Monday, August 26, 2013

Preparing Kids to Code - Apps for all Ages

You know what I love about these apps. Often I show a kid one of these apps and away they go. There is no instruction, they just go for it. These apps are good for all kids. They develop logical thinking and sequential planning. They encourage you to fail in order to develop the sequence.

Every now and again you come across a kid that would not only benefit from one of these apps but actually needs something like this to challenge their intellect.  This is where they come into their own. These apps are literally two steps away from actually coding and so are an excellent introduction to a really motivated kid who wants to develop in this area. Who knows they might be writing an app for your class next week.

BeeBot: FREE
The Bee-Bot App has been developed based on a well-loved, award-winning Bee-Bot floor robot. The app makes use of Bee-Bot's keypad functionality and enables children to improve their skills in directional language and programming through sequences of forwards, backwards, left and right 90 degree turns. The app has been developed with 12 levels encouraging progression.

https://itunes.apple.com/au/app/bee-bot/id500131639?mt=8



Daisy the Dino: FREE
Learn the basics of computer programming with Daisy the Dinosaur! This free, fun app has an easy drag and drop interface that kids of all ages can use to animate Daisy to dance across the screen. Kids will intuitively grasp the basics of object sequencing and loops by solving this app's challenges. After playing Daisy, kids can choose to download a kit to program their own computer game.

https://itunes.apple.com/au/app/daisy-the-dinosaur/id490514278?mt=8



Move the Turtle: $2.99 AU
Move The Turtle is an educational application that teaches children the basics of creating computer programs, using intuitive graphic commands. Programming is about more than completing tasks, it is also about implementing your own imaginative ideas. With this in mind we give you the opportunity to create your own programs from scratch or based on our inspiring examples.

https://itunes.apple.com/au/app/move-turtle.-programming-for/id509013878?mt=8



Kodable: FREE
The fuzzFamily crashed their spaceship on Smeeborg and need your help to explore the planet's mazes. Drag and drop instructions for fuzzes to follow. Then hit Play to watch them roll through the maze with curiosity. Beware: Fuzzes are very logical and will follow every command exactly! Get rewarded with stars, coins, and even extra members as you successfully complete mazes.



Cato's Hike: $4.99 AU
Cato is a little boy who likes to play. One day Cato was playing outside when a portal to another world opened up; a portal to another world! Cato stepped through and discovered that this world didn't follow the same rules. Every time he tried to take a step he'd find himself stuck in place. Stuck until he finally wrote a program for himself so he would be able to overcome all obstacles!



Cargo-Bot: FREE
Cargo-Bot is a puzzle game where you teach a robot how to move crates.  Program your way through fiendish puzzles. A game about programming, programmed entirely on iPad. Learn more about how it was made by searching for Codea on the App Store. This is a high level programming game for all ages. A must have for bright little people.




Hopscotch: FREE
Hopscotch allows kids to create their own games and animations. Kids unleash their creativity with this beautiful, easy-to-use visual programming language. Hopscotch programming language works by dragging and dropping blocks into scripts. As you get more advanced, you can add more objects and use custom events, such as shaking and tilting the iPad, to run your code.

https://itunes.apple.com/au/app/hopscotch-coding-for-kids/id617098629?mt=8
 

i-Logo: $2.99 AU
LOGO is a 1967 computer programming language. It has functional programming capability. This version of LOGO is an interpreted language, but isn't a lite version. It is functional programming with global and local variables. You can test calculations with polish notation, test recursively, and use arrays.



Hakitzu: $0.99 AU
Hakitzu is a multiplayer robot combat game, where you learn the basics of coding while battling robots. This game helps you learn the basics of JavaScript. No previous coding required as the game takes you from a beginner, to coder, to hacker in our single player mode. The more you code by hand, the more points you receive to unlock the ultimate weapons for the arena.

https://itunes.apple.com/au/app/hakitzu-elite-robot-hackers/id599976903?mt=8


Codea: $9.99 AU
Codea lets you create games. Turn your thoughts into interactive creations. Codea is designed to let you touch your code. Want to change a number? How about a color, or an image? Just tap and drag it. Codea is built on the Lua programming language. A simple, elegant language that doesn't rely too much on symbols — a perfect match for iPad.



Additonal Apps: 

ScratchJr: FREEWith ScratchJr, young children learn by snapping together graphical programming blocks. Children can make characters move, jump, dance, and sing. In the process, children learn to solve problems, design projects, and express themselves creatively on the computer. With ScratchJr, children don’t just learn to code, they code to learn.

https://itunes.apple.com/au/app/scratchjr/id895485086?mt=8


Turtle Logic: $2.49 AU
With 'Turtle logic' kids will have fun while playing with logical exercises. Help the turtles to go back home. Drag and drop arrows to build the right path to the exit. With more than 100 levels, kids will have a real challenge with progressive difficulty levels. With this simple game, kids will learn the sense of direction, the crossings, the different ways to go to a point.



CodeAcademy: Code Hour: FREE
Learn how to build amazing things online by programming with Codecademy. This app introduces you to the basic concepts behind code. You’ll learn to understand the basic structure of code when you see it. Code Hour is the perfect way to get started programming and a great reference on the go to refresh your mind of the concepts you need to know every day.



Lightbot One Hour Coding: FREE
Lightbot is meant to introduce kids who have no experience whatsoever programming. Lightbot is a programming puzzle game: a puzzle game that uses game mechanics that are firmly rooted in programming concepts. Lightbot lets players gain a practical understanding of basic control-flow concepts like instruction sequencing, procedures and loops, to light up tiles and solve levels.

1 comment:

  1. Greg Hope you Realise Marco Posted you on Face book Love it John Galvin

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