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?
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.
