Media Arts within primary and secondary education is a relatively new avenue of research. Within the context of the arts classroom, rarely is learning to program emphasized despite its importance for creative expression in a digital medium. We present outcomes from an extensive field study at a digital studio where youth accessed programming environments emphasizing graphic, music and video. Learning the language of creative coding is essential to expression in a digital medium — one with increasing importance for youth and society at large. Here, we argue that it’s not just in the viewing or
This paper presents ten guiding principles for designing construction kits for kids: design for designers; low floors and wide walls; make powerful ideas salient - not forced; support many paths, many styles; make it as simple as possible - and maybe even simpler; choose black boxes carefully; a little bit of programming goes a long way; give people what they want - not what they ask for; invent things that you would want to use yourself; and iterate, iterate - then iterate again.