Coding Bootcamp for Kids
The shortcut: Don't try to be Code Ninjas. Run small-group cohorts (6-8 kids, one teacher) in a library room or on Zoom, and make every kid ship a real Scratch game or Roblox map by the last session. Project-shipping is the wedge.
Industry: Childcare & Education
Investment level: Small — $3,000-$10,000
Time to launch: 6-10 weeks (curriculum build + COPPA paperwork + first cohort waitlist gate the launch)
Best for: A former teacher, developer, or CS student who can hold a room of 10-year-olds for 90 minutes and teach a kid to debug their own Scratch project. You're a fit if you can write a 6-week project-based curriculum, troubleshoot a Chromebook on the fly, and email parents back within a day. What you'll likely make: $900-$1,500 month 3, $2,500-$3,500 month 6, $4,000-$8,000 month 12 (summer spike up to $10K+ in July). Math is in Section 4.
Market Opportunity
Every parent with an 8-to-13 year old has heard "your kid should learn to code" from a teacher, an in-law, and a TikTok in the same week. They're not looking for another YouTube tutorial. They want a real teacher running a real class where their kid builds something they can show off at the dinner table.
The big national brands are franchises. Code Ninjas charges $200-$300/month for weekly hour-long sessions in a strip-mall storefront, and franchise buy-in runs into six figures. iD Tech sells week-long summer camps at university campuses for $900-$1,500 per week per child. Both leave a wide-open lane for a solo teacher running 6-8 kid cohorts at half the price with twice the personal attention.
The platforms are free and good. Scratch (MIT, used in 150+ countries) is the universal on-ramp for ages 8-12. Code.org gives you a free K-12 curriculum library. Roblox Studio is free and kids are already obsessed — Roblox reports 85+ million daily users as of 2025 Roblox investor data. Your job is curriculum, classroom management, and parent communication — not building a platform. The trap is treating it like daycare. The win is treating it like a workshop where every kid ships a working game.
Start with this idea — free signup, no card required.
