Menu

kid-projects.com · You type. They direct.

Sketch It on Paper, Say It Out Loud: Build Your Kid's First Video Game

Your child draws the game and says what should happen. You type. A coding assistant makes a small browser game you can play and change.

Ages 6–9 (parent at the keyboard)Under 20 minutes in one report; about 2 hours in anotherNeither source names a price for Codex or Claude Code.GamesNo physical resultMedium

At a glance

Age6–9. You type. They draw and direct. The Insider session was age 5; we do not copy that setup.
TimeInsider: under 20 minutes at the computer, and more time drawing. LinkedIn: about 2 hours.
CostNot stated. Check Codex and Claude before you start.
CategoryGames
You'll end withA small browser game. Nothing to hold.

Both sources start with the child’s idea, not with a coding lesson. One child drew levels on paper, then talked. Another described a story, then playtested it out loud. The adult held the tool. The computer did the typing of code.

Tools (and their age limits)

ToolWhat it’s for hereAccount age / who logs inFree?
OpenAI CodexThe Insider session used the Codex app’s dictation to turn speech into a browser gameYour account. The article does not give a separate child age for Codex. ChatGPT’s terms are 13+, under 18 with a parent’s permission. You stay at the keyboard.Not stated in the article.
Claude CodeThe LinkedIn build: a parent fed a short design to Claude Code and got a browser game backYour account. Claude’s consumer terms are 18+.Not stated in the post.

The LinkedIn parent also used ChatGPT’s voice chat to capture the design before Claude Code. That step is optional. One tool is enough if that is all you have.

Who does what

Kid does

  • Draws the characters, the place, and what “fun” means
  • Says what should happen, in their words
  • Plays the first version and says what is wrong
  • Picks made-up names. Not their own.

Parent does

  • Opens the tool and explains that it is a tool, not a person
  • Types or holds the dictation button. At 6–9 they do not run the account alone.
  • Reads the plan before any code runs
  • Stops the session. The Insider one stayed under 20 minutes at the screen.

Materials

  • Paper and something to draw with
  • A parent account for Codex or Claude Code
  • A browser to play the result
Do not add: a real name, a school, a town, a photo of your child, or a favorite toy’s photo. The Insider family reviewed that rule before they started.

Steps

  1. Kid Sketch first. Levels, characters, and what it should feel like to play. In the Insider session, the drawing took longer than the computer.
  2. Together Say the rule out loud. No personal information. The AI is made by people. It is not a friend.
  3. Kid Describe the game from the drawing. You write down the words if dictation is on, so a real name never gets spoken into the app.
  4. Parent Paste the build prompt and read the five-line restatement. If it is not their game, stop and fix the words before any code.
  5. Parent Open what it made. The LinkedIn game was a browser page. Controls in that one game were arrow keys to move and jump, and space to shoot. Yours may differ. The article does not promise those keys.
  6. Kid Play and complain specifically. “I can’t jump that high” is a useful note. “Make it cooler” is not yet.
  7. Parent Send one change at a time with the playtest prompt.
  8. Together Stop while it is still fun. Under 20 minutes of screen was the Insider cap. The two-hour build was one family’s Saturday, not a target.

Copy-paste prompts

Build the game from the sketch

The main prompt (parent pastes this)

I'm a parent at the keyboard. My child, who is [AGE], designed a browser game on paper and is telling me what they want. Please build a single small game that opens in a browser. You write the code. Do not ask us to paste a real name, school, town, or photo.

Here is the design, in my child's words:
[WHAT THEY SAID]

Please:
1. Restate the game in five short lines so my child can say yes or no before you build.
2. Then make the first playable version.
3. Tell me exactly how to open it.
4. Keep the characters made-up. If a character needs a name, use [MADE-UP NAME].

If a request needs a real child's face, voice, or private fact, refuse that part and build the rest.

Playtest note

After you play

We played it. My child says: "[WHAT THEY SAID]". Please change only that. Then tell us how to open the new version. Do not add personal information.

What you’ll end up with

A small game in the browser, and the paper sketch that started it. The LinkedIn post says that family’s result was one HTML file, one CSS file, and one JavaScript file, with no separate image files. Treat that as their result, not a guarantee for yours.

Safety box

  • Age guidance: this page is 6–9, with you there. The Insider child was 5 and pressed the dictation button. We do not recommend that. Five and under do not use the chatbot. Safety & Ages hub
  • No personal info. Say it before the app opens.
  • Not a friend, not an authority. Hall’s point, and Common Sense Media’s: nobody under 18 uses a chatbot for friendship.
  • The first build will be wrong. Both sources went back and changed it. That is the project.
  • Screen time. Creating, then stop. Do not leave the session open as a hangout.
  • Price. If the tool asks you to pay or to connect a card, stop and decide. These articles do not say it is free.

Age adaptations

AgeHow it worksTips
6–9You type. They draw, talk, and play. This matches the 6-year-old in the LinkedIn post.One change per round. Funny obstacles, not scary ones, if they ask. That was a request in the LinkedIn design.
5 and underDraw on paper only. Do not open the chatbot for them.You can build later, from their drawing, while they are out of the room.

Variations & next projects

  • Design on paper, build another day if 20 minutes is enough screen.
  • A birthday version is the Level 10 quest, for a 10-year-old in that post.
  • Do not upload a photo of your child to star in the game. Neither of these two sources did that, and this page will not add it.

Source & inspiration

Paper sketch first, dictation into the Codex app, a session under 20 minutes, and the rules “no personal information” and “AI is a tool, not a friend” come from Lena Hall's Business Insider account of building with a 5-year-old. The two-hour path, a child as the designer and a parent as the person who prompts, ChatGPT voice notes turned into a short design, then Claude Code, comes from Deepak Senthilkumar's LinkedIn post about a 6-year-old. This page is written for ages 6–9 with the parent at the keyboard, because Common Sense Media recommends no chatbots for children 5 and under. The prompts here are ours. We do not repeat the child's name from the LinkedIn post.

Inspired by:

Facts checked against:

More in this neighborhood