What are Loops?

Loops are a basic coding skill—and a fun way for kids to make their code cleaner and more efficient. In Kodable, students use loops to repeat steps instead of writing them again and again. For example, instead of saying: UP, LEFT, UP, LEFT, UP, LEFT — they can loop UP, LEFT to repeat 3 times.

Students first meet loops in the Aquatopia course. Here, they can:

It’s a hands-on way to see how loops make patterns easier to code.

Example: Instead of coding UP, LEFT three times, students can place UP and LEFT inside a loop and set it to repeat three times.

When students start using Kodable Creator, they take their loop skills to the next level. In the Run and Jump course, loops are used to keep the game moving—and students use them to repeat custom actions they've designed themselves, just like real developers!

Example: If a student creates a “jump” action, placing it inside a loop makes the character jump over and over, without rewriting the command each time.

Think about making a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Now imagine making 500 sandwiches! You wouldn’t want to go through all the steps one-by-one, every time. Instead, you’d want a system that repeats those steps until the job is done.

That’s exactly what loops do in programming—they automate repetitive actions so things get done faster and more efficiently.

Loops teach students:

Learning loops early gives kids a huge boost in coding confidence—and helps them think critically about how to solve problems efficiently.