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.

Launch With AI

Pro section. AI is literally what your students will compete with — and the tool that makes you a better teacher in the meantime. AI cuts the parts that drained you (writing 6-week curriculum + project briefs, drafting COPPA-compliant parent consent forms, generating Sawyer enrollment copy, building demo-day social posts). Spend the saved time on what AI can't do: standing in front of 8 kids holding a Chromebook + a parent who's worried about screen time, calling the parent at 9pm when their kid's Roblox account got flagged, and being the teacher who can debug a kid's Scratch script live in front of the room.

Critical: AI is fine for YOUR business writing. AI is NOT a substitute for COPPA-compliant parent consent. Don't let kids interact with ChatGPT/Claude/Gemini in your classroom — those don't have COPPA-compliant verifiable parental consent. Use AI for: curriculum prep, parent emails, Sawyer copy, demo day posts. NEVER for: direct kid-to-AI interaction without verified parent consent for THAT specific tool.

The trap most first-year kids' coding instructors fall into: they let AI generate the curriculum and skip the project-shipping focus. Backwards. Generic AI curriculum produces classes where kids don't ship anything — and parents who don't see a finished Scratch game stop paying. AI for the writing tail (curriculum framing, parent emails, COPPA forms, demo day marketing) is where it pays you back.

Important up-front: AI cannot teach the kid to debug, hold the room for 90 minutes, or run the abuse-and-molestation rider on your insurance. It will also confidently generate COPPA consent language that doesn't actually verify parental consent (a checkbox is NOT VPC). You set the curriculum project goals, the COPPA verification method, the demo day expectation; AI scales the writing around them.

AI Tools You'll Use

Tool	Price	What it does
ChatGPT Plus	$20/mo	Curriculum prep, parent welcome emails, COPPA consent forms, Sawyer enrollment copy
Sawyer for Business AI	$50-$120/mo	Enrollment automation, e-signed waivers, payment processing, parent comms
Canva Pro (Magic Studio)	$15/mo	Macaroni Kid flyers, school pickup line graphics, demo day posters, brand kit
CapCut Pro	$9/mo	Kid project showcase Reels (with COPPA + photo consent), demo day highlight videos
Scratch / Roblox / Code.org built-in tools	free	Kid project portfolios, teacher dashboards, COPPA-safe educational platforms

The Workflow

6-week project-based curriculum (ChatGPT, ~3 hours one-time per cohort topic). Curriculum that skips project shipping = parents who quit after week 4. Paste:

"I'm building a 6-week after-school cohort for kids 8-12. Topic: Scratch beginner platformer game. The kids ship a working platformer by the last session that they show off at demo day. Build the curriculum: (a) week 1 — Scratch basics + simple character that moves left/right (project: a character with 4 movement directions), (b) week 2 — gravity + jumping (project: character that jumps + falls), (c) week 3 — collision detection + platforms (project: character that lands on platforms), (d) week 4 — enemies + game over (project: enemies that move + collision = game over), (e) week 5 — scoring + lives (project: collectible coins + score display + 3 lives), (f) week 6 — levels + demo day prep (project: 3 levels + the kid's own modification). For each week: the 60-min lesson plan + the 30-min independent build time + the 1-line homework + the parent email summary. Stay aligned with CSTA K-12 Standards. NEVER 'fun coding adventure' filler. Output as Notion-ready cohort plan + parent-facing 1-pager."

Project-shipping curriculum is the difference between $75/mo per kid and $0 — every kid leaving demo day with a working game becomes a referral source.
COPPA-compliant parent consent form (ChatGPT + DocuSign + attorney review, ~60 min one-time). A checkbox is NOT verifiable parental consent. Paste:

