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Curious about coding? Want to build your programming skills? Or perhaps you just love a good problem-solving challenge?

We’re thrilled to announce our new 10-episode series: Think Like A Coder. The series, in partnership with YouTube Learning Playlists, will challenge viewers with programming puzzles as the main characters— a girl and her robot companion— attempt to save a world that has been plunged into turmoil.

Check out the series here:

In our digital age, coding has become a basic literacy skill which gives us a deeper understanding of the technology we use everyday. Beyond being a much sought-after skill on the job market, coding helps foster creativity, reinforces math skills and develops our problem-solving abilities.

But it can be hard to know where to begin. Learning to code is like learning a language and getting started can seem like a daunting task.  Luckily, if you have the right resources, the hardest part is just taking the first step. We’ve got you covered.

Think Like A Coder is joining the long list of free online resources for the code-curious. Here’s a list of some of our favorite learn-to-code resources:

1. code.org has great resources for students and teachers. It teaches students the basics of programming through a free series of guided exercises and includes an extensive curriculum mapped to K-12 curriculum standards.

2. If you’re looking for programming challenges, check out the Advent of Code, which is run by Eric Wastl, who consulted extensively on Think Like a Coder and inspired quite a few of the puzzles. The Advent of Code is a yearly event that takes place in December and involves 25 coding challenges linked together by an overarching plot. It’s also available throughout the rest of the year, and the challenges it features are a great way to stretch your coding and problem-solving skills once you have basic proficiency with a programming language.

3. FreeCodeCamp has thousands of coding lessons and programming challenges, and you can even get certified for a few different skills.

 4. University of Michigan’s Python for Everybody Specialization on Coursera is a beginner-level intro to software development using python that focuses on interacting with data.

 5. Microsoft has a 44 video series called Python for Beginners. In their words, “Even though we won’t cover everything there is to know about Python in the course, we want to make sure we give you the foundation on programming in Python, starting from common everyday code and scenarios. At the end of the course, you’ll be able to go and learn on your own, for example with docs, tutorials, or books.”

6. If you’re trying to decide what programming language to learn, a flowchart like this one may be a helpful starting point.

7. Girls Who Code: Learn to Code and Change the World by Reshma Saujani, founder of Girls Who Code, is an excellent introduction for programmers just getting started.

8. For more experienced programmers, Cracking the Coding Interview is a great resource for problem solving with a variety of different techniques, as well as preparing for coding interviews (as the title suggests). Some of the puzzles featured in Think Like a Coder were inspired by this book.

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In the Lego Movie, the protagonists are “master builders” — enlightened blockheads with a superior understanding of how the tiny pieces of their plastic world fit together. This special knowledge allows our mini heroes to, for example, solve a thorny plot problem by taking a car apart and reconfiguring its pieces to build a rocket. The moral of the story? Knowledge is power, and power can be taught.

Knowledge is power, and power can be taught.

In our world, young innovators make decisions everyday that impact people’s lives. These innovators often share two tendencies: 1) a solid belief in their own ability to create change in their environment, and 2) a basic understanding of how code works. We know how young innovators do it. The question is, how we do pass on that knowledge to more young people? Here’s one suggestion:

Teach computer science skills — to all students — starting at an early age. “The kids of today tap, swipe and pinch their way through the world. But unless we give them tools to build with computers, we are raising only consumers instead of creators,” says programmer Linda Liukas [TED Talk: A delightful way to teach kids about computers.]

There’s a huge demand for programmers in the workforce. Yet the benefits of teaching every kid to love computer science goes beyond future career opportunities. “Everyone deserves a chance at learning about technology innovation,” says Kimberly Lane, a programmer, teacher and TED-Ed Innovative Educator in Texas. “We live and breathe technology everyday,” adds Lane. “If the current generation doesn’t leave a lasting legacy of technology inventions, what will happen to the generations to come?”

When you teach computer skills to every kid, it has a ripple effect. Reshma Saujani, the founder of Girls Who Code, notes that when girls learn programming skills, they become change agents. “If you look at the projects they create in our programs, you can see that they’re thinking about how they solve the most urgent problems in their communities,” she says. “For instance, two of our Midwestern Clubs students designed a technical approach to detecting lead levels in water.” Meanwhile in Seattle, some summer program students designed a mobile app that shows LGBTQ+ community members where to find safe spaces near them in the event of harmful situations. “That’s what we mean when we say girls become change agents,” says Saujani. “They use technology to make their communities a better place.”

Ready to act on this idea? Here are 5 places where any kid can learn how to code.

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Art credit: iStock