How to choose a coding or robotics class for your child in Bengaluru

Robotics or coding first? For a child under 10 who takes toys apart, robotics. For one who likes making games, coding. Most robotics classes teach block coding too, so the first year overlaps.

Worried about screen time? A robotics class is mostly hands and table. An online coding class is all screen.

The jump from blocks to typed code is where many children lose interest. Ask the centre how they move a child across, and wait if yours isn't ready.

Your child's school may already teach the basics. CBSE is bringing in computational thinking from Class 3 and AI from Class 6 in 2026-27, so a class outside is for going further.

If the family says maths tuition instead, treat it like any hobby. Pay for one holiday course, see if your child still talks about it a month later, and decide then.

Count the drive. A good centre 7 km away can be 40 minutes each way on a weekday evening. Pick one near home or school, or a weekend slot.

Online robotics still needs a kit at home, a laptop with the right software, and you nearby for the first few weeks.

Ask if your child keeps the same teacher. If the teacher changes, your child may have to start over with someone new.

A home tutor is a third way: one child, your hours. We found no tutor's rate in print, so ask, and expect it to vary a lot. For robotics at home you'll buy the parts.

A year, all in: over 12 months of fees, that's about ₹18,000 in the big online group, about ₹50,500 at the robotics chain with one kit, and ₹60,000 or more one-to-one. The chain's ₹50,500 leaves out any kit for a new level and any tax, since its page says neither.

The kit is usually extra. Ask if it goes home, and if it works with anything outside that centre. A standard board like a micro:bit or an Arduino keeps working with free lessons online if you switch. A centre's own kit may not, and a broken part costs whatever the centre charges.

Watch the "₹999" offer. A starting price is often one session, or one month of a course that runs a year. Ask for the year's total with the kit.

On ₹500 to ₹1,000 a month, which is what one parent offered us for online Python, no printed class fits. Free tools at home plus one ₹1,500 museum course a holiday does. Check what your school's lab already gives first.

Two one-to-one hours, ₹1,250 and about ₹2,100. Codeyoung's page says it takes under 1% of the mentors who apply, lets you pick the mentor at a free trial, sends progress reports, and includes its practice platform. Modern Age Coders says its instructors have industry experience, and lists recorded sessions on its group plans. Neither names a teacher's background, so ask who will teach your child.

The same holiday Arduino course for a 13-year-old, in Bengaluru:

The science museum (VITM), April 2026

₹1,500

A private camp (Project NxG)

₹6,500

5 days, 2:30 to 5 pm: 12.5 hours

15 days, 30 hours

Arduino, open to Classes 8 to 11

Arduino and C programming, 13 and up

About ₹120 an hour

About ₹217 an hour

Paid online after the museum emails its bank details. Ask if anything goes home

Two robot cars to take home, one Bluetooth and one infrared. Bring a laptop or pay ₹700 to use theirs. No dates printed

Per hour, the private camp costs a little under double. Most of the ₹5,000 gap is more than twice the hours, and the robot parts your child keeps. Ask both how big the batch is and who teaches, and ask the camp when it next runs.

Ask these before you pay for a term or more:

• Can I pay month by month?
• If my child stops, do I get the unused classes back, and how fast?
• Can we pause for exams or a trip?
• Are missed classes made up?
• Is the kit refundable?

Pay the company directly, by card or UPI against a receipt, and don't sign a loan or EMI form at a demo. Keep the messages.

If a year's fee is already gone, write to the company first, then call the National Consumer Helpline on 1915.

Missed classes add up. Batches run on fixed slots, so three Saturdays of birthday parties can mean three classes gone.

Ask who exactly teaches your child, how long they've taught children, and whether it's the same person every week. Almost none of the pages we read names a teacher's background, and none says if teachers are background-checked, so ask that too.

Ask the batch size. It's 15 to 20 children in the cheapest online group we found, and up to 6 in a small batch.

Ask what your child's age touches. Soldering irons and glue guns get hot, small parts can choke a child under 5, and a drone needs open space.

Ask what they collect about your child. India's Digital Personal Data Protection Rules make a company get a parent's consent before handling a child's data, from May 2027. Until then, it's up to the company.

If your child is the only girl, or can't sit still for an hour, watch one ordinary class after the demo. See whether the teacher gets every child's hands on the robot.

Watch the demo, but don't sign that day. A demo shows a class at its best, so ask to watch an ordinary class too, and expect follow-up calls.

A medal from a real contest counts for more than a certificate every child gets. For a serious older child, ask which contests the centre's teams have entered.

One parent in Hulimavu asked us for a mentor for a Class 6 robotics project the boy would build himself, with one class in person and the rest online, for about ₹5,000.

The Happy Zone does this across Bengaluru. Marshal told us they teach science and robotics, in schools too. Each child builds a kit like a periscope, a mechanical bird or a voice recorder, with a guide inside. They bring the kit and goggles and clean up, and he told us they use no harsh or acid-based chemicals. They haven't given us a price yet, so ask.

For a committee, decide these first: how many children, the age range, a hall with tables and plug points, and how long. Children of 6 and 12 build different things, so ask about two groups.

Science fair mentoring is fine when your child does the work and the mentor guides.