Why We Encourage Learning Through Gaming!
Our clubs combine learning to code with gaming - but why is this such a good way to learn how to code? Find out in this week's blog post...
One thing that has been studied again and again is how children learn through play. While the nature of play may have changed and evolved through the years since that initial study; we believe these newer forms of play, namely video games, are an excellent way to improve our skills!
What does the research say?
According to a 2024 report by Ofcom, nine out of ten children from primary through secondary play video games, so including it within education seems like a no brainer, why not just let them continue having fun while also learning?
While obviously being fun, a study from 2009 by Merrilea J. Mayo showed that retention of learning increased in those that played video games about subjects, compared to those that had only lectures on the same materials, with test scores being between 7 and 40% higher depending on subjects!
A different study from 2023 from researchers at Brunel University in London also found that school children appeared to have increased engagement with their learning when syllabi includes games or gaming related media.
Learning through play at The Code Zone
So we here at The Code Zone are always super happy to let our members learn through playing and testing the games that we hack and mod.
Not only do we agree that playing video games increases capacity for learning and is, in our humble opinion, extremely fun, but also because we believe it’s a great way to practice real world skills like problem solving and communication in fun, judgement free ways.
If you want to experience the benefits of learning through gaming, why don’t you sign up to one of our free taster sessions with a STEM certified mentor?
About The Code Zone
The Code Zone teaches children aged 6 to 16 to code by building their own games. Outside the UK that is the Game Dev Academy: self-paced, so a child works at whatever hour suits them in any time zone, with a background-checked, STEM-certified mentor answering by text and video message.
It started in Britain, where in 2026 it was the highest-placed coding club in Club Hub UK's Top 100 Children's Activity Providers, and in 2025 received the Autism Inclusion Award from the National Autistic Society, the UK's leading autism charity. More than a third of members are autistic or have ADHD, based on what parents tell us when they join.
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 the work actually looks like before you sign up to anything, club news is the more honest read of the two.
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