But it's true! And my first language was actually Pascal and then assembly :) I had the chance of having some family working around computers at the time, and showing me how to code multiplication tables while I was learning them at school

I don't see anything wrong with either. It shows passion.

If one kid is doing macaroni-level coding while everyone else is literally gluing noodles, that's still a pretty strong predictor of future skills.

I'd argue that programming requires much more critical thinking than macaroni art