground. If you’ve never coded before, or want a refresher, you’ve come to the right place.

First off, what actually is ‘code’? Code lets us speak to computers, and more importantly, lets us tell computers what to do.

For example, coding is used to run social media, make the apps on your phone, and build video games. Instructions are coded into these platforms so that when you press a button on your keypad, controller or keyboard, an action will take place. At Code Playground, we’ll have you learning this computer language in no time.

To start you on your digital journey, we’ve been working hard to create lots of challenges, bite size activities, workbooks and our popular code-along live sessions. They’ve been made especially for you, to help you explore the world of coding and learn new skills at your own pace.

Begin your coding adventure here

Scratch tour

Watch this video to start your coding journey by getting a guided tour of Scratch.

Scratch tutorials

The built-in tutorials have been developed by the Scratch team to help coders start their learning. They are a great way to get started and here we show you how.

Getting started

This video will show you basics of starting to code in Scratch. Get an introduction to the blocks and how they fit together to make things happen in your projects.

Building future skills

This was our very first Code Playground Live video and we need you to help our character get in to the castle. Code along to create a simple game and start learning some of the basics of coding. Click to watch the video, and for this project you will also need to access scratch.mit.edu

Shark game

This workbook will take you through making our first ever Code Playground project. The Shark game is a simple project which is a great way to learn some of the basics of Scratch and how to use it. Click to watch the video. For this project you will also need to access scratch.mit.edu

Story challenge

By working through these five coding story challenges you will learn a range of skills to help you to tell an engaging story.

Extensions

Scratch is great for using with other devices and systems. The extensions give you access to lots of cool features to help make your projects even better. Watch this video to find out the basics of using extensions.

Bonjour little fish

20 March 2019

Hello, Hola, Ciao, Guten Tag and Shikamoo! This project helps to introduce extensions in Scratch by creating a simple language helper. Code along to create a fun project that will talk to you.

Let's get coding

We’ve got loads of challenges and activities here to get you started on your coding journey, and once you’ve completed them all, there’s a bunch of fun workbooks. Check out the below links to get started.

We're here to help you get started

Help bring the benefits of coding into your child’s school. Provide us with their school name and we’ll email their teachers to discuss Code Playground sessions with one of our Digital Eagles.

Need a little help?

We’re here to help you. Got a question, comment or suggestion? Or think there’s something we could do better? Just let us know