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Online Coding Classes and Camps for Kids

We’re Real Programming 4 Kids, where kids learn computer programming, in Python, Java, C# and C++, in small classes with a maximum of 4 students per instructor. RP4K offers year-round weekly virtual game programming lessons through our team of Canadian instructors.
Register Today for our winter 2024 online programming classes.
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What's New

New AI, Math, Unreal Engine & C# Unity courses!

We are now researching more AI and Math courses in addition to more programming courses! Recently we have been focussing our energies on creating AI, Unreal Engine, Math, & C# Unity courses. Some new course descriptions, difficulty levels and key staff bios follow. Eduardo’s Creator Bio: AI Topics include: Gabe’s bio Gabriele (Gabe) Dibenedetto is […]

The Real Programming 4 Kids Benefits

Live online coding classes available year-round.
4 Students Maximum Icon

4-Student Maximum

Our computer classes have a maximum of 4 students per instructor. We offer personalized care and instruction that is second to none. No student minimums in any class we offer so if you register for a programming class, it will run.
Year Round Classes Icon

Year-Round Classes

We operate weekly school season classes, weekly spring-summer classes and summer camps. This means the learning and fun never stop! Inquire about our next session and book a free trial class for your child any time of year.

23+ Years Experience

We’ve been offering programming courses since 1999 throughout Canada. There’s nobody in the industry that boasts a track record as long and successful as ours. Read our testimonials and see the kind of impact we’ve had on our students.
Image of instructor holding a mouse and two children behind a computer screen

Real Instructors

Each RP4K instructor is a post-secondary student or recent graduate, specializing in Computer Science or Computer Engineering. Some of our instructors are even professional programmers who happen to enjoy teaching on the side. We provide a real dedicated instructor, not a self learning situation where students are left on their own with a workbook.

Real Math

Without math, video games wouldn’t exist. Each course is like a hidden math lesson. All of our courses apply math from simple counting of integers right up to 3D vectors and trigonometry. Who knew math could be this fun? RP4K was founded by a Mathematician - Elliott Bay M.Sc. (Mathematics). In 2020 Elliott wrote and began teaching our Elite level, “Math and Physics for Video Game Programmers”.
Happy child sitting behind a laptop smiling

Real Fun

Teachers often say it’s tough to compete with video games. So we don’t. We use them to a student’s advantage. But let’s face it, when you’re a kid you just want to have a good time! Our classes are informal and relaxed, but most of all, FUN!

Get a Risk Free Online Coding Class Trial Today

Experience the RP4K difference with a hassle-free and no obligation assessment class today
4-students max per class
Year round classes
Real Canadian instructors
23+ years of experience
Fun important math lessons

RP4K’s Heritage (Video - 2011)

ABOUT RP4K

Real Programming 4 Kids instructors are based in Canada, and are university undergraduates, graduate students, or recent grads. Let our students and their parents tell you about their experience with RP4K. Take a few minutes to learn more about us with live footage from some of our classes!
ABOUT US
23+
Years In Business
20,000+
Number Of Students
Live Classes
Canadian Instructors
35
Instructors
10,000,000+
Lines of Code

Meet the Team

With years of experience in teaching and a comprehensive programming background, our teachers are the most qualified in the industry for their role. They focus on helping each individual child learn the programming skills they require for the future, while creating an engaging learning environment. Their work helps kids across the region develop their passion for computer programming while instilling valuable knowledge regarding challenging concepts.

Our Staff

Why Choose Computer Programming for your Kids?

Teaching children programming ensures they are better able to use logic in problem-solving for the years ahead. Programming knowledge helps children structure their ideas more effectively while developing their grasp of challenging technical concepts. The resulting computer knowledge empowers children to greater success in the future as computers and other devices become integral in our lives.

Child sitting behind a laptop smiling at the camera during a programming lesson

No-risk Free Trial

We offer a FREE Trial Class so you can check out what we’re all about and gauge your level of interest. Even better, we can find the right fit for your child to help ensure their success. Finding the right class for your child is our #1 priority.

Top Coding Languages

Learn video game industry standard programming languages such as Python, Java, C#, C++ and Unity. We’re proud to offer a challenging learning environment for all skill levels, with all the fun of video games.

Real Programming

We’re thrilled to see so many fun video game design camps being offered these days. However, most camps use drag-and-drop game making software, requiring minimal programming knowledge. We only teach REAL programming – just like the pros.

See what our clients have to say...

