Child Led Learning: The Power of Choice
Here at The Code Zone we pride ourselves in the fact that we give our members the choice of what they want to work on and it turns out, lots of people out there agree!
In this week's blog we’re here to talk about some of the findings and benefits of letting children choose what they want to learn!
Here at The Code Zone we pride ourselves in the fact that we give our members the choice of what they want to work on and it turns out, lots of people out there agree! Today we’re gonna talk about some of the findings and benefits of letting children choose what they want to learn!
Providing options
In the 2016 book Learning to Choose, Choosing to Learn by Mike Anderson, Anderson discusses many different ways in which giving choice and options allows students to work on projects and ideas in a way that is more mentally stimulating for them.
An example given is providing the task of creating a cell diagram using any artform the students could want.
This provides a very similar feel to our game jams, where we give our members the task of making something to the theme we set.
Reducing stress
A 1993 paper by Alfie Kohn posits that allowing for choice of what to do can lead to reduced burnout and an increase in respect amongst both parties. When a child has less stress and monotony in their day to day it gives them a more relaxed approach to what they are trying to do!
For an example from us, our code card has multiple options for members to choose from, but if they feel they would rather work on something else that would be more relaxing and enjoyable, every member has the ability to do so and still be supported by our mentors!
Finding new interests
There’s also plenty of studies and articles out there, including those listed above that giving choices provides a greater level of enjoyment for subjects, even if they aren’t normally topics they’d be interested in!
Our STEM certified mentors agree too! They note that it makes it easier for kids to be creative and passionate about what they do!
If you want to take part in one of these sessions and see where child led sessions can take you? Sign up for a free taster session!
Who wrote this
We run coding clubs for children aged 6 to 16, so the guides here are written by the mentors who teach them rather than by a marketing team. Live online clubs are open to children anywhere in the UK, and our in-person clubs run across Essex, Hertfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Suffolk.
A live club is one hour a week, in a group of no more than six, with the same DBS-checked, STEM-certified mentor.
Children build their own games rather than working through a set course, starting in Scratch or MakeCode and moving to Python and TypeScript when they are ready. More than a third of our members are autistic or have ADHD, based on what parents tell us when they join.
Mentors write a note on every child after every session, which is how we know when somebody is ready to move up a level or would rather stay where they are. Levels move down as readily as up. Nothing is forced, and staying put is a perfectly good outcome.
In 2026 we were ranked second in the UK in Club Hub UK’s Top 100 Children’s Activity Providers, scored by five independent judges on safeguarding, inclusivity and community impact, and in 2025 we received the Autism Inclusion Award from the National Autistic Society. Over 1,000 children are enrolled.
More like this
The blog is in two halves. Guides are the evergreen explainers written by the mentors who teach the clubs, covering the questions parents actually ask: what comes after Scratch, how to support a coding-mad child when you cannot code yourself, and what works for autistic and ADHD children.
Club news is the other half, and it is where posts like this one live: game jams, Minecraft builds and weekly roundups, written up by whoever ran the session. Neither is marketing. If you want to know what an hour actually looks like before you book anything, club news is the more honest read of the two.
The first session is a free taster and we do not ask for card details. Book a free taster session, see what it costs, or read about support for neurodivergent children.
