From Curiosity to Code: How Two Indonesian Fourth Graders Reached the Global Stage

JAKARTA, Jakartaweekly.com — Raffa and Tara are both fourth-grade elementary school students. At an age when many children spend their free time playing video games, the two became curious about how games are actually created.

That curiosity eventually led them to explore coding. Without ever imagining it, the two elementary school students went on to represent Indonesia in an international competition focused on Artificial Intelligence (AI), programming, and robotics.

Although they share the same passion for coding and compete as teammates, their journeys into programming began in very different ways.

For Raffa, it all started by accident. While searching online for information about a “scratching guy,” he unexpectedly came across the Scratch programming platform.

Curious about what it was, he clicked the link. “It turned out the website had lots of games and a ‘Create’ button,” he recalled.

Instead of returning to his original search, Raffa decided to explore further. He clicked the Create menu and began arranging his very first blocks of code.

That simple experiment sparked a lasting interest. What began as curiosity soon grew into a hobby, and coding became something he genuinely enjoyed.

Tara’s story is different. He was introduced to coding when he was in the first grade. From his very first experience writing computer code, he immediately fell in love with it.

For him, coding is more than just learning technology—it is a way to express creativity and turn ideas into something new.

Their shared passion eventually brought them together as teammates. Both enjoy the process of transforming ideas into games that other people can play.

“I like coding because it allows me to turn my imagination into reality through games,” Raffa and Tara said.

Their journey, however, was far from easy. Tara admitted that he used to feel discouraged whenever a project did not go as planned. Over time, he realized that mistakes are a natural part of learning, and that the most important thing is having the courage to keep trying.

Raffa faced similar challenges. There were times when his code was accidentally deleted or simply did not work as expected. Rather than giving up, each setback motivated him to look for solutions and try again.

Whenever his programs failed to run or he encountered errors while experimenting, he searched for answers through YouTube tutorials. Through trial and error, he learned that every mistake can eventually be fixed.

Their hard work earned them a place at Codeavour 7.0 in May 2026. After advancing through the national selection, Raffa and Tara represented Indonesia alongside participants from more than 10 countries.

For the competition, they developed a PictoBlox-based project addressing childhood obesity. Inspired by the classic arcade game Pac-Man, they transformed the concept into an educational game.

In the game, players learn to distinguish between healthy and unhealthy foods. Every time they choose an unhealthy food item, points are deducted, helping players understand the importance of healthy eating in a fun and interactive way.

“If players choose unhealthy food, they receive a minus score,” Tara explained.

The simple idea earned Raffa and Tara a Bronze Medal at Codeavour. However, they believe the most valuable reward was not the medal itself, but the opportunity to learn how to work together.

Throughout the project, they discussed ideas, divided responsibilities, combined their creativity, and supported each other through every challenge they faced.

“We stayed united and supported each other until we finally reached this stage,” they said.

For Raffa, learning to code has become valuable preparation for the future. Meanwhile, Tara believes coding gives him the freedom to continuously explore his creativity.