"I'm a kids' coding instructor (ages 8-12). My students use Scratch (no account needed for under-13 if parent creates), Roblox Studio (account creation requires parent verification), Replit (account creation requires parent verification), Tynker (paid teacher account — kids use my class code), and Zoom (no account needed). Build me the COPPA-compliant parent consent form I'll have signed BEFORE the first class: (a) the 1-paragraph framing ('I'm requesting your verified consent for your child to use the following platforms during my coding cohort — federal law (15 USC §6501 + COPPA) requires verifiable parental consent for kids under 13'), (b) the per-platform breakdown (each platform: what data it collects, parent consent option — 'I authorize Tynker class code access' / 'I will create the Roblox Studio account using my email + verify the parent prompt'), (c) the photo/video consent (I can post the kid's screen-share + Scratch project on Instagram with first-name only — opt-out option), (d) the signature line (parent's full name + e-signature via DocuSign + date — NOT a checkbox), (e) the 1-page parent FAQ ('what if I revoke consent later? You can opt out anytime — your kid can keep their Scratch project but won't have access to the cohort cohort going forward'). NEVER use a checkbox in lieu of e-signature. Output as DocuSign-ready template + paste-ready parent FAQ."

Run past an attorney once ($150-$300). One COPPA complaint = $51,744/violation + brand-ending FTC investigation — the form is your liability shield.
Sawyer enrollment + Macaroni Kid campaign (Sawyer + ChatGPT + Canva, ~90 min one-time). Macaroni Kid sponsorship + Sawyer listings = your entire enrollment funnel. Paste:

"I'm a kids' coding instructor. Build the Sawyer + Macaroni Kid campaign: (1) the Sawyer enrollment page copy (cohort title 'Scratch Beginner Platformer Game — 6 weeks, ages 8-12, 6-8 kids per cohort, project-based, demo day at the end' + the 6-week curriculum overview + my qualifications + the $85/mo pricing + the COPPA consent requirement), (2) the Macaroni Kid sponsored post copy + Canva graphic (60 words, geotagged my city, naming the cohort + dates + how to enroll), (3) the school pickup line flyer (8.5x11, ready to print + hand to parents at the elementary school gate). Tone: warm teacher + parent-friendly. NEVER 'unleash your child's potential' filler. Output as Sawyer-ready field text + Canva-ready Macaroni Kid graphic + flyer."

Sawyer + Macaroni Kid drives 60-70% of enrollment at small scale — at $85/mo × 6 kids × 6-week cohort = $3,060 per cohort.
Demo day showcase + parent testimonial capture (CapCut + ChatGPT, ~60 min/cohort). Demo day is your highest-converting marketing moment. Paste:

"My 6-week Scratch cohort just had demo day. 7 kids shipped working platformer games (with parental photo/video consent on file). Build: (a) the 90-second Reel script (each kid's name + their game's twist — 'Maya built a unicorn platformer with rainbow obstacles, Jaden built a ninja platformer with stealth attacks'), (b) the post-demo-day parent email ('thanks for trusting me with [your kid's name] — here's the gameplay video of their game + the link to keep playing it on Scratch'), (c) the next-cohort enrollment nudge ('the next cohort starts [date] — your kid is welcome to take Roblox Studio next OR repeat Scratch with a new project'), (d) the testimonial request (1-line ask for a 30-sec parent video testimonial naming what their kid built — used in next cohort's Sawyer page with consent). Tone: warm teacher proud of every kid. NEVER 'amazing transformation' filler."

Demo day Reel + parent testimonials drive 30-40% of next cohort's enrollment at zero ad spend.
Summer bootcamp campaign (Sawyer + Klaviyo + ChatGPT, ~90 min one-time, launched March). Summer = $10K+ month for many kids' coding instructors. Paste:

"I'm a kids' coding instructor launching my first summer 5-day bootcamp ($299/kid, 8-12 kids, June + July + August weeks). Build: (1) the March 1 announcement to my Sawyer waitlist + past parents ('summer bootcamp registration opens March 15 — early-bird $249/kid until March 31'), (2) the 4-touch Klaviyo drip (March 15 launch + April 1 reminder + May 1 'half spots gone' + May 30 'final 4 spots'), (3) the parent FAQ + scheduling logistics ('drop-off 9am, pickup 1pm, lunch included, kids bring their own laptop, COPPA consent required, week-of-camp packing list'), (4) the post-camp delivery ('your kid's project + a 1-page certificate'). Tone: warm teacher excited for summer. NEVER 'unforgettable summer experience' filler."

