How coding benefits pupils' cognitive development

National Coding Week is here, running from September 16 to 22. This is an excellent time for teachers to help students become immersed in the world of tech, programming, and digital creativity! Learning code encourages many STEM capabilities such as problem-solving, critical thinking and creative thinking.  

The principles of coding can be introduced in schools at an early age, and children as young as 4 can start to grasp basic coding, computation, and STEM concepts through play learning in the classroom. 

Below are a few of the many ways that coding and programming can help to improve children's cognitive development. 

Building problem-solving and logical thinking skills  

Coding is one of the best ways to develop problem solving skills among young students. As coding comes with complex problems, it teaches them how to tackle these logically by breaking down problems into smaller steps. By doing this, students can devise a clear plan of attack for how to solve each problem. This process helps children learn to think in a logical and systematic manner. Learning to code from an early age helps students to develop these useful skills for the future, as students can then transfer these skills onto any problems they might face.  

Improving critical thinking skills 

Coding can help pupils’ critical thinking abilities as it requires them to evaluate different solutions to a problem. They must evaluate the pros and cons of each option and choose the most appropriate solution. Children benefit from this process by learning how to assess information and think critically. 

You can find a great activity set here - Lets Go Code Activity Set . This is an early, non-digital introduction to coding and programming. Children can develop an early interest in STEM-related subjects and promote critical thinking skills as pupils grab a partner, create a maze, and track their every step using the included coding cards.  

Enhancing memory and attention 

Teaching coding across all key stages of primary and secondary education can result in improvement to several cognitive abilities such as memory, attention, and computational thinking. In coding, students will often learn what works and what doesn’t. As they get better at coding, their working memory and attention span will improve naturally as coding activates several cognitive regions of the brain. Coding can also help children to improve their non-cognitive skills such as collaborative communication and teamwork.  

Sparking creativity 

Coding expands the mind and sparks creativity in children. It nurtures children’s ability to think outside the box as they are constantly challenged to think of different approaches to solve problems, thus enhancing their creativity in the process. This allows children to generate innovative and collaborative ideas to tackle issues.  

Instilling perseverance and resilience 

Coding heavily relies on trial and error, and investigation. This involves trying different solutions and learning from failures. Coding instils a method that encourages children to stay resilient and persevere when faced with challenges or difficult situations, adapting their approach accordingly to find the right solution. For example, when pupils test run their programs and it doesn’t work, they might often debug and modify the code. 

Looking for a fun gadget for children to use? The Micro-bit Go Bundle is perfect! A pocket-sized computer that is designed to make coding more exciting and easier to learn. You don’t need lots of equipment to get started with the micro: bit; all you need is power and a PC or mobile device to programme it on. 

Resources for teachers 

Here are some resources that teachers can use to ease students into the world of programming and technology.  

-Get coding on a rainy day with the BBC micro: bit - BBC Bitesize 

-Errors and documenting code - Writing error-free code - KS3 Computer Science Revision - BBC Bitesize 

Ultimately, coding can hold many significant benefits for young people in terms of their cognitive development. By incorporating this into the school curriculum, students can build on their problem-solving, creative thinking, critical thinking, and memory skills. It also allows them to obtain good IT skills that are necessary to use in the future. 


Check out our STEM, Coding & Robotics Resources for Schools | YPO  area where we supply a range of products and information to support pupils’ development in the classroom.