Michelle Miles
Michelle Miles
1707254185
February 6th, 2024Dear Elliott:I just wanted write you a quick message about our son Evan and how his participation in Real Programming for Kids helped shape his success today.When Evan was ten years old (2007), he attended the session your company ran out of Markham Ontario. He was always eager to go and came out at the end of the day satisfied that he had learned something. He eventually created a game called WORMS, which he was very proud of.RP4K kept Evan focused.. It really became the best way to get him excited about making versus just playing games.His passion for game creation continued at Durham College where he attended their Game Development Program. After graduation, he landed jobs with smaller game companies in Toronto including Certain Affinity and Secret Location, jobs that enabled him to apply to his dream job – living in California, working for Blizzard Entertainment on his favorite game, World of Warcraft.RP4K helped to prove to Evan that he could do it and deserved a chance to be a creator and artist, which he now is. Many thanks to you and your instructors for helping to inspire Evan to pursue his dreams.Michelle and Brad MilesPickering, Ontario
Vladimir N
Vladimir N
1703301310
Our older daughter was accepted into the Computer Science program at the University of Waterloo this year. She has been a student at RP4K since her early teens, progressing from the basic to the most advanced courses over the years. Thank you, teachers at RP4K for igniting her passion for programming at an early age!The practical approach to learning and proprietary teaching methodology RP4K offers worked very well for our younger daughter as well. She also enjoys online programming lessons at RP4K and is following the path of her sister. While she still has 1.5 years of school left till university, she is already considering Computer Science or Math, while already teaching small kids at the local Mathnasium.We can recommend RP4K without any hesitation to anyone who is looking for a quality programming school for their kids. Both our daughters benefitted a lot from these courses over the years. We are very glad we found RP4K pretty early and enrolled both of our daughters every year. Thank you, RP4K!
KNB Learning
KNB Learning
1698086624
Our son took classes at RP4K over 10 years ago. So why am I writing this review now? Because today, our son is a Software Developer at a prominent international organization, and his start in programming was with RP4K. His classes here were fun, so he was engaged. They modeled and taught the programming skills in games that he liked, and through that engagement, they gave him a foundation that he was able to build upon to advance in his academic studies. At 18 years old, he graduated as a Computer Developer from post-secondary, and he was able to start his career immediately upon graduation with the company he still works at today. Without the classes at RP4K, I don't know that he would have developed the foundations to get so far, so quickly. Life is not a race to be run, by any stretch - but our son was gifted, well beyond what the school system (private and public) could offer him. RP4K gave him what he needed to remain engaged in his education, and it certainly gave him an edge on getting started on achieving his future goals. Reflecting on how far he has come, I thought it was about time to give credit where credit is due. I recommend RP4K to everyone I meet whose child is interested in programming. This is not some light fluff course - it is solid, created by masters in the field, and is worth every penny.
Over a decade ago, I was only 10 when I took my first programming class at RP4K. It was a fun an interactive way to learn, something I didn't get in school. The small class sizes are great. I particularly enjoyed the game development courses. They allowed me to be creative, and inspired my passion for my computer science career path today!
Liza Swale
Liza Swale
1678208670
My son has been attending Real Programming 4 Kids for 5 years and we couldn't recommend it more highly! As a homeschooling family we have found Real Programming to be a wonderful companion to our journey. My son showed interest and aptitude in math and programming at a young age and Real Programming has challenged and supported him from age 11. At 16 he's now exploring University concepts in math! Amazing!
Zoe Johnson
Zoe Johnson
1674441640
I wanted to take this opportunity to let you know that my son will be going to College in the fall to study computer programming, with a lot of the credit going to the courses he has taken at RP4K. The courses helped him identify that programming is his passion, and the knowledge and experiences from your courses have set him on a fulfilling career path! Thank you so much!!
Jody Bresgi
Jody Bresgi
1670986274
My son has been with real programming for kids for approximately 8 years and he has completed almost every course they offer. He is now taking elite courses in their curriculum and I can tell you this coding school has changed his life. He is learning University level programming and his brain is being challenged in a way that truly meets his capacity. I have found that every single teacher has been outstanding. I have never had to work to convince my son to stay in this program. He just loves it and understands that what he's learning is going to be pivotal in his life path. Despite his young age, he is quite certain that he wants to study computer sciences in University and he's also certain that this training is going to help him acheive his goals. I've also had many conversations with the owner and I can tell you they are very passionate people who love the work they do and really want to help young people reach their potential. Thank you RP4K!
Gregory Wong
Gregory Wong
1660773919
I worked for RP4K as a teaching instructor for over 2 years starting in late 2019. The company always made an emphasis on putting our customers first and maintaining the quality of the classes to a very high standard during our meetings and training sessions. Incredible working environment where employees were given endless opportunities to improve on their soft skills and coding skills. Staff always got along well with each other and there was always a strong sense of cohesion. The management figures of RP4K such as Dylan Brunning, John Krent, and Elliot Bay are extremely personable and continuously provided teaching instructors the support, and resources in order for us to have the best chance to succeed. For example, Elliot, the president and owner of RP4K, was kind enough to use his math background in university and math tutoring experience to host math sessions on several occasions for instructors such as myself for the benefit of the quality of the classes we teach as well as for our personal benefit. Overall, I have nothing but good things to say about this organization.
Wonderful place. Wonderful people!
Eric Luedtke
Eric Luedtke
1617225476