Summer bootcamp launches in March drive 40-50% of summer revenue — $299 × 12 kids × 4 weeks = $14,352 of summer income from one campaign.

Time Saved Per Week

Roughly 4-6 hours/week once your curriculum, COPPA form, and enrollment templates are built:

Curriculum build: 30-50 hours one-time → 3 hours per cohort topic (ChatGPT)
COPPA consent form: 4 hours up-front → 60 min (template + attorney review)
Sawyer + Macaroni Kid campaign: 6 hours/cohort → 90 min (template)
Demo day Reel + testimonials: 4 hours/cohort → 60 min (CapCut + ChatGPT)
Summer bootcamp campaign: 8 hours/year → 90 min (Klaviyo + ChatGPT)

Trade that time for: standing in front of the 6 kids at session 1, the second elementary school PTA visit, and the third Sawyer cohort listing.

Total AI Stack Cost

Budget tier ($20/mo): ChatGPT Plus only. Sawyer free trial covers first month; Canva free covers signage; CapCut free covers Reels. Right for first 90 days.
Full tier ($94/mo): ChatGPT Plus + Sawyer paid + Canva Pro + CapCut Pro. Worth it once you cross 12 paying students.
Compare: A part-time admin doing your enrollment + parent comms + content runs $600-$1,500/mo. The full AI stack is one-fifteenth that cost.

Cancel anything you don't open in a 7-day window. Pick Sawyer OR Outschool (not both — Sawyer for direct, Outschool for marketplace).

Your First Win

30 minutes from now your COPPA-compliant parent consent form is drafted (then runs past an attorney for $150-$300). Open ChatGPT (free tier works). Paste:

"I'm a kids' coding instructor (ages 8-12) launching my first cohort. Kids will use Scratch (no account if parent makes it), Roblox Studio (account requires parent verification), and Zoom (no account). Build me the COPPA-compliant parent consent form I'll have e-signed via DocuSign BEFORE the first class: (a) the 1-paragraph framing (federal law (COPPA, 15 USC §6501) requires verifiable parental consent for kids under 13 — a checkbox is NOT enough; e-signature via DocuSign IS verifiable), (b) per-platform breakdown (each platform names what data it collects + the parent's consent action — 'I will create the Roblox account using my email + verify the parent prompt' / 'My child will use Scratch with my supervision — no account required'), (c) the photo/video consent (separate signature line: 'I authorize the instructor to post my child's screen-share + Scratch project on Instagram with first-name only — opt-out anytime'), (d) the parent's right to revoke consent (1-paragraph clear language), (e) the e-signature line (DocuSign-ready, NEVER a checkbox). Output as DocuSign-ready template + the parent FAQ."

Run past an attorney for $150-$300 review. Use on every new student. Without this, one COPPA complaint = $51,744/violation + FTC investigation that ends the business. With it, every kid is enrolled with verified parental consent — and your insurance carrier will renew your abuse-and-molestation rider. Worth more than your first 30 students combined.

Product / Service Offering

You're selling structured, project-based instruction in three formats:

After-school weekly cohort — 6-8 kids, one 75-90 minute session per week, 6-8 week program around one shipped project (Scratch platformer, Roblox obstacle course, Python Turtle drawing). Online via Zoom or in-person at a library room. $75-$95/student/month.
Saturday workshop / drop-in — single 2-hour session, 6-10 kids, one mini-project. Good for trial conversions. $35-$50/session.
Summer intensive bootcamp — 5-day week, 3-4 hours/day, 8-12 kids, one big project. $249-$349/child/week. Your biggest revenue event of the year.

Pick a curriculum stack and stick with it. Typical lineup: Scratch for ages 8-10, Roblox Studio (Lua) for 10-13, Python via Replit and Python Turtle for 12+. Tynker is a paid alternative with progress tracking and printable certificates. Aligning to the CSTA K-12 Standards costs nothing and gives you a real answer when a parent asks "is this serious or just video games?" Sawyer for Business handles enrollment, waivers, and parent payments and is the standard tool in this space.

