7 ms·

It's an amazing idea! I'm always looking for screen-free activities related to problem solving with my daughter. By the way, if someone happens to have other ex

It's an amazing idea! I'm always looking for screen-free activities related to problem solving with my daughter. By the way, if someone happens to have other examples, it would be great to share!

earlyriser 3y ago
A similar game but not DIY is https://www.thinkfun.com/products/robot-turtles/ https://www.thinkfun.com/products/robot-turtles/
throwaway89201 3y ago
Getting someone else to do something is really hard if they take your instructions as literally as with a programming language: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=waP5vkMaYjg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=waP5vkMaYjg Another example in Dutch [1] (with activity sheet here [2]) [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7BcZBl-BKhQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7BcZBl-BKhQ [2] https://www.leukekinderactiviteiten.nl/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/14.-robot-sandwich-1.pdf https://www.leukekinderactiviteiten.nl/wp-content/uploads/20...
tkgally 3y ago
My four-year-old grandson and I enjoy playing with go stones on a go board. The black and white stones and board’s grid lines inspire a lot of counting and geometric-shape activities. Similar things could be done with other types of objects, of course, but I had the stones and board from when I used to play go forty years ago. My daughter wants me to teach him how to play go at some point, but he’s not quite ready for that. He hasn’t yet learned the concept of winning or losing at games, and we don’t see any need to force that on him early. In the meantime, playing with and talking about the stones seems to have boosted his understanding of numbers.
prismatix 3y ago
I think the "Peanut Butter Sandwich Instructions" game could fit into this category as well. For kids who can't write, you can do the actions in real time. For kids who can, have them write down instructions first then "run" the program. Teach them to "debug" or test their program along the way.
- flippy_flops 3y ago
  Every year I teach a few weeks of "coding" at my kids elementary school. I always start with the Peanut Butter Sandwich and it's a huge hit. For time's sake, i print & cut out 30-40 random instructions like "openTheBag();" or "holdJellyOverBread();". They get in 4 groups, choose which instructions to use, and put them in order.
hoc 3y ago
Well, for AI, the "Matchbox Computer" https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matchbox_Educable_Noughts_and_Crosses_Engine https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matchbox_Educable_Noughts_an...
PebblesRox 3y ago
I have a short collection of ideas here.[0] The biggest thing I've done is tell bedtime stories (often collaboratively) that incorporate topics like functions, negative numbers, and debugging. Here's one where we did FizzBuzz together. [1] [0]https://twitter.com/CBancos/status/1581662053189574656 https://twitter.com/CBancos/status/1581662053189574656 [1]https://bancosparenting.wordpress.com/2023/02/04/pickle-and-the-fizzbuzz-machine/ https://bancosparenting.wordpress.com/2023/02/04/pickle-and-...

It's an amazing idea! I'm always looking for screen-free activities related to problem solving with my daughter. By the way, if someone happens to have other examples, it would be great to share!

earlyriser 3y ago

A similar game but not DIY is https://www.thinkfun.com/products/robot-turtles/ https://www.thinkfun.com/products/robot-turtles/

throwaway89201 3y ago

Getting someone else to do something is really hard if they take your instructions as literally as with a programming language: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=waP5vkMaYjg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=waP5vkMaYjg Another example in Dutch [1] (with activity sheet here [2]) [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7BcZBl-BKhQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7BcZBl-BKhQ [2] https://www.leukekinderactiviteiten.nl/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/14.-robot-sandwich-1.pdf https://www.leukekinderactiviteiten.nl/wp-content/uploads/20...

tkgally 3y ago

My four-year-old grandson and I enjoy playing with go stones on a go board. The black and white stones and board’s grid lines inspire a lot of counting and geometric-shape activities. Similar things could be done with other types of objects, of course, but I had the stones and board from when I used to play go forty years ago. My daughter wants me to teach him how to play go at some point, but he’s not quite ready for that. He hasn’t yet learned the concept of winning or losing at games, and we don’t see any need to force that on him early. In the meantime, playing with and talking about the stones seems to have boosted his understanding of numbers.

prismatix 3y ago

I think the "Peanut Butter Sandwich Instructions" game could fit into this category as well. For kids who can't write, you can do the actions in real time. For kids who can, have them write down instructions first then "run" the program. Teach them to "debug" or test their program along the way.

flippy_flops 3y ago
Every year I teach a few weeks of "coding" at my kids elementary school. I always start with the Peanut Butter Sandwich and it's a huge hit. For time's sake, i print & cut out 30-40 random instructions like "openTheBag();" or "holdJellyOverBread();". They get in 4 groups, choose which instructions to use, and put them in order.

hoc 3y ago

Well, for AI, the "Matchbox Computer" https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matchbox_Educable_Noughts_and_Crosses_Engine https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matchbox_Educable_Noughts_an...

PebblesRox 3y ago

I have a short collection of ideas here.[0] The biggest thing I've done is tell bedtime stories (often collaboratively) that incorporate topics like functions, negative numbers, and debugging. Here's one where we did FizzBuzz together. [1] [0]https://twitter.com/CBancos/status/1581662053189574656 https://twitter.com/CBancos/status/1581662053189574656 [1]https://bancosparenting.wordpress.com/2023/02/04/pickle-and-the-fizzbuzz-machine/ https://bancosparenting.wordpress.com/2023/02/04/pickle-and-...