My daughter has been using this programme for 5 years now, and consistently through the past 2 years. She just loves it! It's been helping with her math and science marks, and teaching her a good, in depth understanding of coding. She's gone from doing art as a hobby to considering how her work can be used in such things as game design. She's no longer just a passive consumer of media but now sees our computer as an active piece of equipment in the same vein as her kayak, bicycle and drafting station. RP4K does an excellent job of facilitating this, adapting to her atypical learning challenges, and presenting a very professional online learning interface, which is FAR beyond the Board of Ed. product she has to use. I would recommend this to any parent who wants to give their children the tools needed to thrive in a rapidly changing world, in a format that makes acquiring them the highlight of their week.
I can not recommend RP4K highly enough. I would give them 6 out of 5 stars if I could. When my son asked to try a programming class, I had no idea of the journey he was about to embark on. He is learning practical skills in a programming language used by professionals and loving every minute of it. Zander leaves programming class beaming most days about what he has been able to achieve. This practical, hands-on series of classes is fantastic for the curious mind. It is the perfect course to allow for online engagement in a meaningful way. Zander has completed 3 courses to date and continues to climb up the ladder with the aspiration to eventually be able to create his own game from scratch. The course instills confidence in a practical skill and in math. In addition to being a great program for kids and providing me with a report card to help understand progress, RP4K have been exceptional communicators across the board, Thank-you RP4K! I recommend you every chance I get!Erika
Legend Requium
Legend Requium
1610680709
My 8 year old son is on his third program with Real Programming 4 Kids and he is loving it! It is the highlight of his week and he is learning so much, making new friends, and using his coding skills in everyday life. I was very impressed with how quickly and seamlessly RP4K was able to transition from in person to online classes. The continuity of the program was very important for my son during the pandemic. While we were happy with the in person classes, we definitely find the online program works for us. My son is able to maintain his program and communicate with his online friends despite the provincial shutdowns, and the quality of the instruction and the program itself is exactly the same. I would highly recommend this program. The customer service is wonderful, the approach is very personalized and it is a fun, fantastic learning opportunity. On a personal note, a giant thank you to RP4K for all the effort you put in to keep our kids coding! During a difficult time, RP4K provided a positive outlet to keep my son connected to his friends.
Julian, age 10, has been enrolled with RP4K for three courses. He has completed classes both in-person, and virtually, with RP4K.Julian had very much enjoyed his first class which had been in-person, and was impressed with how seamlessly RP4K pivoted last March to an online platform. He now prefers this platform. He loves that RP4K offers proper Programming courses, and not simply Coding classes. Each lesson is a mini maths, and science class within the game. Also currently in development are specialized maths courses for Programmers.The students are evaluated prior to placement and RP4K groups students by ability. RP4K is clearly highly selective in their hiring because not only are all of the instructors subject matter experts, they’re skilled in teaching children. It’s one thing to be a good communicator with adults but it’s a gift to be skilled at teaching children. Instructors make classes fun, and engaging by taking mini lessons such as calculating the slope of a line for students at age 9, and making that skill applicable to the child’s interests.RP4K truly offers a unique experience with the depth, breath, and fun that young minds crave.
Carmelita T
Carmelita T
1548179500
London Location: Our child has been attending RP4K and is in his second year. He really loves coding and wants to build a career around it. As a parent there is great value in these programs --- and we thank RP4K for their flexibility as our child is also an athlete which means we have to reschedule from time to time for competitive sports activities.
R R
R R
1544199457
Since 2011, our son and daughter have taken 10 courses each with RP4K at two different locations. The courses are very well designed and the instructors have all been wonderful. The admin team at RP4K are focused on ensuring clients have a positive experience and they always go the extra mile - they have been really good to us. Our kids have taken computer programming in school now and are miles ahead. Our experience with RP4K has been a full 5 stars over 7 years - we recommend RP4K very highly. Its simply one of the best things we've done for our children.
pema lai
pema lai
1530294296
I would rate RP4K and Rob for 6412 stars if I could!!!!! I took a course of Visual Basic Pizza Bandit and it was perfect for a beginner like me. Rob was an excellent instructor. He made the instructions very clear. It was very fun!!! I will definitely join more courses in the coming months.
Chengdu China
Chengdu China
1528922148
RP4K is very useful and helpful for my son to get in the University of Waterloo computer science program. My son learned C# and had a wonderful time in an educative environment. This course improved his creative thinking through the game he developed by encouraging him to add unique features.
We have two kids who have been on regular enrollment at R4PK for a few years now, so I think we are in a position to judge the effectiveness of the program.My twelve year old son is a strong programmer by now after moving through various languages (VB, C#, C++, Java) and has built enough of a foundation that enables him to pick up new languages (like Javascript) on his own quickly. My younger son is still working through the intermediate courses but has gotten a love for the visual design.My sense is that the program presented by RP4K is effective due to interesting projects (the games line up with what most kids like), small classes and excellent instructors.Both my wife and I are in technical fields and we could have attempted to teach our kids ourselves, but I think there are things that are just done better in a structured class setting.For our boys we prioritized the in-school term programs above the summer camps (although we do the odd summer camp too), although we know parents who do it the other way. But either way, to build strong programming skills, we believe that it is best to sustain this over multiple years and frequent (weekly) exposure. So there is value when taking this path to try and sustain it and see it as a multi-year investment.The tuition can be costly, but given the doors that it could open, I feel it is a sound investment.So I give this a 5 out of 5.
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Frequently Asked Questions

