Getting kids interested in Basic

[pandawdy]

I have tried several times to get my 12 year old son interested in programming. It does interest him, but there are too many other things competing for his attention. We recently got a new computer and it can run basically any new PC game on the market, so his options are wide open. 

I'm taking a new approach. Tonight I wrote up some instructions on a piece of paper and told him if he could produce the right results in Liberty Basic, he would get the reward listed on the paper (50 cents). He is always looking for ways to earn money so he can get new games. The first task was as simple as possible.. recreate "Hello World!". He had this done in no time flat and earned his reward. l

Tomorrow the next task will be just a little bit harder, but only a little. 

[donnybowers]

I think it was easier to be inspired back in the day when there weren't so many programs available. I remember I used to think of a task that I wanted to be able to do more quickly or more efficiently and off I'd go trying to figure out how to make it work. If it were today I probably would have done a google search and found something "good enough" and not been inspired to make the program. I'm not much of a gamer, but I'm sure the same principle applies. But, if you can get him to catch the fever he may get a vision of some great thing he would like to do and start to whittle away at learning it.