Revenue Model

Unit economics for a solo instructor running cohorts in a library room or on Zoom, no employees:

Service	Price per student	Variable cost (platform + payment fees)	Your time	Take-home per student
Weekly after-school cohort (6-week, billed monthly)	$85/month	~$2 (Sawyer fees + Stripe 2.9% + $0.30)	~15 min/student/week (incl. prep)	~$83/month
Saturday drop-in workshop	$40	~$1.50	~20 min/student	~$38
Summer intensive (5-day)	$299	~$10	~2 hr/student over the week	~$289
Private 1:1 (Zoom, hourly)	$90/hour	~$3	60 min	~$87

Your first $1K month = 2 weekly cohorts of 6 kids at $85 = $1,020/month. ~4 hours teaching + 4 hours prep per week. Your first $3K month = 4 weekly cohorts (2 Scratch, 1 Roblox, 1 Python) of 7-8 kids at $85 = ~$2,500, plus one $90/hour 1:1 client weekly = ~$3,000. ~10-12 hours teaching + 6 hours prep weekly. Summer spike: A 5-day intensive at $299 with 12 kids = $3,588 in one week. Run it 3-4 weeks across June-August and you're at $10K+ in July alone.

Startup Costs

Curriculum build (your time): Free if you do it. Plan for 30-50 hours building the first Scratch + Roblox 6-week tracks. Code.org's free curriculum library and Scratch's official educator resources cut this roughly in half.
Curriculum platform (optional): Tynker teacher account at ~$300-$600/year for progress tracking and certificates. Skip it for cohort one.
Zoom Pro: $15.99/month. Free Zoom caps at 40 minutes per meeting — that kills a 90-minute class.
Sawyer for Business enrollment + waivers + payments: $50-$120/month plus payment processing. Alternative: Stripe at 2.9% + $0.30 with a free Google Form intake for the first 2 cohorts.
Loaner Chromebook (safety net): ~$300 refurbished for when a kid shows up with a school-locked device that won't run Scratch.
Liability insurance with abuse & molestation rider: ~$400-$900/year for a solo instructor working with minors via Hiscox or Insureon. Standard general liability does NOT cover abuse claims — the rider is non-negotiable when you work with kids. See Section 5.
Background check (Sterling, Checkr, or GoodHire): $25-$75 one-time. Sterling Volunteers is the youth-program standard.
CPR / Pediatric First Aid: $80-$150 in-person via the American Red Cross or American Heart Association. Online-only doesn't count. Valid 2 years.
LLC + EIN: $35-$500 LLC filing depending on state — see LLC University 50-state table. EIN is free at IRS EIN Online — never pay a third party.
Marketing (first 90 days): $200-$500 for sponsored posts in Macaroni Kid local editions and printed flyers for school pickup lines.

Realistic all-in: $3,000 if you self-build curriculum, defer Tynker, and use a free library room; $10,000 if you bind a year of insurance, buy two backup laptops, sit Pediatric First Aid, run Tynker year one, and add paid local marketing.

Legal & Formation

Business entity. Single-member LLC the day you take your first paying parent. Working with kids means even an unfounded accusation can produce a six-figure legal bill, and the LLC keeps a judgment from reaching your house and savings. Filing fee runs $35-$500 (see the LLC University table in Section 4). Get your EIN free from the IRS. Services charging $50-$300 to "file your EIN" are reselling a free five-minute form. S-corp election rarely makes sense at this scale — revisit only if net profit clears $80K-$100K.

Licenses & compliance. Coding instruction is generally not "childcare" under state licensing rules — you're teaching, not providing custodial care. You typically don't need a childcare license to run 90-minute weekly cohorts or 4-hour summer bootcamps. Confirm your state's threshold at childcare.gov state licensing; the line gets fuzzy once you're keeping kids for 4+ continuous hours. Three things you DO need regardless. First, mandatory reporter awareness training — every adult working with kids is legally required to report suspected abuse Child Welfare Information Gateway. Second, a background check through Sterling Volunteers or Checkr at $25-$75. Third, Pediatric First Aid + CPR is best practice and required by most library and community-room facility partners. Tutoring and instruction services are not subject to sales tax in most states, but confirm with your state department of revenue.

