FortCad

My son just had his double-digit birthday and he continues to amaze me every day. That boy just loves to create things and he’s always making me proud to be his dad.

So today I walk in on my kids counting all the pieces they had from the Stick Fort project. They typically build a new fort every Saturday for Family Movie Night, so seeing them tear down the old fort and build a new one up is very common. However, they weren’t building this time. They were taking inventory so my son could build an app.

He was excited to show it off today and was looking for input on how to make it better. It’s a 3D fort building simulator. He hasn’t actually named it, but for this post, let’s call it FortCad. The current version won’t let them use more than the rods and connectors they actually have, and it also visualizes physical limitations like unsupported overhangs and potential sagging issues. It’s amazing that kids have these tools at their disposal. All we had were AOL discs with increasing hours of usage - Kachunk kathunk eeeeeeeeeee.

Ever since I taught him the basics of Python, JavaScript, HTML, CSS, and the Linux terminal, his creativity has shot through the roof. AI agents have been part of that too, not doing the work for him, but there as a tool to teach and guide him along the way, so he can build almost anything on his own now. He sees the world differently now. If there’s a problem or something he wants, he just builds it.

For example, he loves those simple yet fun internet games like The Impossible Game, chess games like Gambonanza, and The Duck Game, so he just makes his own versions when he wants to play them. He built his own proper chess game from scratch, then skinned it with Spider-Man and Mario sprites pulled straight from the original NES games, since he’s really into both right now. He makes a lot of these just to have around, and half the time he’s not even playing what he built. He’s focused on tweaking, adding features, and making things better. He’s a little version of me - just cuter, smarter, and with more energy. Oh, and I taught him Photoshop too, which is how the sprite work happened.

Kids are amazing at this age. They’re like little sponges that absorb everything you throw at them. The trick is getting them to focus.