Who do I contact for support regarding my child’s RP4K course?

Contact info@realprogramming.com to get assistance regarding your RP4K course link, to notify us of upcoming absences, or to get in touch with staff to find out about your child’s progress.

What happens in a RP4K class?

In a RP4K class, an instructor leads a group of no more than 4 students in building a game. This is done in a 1, 1.5, or 2 hour class session during our Weekly coding for kids classes, or 3 hours per day over 1-2 weeks for our Coding Summer Camps for kids.

Students are challenged to learn the patterns of object-oriented programming through demonstration and repeated challenges and will be tasked to complete quizzes and customize their game when they complete the base content.

All of our classes will be conducted virtually until further notice.

What about a first-day setup?

In the first class, expectations are set, policies reviewed, and the game that students are challenged to complete is previewed and demonstrated. Students will be invited to Canvas, our online learning platform, if it is required for the course. They will begin learning how to code while making the game the course is based on.

How will my child connect to the class?

For our online coding classes for kids, parents are provided a Zoom link to be bookmarked or made a shortcut on the student’s computer once a class has been confirmed. Zoom should be downloaded on the computer and not used through the browser, as the browser version does not provide sufficient screen-sharing functionality. For issues installing or using Zoom, see the Zoom Help Centre.

What kind of computer can my child use for RP4K classes?

Students should use a Windows or MacOS device for our programs, as RP4K cannot guarantee the coding programs will run on other devices. Please do not use a Chromebook, iPhone, or Android device as it is not sufficient for our classes. Students must have administrator privileges on their devices, be aware of their username and password, and use an email account for Canvas. Students must be familiar with the device they will be using. Please refer to the RP4K Hardware/Software Requirements.

What if my student is not interested in creating these games?

Talk to us! We are always looking for students who are more than interested in creating their own games, and that is something we want to help them achieve. Not every student is focused on coding games, and other applications of programming can be just as interesting.

RP4K tailors learning to students' goals by actively involving them in the learning process, helping them choose the most interesting coding programming languages and tools for their interests.

How do RP4K instructors keep students focused online?

RP4K starts with a free-trial assessment that is designed to learn about a student so we can best provide them with the appropriate challenges for their level. The trial requires them to actively participate via voice, chat, and annotating on the screen with drawing tools.

Ultimately, we use our trial assessment to help determine the proper course for each student that will interest them and suit their experience level.

Students are actively engaged and required to be focused. Student success is carefully monitored, participation details are recorded, and issues with attentiveness will be addressed immediately. Students should be respectful of their peers and stay off communication applications, games, or other distractions such as a phone during class time.

How can I as a parent contribute to the success of my child?

Parents should regularly engage with their child about their coding program. Students are regularly encouraged to discuss what they learned and continue the learning process outside of class time. Parents are encouraged to check-in with their child during class time, observe the classroom environment, and communicate with us about any concerns or delays during class. Downtime is limited to students completing challenges and short breaks during longer sessions.
RP4K was the first Canadian firm to offering game coding classes for kids. We have been teaching game programming to kids for over 23 years. During that time, we have consistently stuck to a maximum of 4 students per instructor in addition to teaching REAL PROGRAMMING LANGUAGES!

Get a hassle-free trial today

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