Children have been increasingly introduced to IT over the years, but in the last decade things have ramped up. This is largely down to coding becoming a major focus as part of the UK’s Computing curriculum in 2014.  From Year 1 right through to GCSE and beyond, pupils have been taught programming skills.

This move towards STEM subjects is part of an overarching drive to Encourage young people into the world of IT and computing. However, while schools have a syllabus to follow, things look a little different for parents. If you’re looking for ways to ignite their imagination at home, here are some ideas to help you encourage the young people in your life to take up IT.

The growing importance of IT

IT – or information technology – has come a long way over the years. As a parent, you might remember sitting in a room filled with bulky desktop computers as you were instructed to work through rudimentary Office applications.

Today, IT is an ever-changing, forward-thinking subject. Students get to interact more and develop processes and build programs through learning basic coding skills.

As a result of these changes, businesses are built on IT technologies. Every sector, from retail and marketing to healthcare and construction, rely on IT to operate successfully. Everyday tasks, such as organising payroll, keeping sensitive information secure, and basic comms, have all changed significantly with advancements in IT.

How young people can learn at home

With It being so important, it’s great if you can encourage your children to get into computing. If you’re taking them through IT applications at home, here are some ideas to help you make it accessible and fun:

• Make it engaging

If you’re teaching computing skills to younger children, make it light and introduce a lot of play. Turning coding into a game will help them to learn without them even realising they’re doing it. Explore different computing programming games for little ones.

Should you be trying to engage your teens, something like Scratch is suitable up to the age of 16. This keeps it fun without it being too babyish.

• Keep it simple

Something like the BBC micro:bit can be hugely beneficial. This is software that’s aimed at young people, so everything’s covered. You get to teach your children that they can build cool creations without anything becoming too complicated.

• Let them go for it

Allow the children to get creative and do their own thing. This will reinforce that IT and computing is a fun, exciting subject area where being imaginative is encouraged.

Potential career paths

The work you put in now could help your children to follow a career path in IT – and there are so many opportunities out there for them in this field. As well as the heady heights of Silicon Valley and opportunities to work at Google HQ, computing skills can bag them roles in everything from education to the government.

Encourage them to explore emerging tech and see where they go next.