Industry-specific risk. The trap that ends this business is COPPA (Children's Online Privacy Protection Act, 15 USC §6501-6506). Roblox, Replit, and parts of Tynker require account creation, and any account for a child under 13 needs verifiable parental consent — a federal requirement enforced by the FTC. A "yes" checkbox on your enrollment form is NOT enough. Acceptable methods are a signed consent form, a credit card check, or email confirmation from the parent's verified address FTC COPPA six-step compliance plan. Penalties run up to $51,744 per violation as of 2024. The fix is simple and you do it before cohort one. A one-page parent consent form that names every platform (Scratch, Roblox Studio, Replit, Tynker, Zoom), what data each collects, and a signature line. Paper or DocuSign. One per child, kept in your records.

Marketing & First Customers

Your first 12 students come from parents you can text directly. Not Google ads, not Instagram. Here's the order that actually works:

The school pickup line and your kid's friend group. If you have kids of your own, every parent at the elementary-school gate is a warm lead. A printed half-sheet flyer ("Saturday Scratch workshop, 8 spots, $40, your kid leaves with a working game") beats any ad you can buy.
Local Facebook mom groups and Nextdoor. Don't post once and disappear. Comment helpfully on three "any coding classes for my 9-year-old?" threads a week for a month and bookings come.
Macaroni Kid sponsorship. Hyperlocal family newsletter. $50-$200/month per local edition for a sponsored listing.
Library partnerships. Most public library systems give you a free meeting room in exchange for one free workshop a quarter, and they promote your program to their full email list. Best free distribution channel in this business.
School district approved-vendor list. Slow (2-6 months of paperwork) but a single after-school enrichment contract can be $15K-$50K/year. Apply once you have a year of clean parent reviews.

The conversion happens at the first cohort's wrap-up. A "demo day" where every kid shows their finished Scratch game on the big screen sells the next cohort better than any ad. Capture parent video testimonials (with signed photo/video consent from your COPPA paperwork) on the spot.

First 90 Days

Week 1. File LLC. Get EIN. Run a Sterling background check. Pick your stack (recommend: Scratch + Roblox Studio + Python Turtle).
Week 1-3. Build a 6-week Scratch beginner curriculum. One project per week, last week ships a working platformer. Use Code.org and Scratch resources as scaffolding.
Week 3-4. Bind insurance with the abuse & molestation rider ($400-$900/year). Sit Pediatric First Aid + CPR. Write your COPPA parent consent form (one page, names every platform).
Week 4-5. Set up Sawyer or a Google Form + Stripe for enrollment. Build a one-page website with cohort dates, prices, and a "what your kid will build" gallery.
Week 5-6. Visit two local libraries. Offer one free 90-minute workshop for a recurring meeting room slot. Most say yes.
Week 6-7. Open enrollment for cohort one. Target 6-8 students by end of week 7 from your warm list, the school pickup line, and one Nextdoor post.
Week 7-12. Run cohort one. Document every kid's project. Capture parent testimonials and demo-day video at the final session.
Week 10-12. Open cohort two plus a Saturday Roblox workshop. Target 12-16 paying students by day 90, ~$1,200-$1,800/month gross. Outline the summer bootcamp for a March waitlist.

Common Pitfalls

Skipping the COPPA consent form. Asking 10-year-olds to make Roblox or Replit accounts without a documented parent signature on file is a federal violation, and one parent complaint to the FTC ends the business. The fix takes 30 minutes: one-page form, one signature per child, on file before the first login.
Tech chaos in session one. Eight kids, eight different laptops, five school-locked Chromebooks that won't run Scratch, 25 minutes burned on troubleshooting. Require a personal (non-school-issued) laptop in the enrollment email, send the platform URL the day before for a parent test, and keep one loaner Chromebook on hand.
No abuse & molestation rider on your insurance. Standard general liability excludes A&M claims, period. A single accusation — even baseless — can produce a six-figure defense bill. The rider runs $400-$900/year with GL. Get it before cohort one.
Pricing like a franchise without the brand. Charging $200/month like Code Ninjas without the storefront and brand recognition stalls enrollment fast. Start at $75-$95/month, fill cohorts, raise prices once your demo-day video and parent testimonials sell themselves.

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