Kids with Maximum Supports: The Right Options
This can be achieved through various games and exercises, working with simple programs or dealing with robots. The children gradually build up IT skills and understand how a computer works – namely that it only ever executes commands that we give it through various codes.
The children also develop an understanding of how a computer works and learn the type of thinking that is necessary for programming: e.g. breaking down a task into individual work steps and performing them one after the other (corresponds to “sequencing” in Programming) or repeating a series of work steps until the task is completed (“loop”). For coding for 13 year olds, this is most important now.
Learning robots and co
There is a whole range of (often free) educational software as well as simple robots in the field of coding. These have the advantage that the children do not have to type in any source codes and work without reading and writing skills. One speaks here of “visual programming languages”. The children control robots’ behaviour with the help of various symbols or create game worlds and animate self-designed characters by combining colourful building blocks. For coding for primary school student, this is important.
We took a closer look at educational robots & programs for the elementary sector and tested them. Here you will find our tips and ideas for use in everyday kindergarten life:
Bee-Bot, Blue-Bot, Cubetto, Ozobot Evo, Scratch Junior
Coding entirely without a computer
In order to introduce children to programming, it is not absolutely necessary to work with a computer or tablet or learning robot. It can be started very small, for example, with the body, spatial movement or tricky logic games. Some games focus on the collective and, above all, creative solving of cognitive problems. By doing things together, these games always combine communication and social learning with the promotion of problem-solving skills. The doors are open for the best scratch projects also.
Conclusion
A viral offline coding game is “Programming Robots”. The children are robots themselves and control each other through the room. However, different elements such as sequences or conditions (“if-then”) can be built into music stop games. On the one hand, offline coding games can be used for this. On the other hand, other materials such as the Hello Ruby book series can also be used.