Dear Parents & Educators:
Today's children are surrounded by technology like never before. Video games. Smart phones. Tablets.
These are all forms of communication that impact your lives every single day. And what they have in
common is that they all involve coding!
So what is coding?
Coding literally means the transformation of data into a form understandable by a computer—basically,
telling a computer what you want it to do. Coding also factors into some everyday tasks that people
perform without a second thought: for instance, programming a microwave to heat yesterday's
leftovers, or entering numbers into a calculator in a specific order. Coding today may not always look
like the routine programming of the past. It can be active, engaging, and most importantly, fun!
Educators agree that an early introduction to basic programming concepts can help children build
problem solving and critical thinking skills. This set provides that very introduction, giving early
learners a fun, real-world application of these essential 21st-century skills.
What can a programmable robot teach?
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Problem solving
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Self-correcting errors
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Critical thinking
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Analytical thinking
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If-then logic
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Working collaboratively with others
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Discussion and communication skills
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Calculating distance
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Spatial concepts
Pieces included:
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30 Coding cards
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22 Maze walls
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16 Maze grid pieces that connect to form a large board
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10 Double-sided Activity Cards for a total of 20 activities (see the tactile booklet)
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3 Tunnels
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1 Robot mouse (Colby)
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1 Cheese wedge
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1 Supplementary tactile booklet that includes the mouse buttons outline and 20 activities
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1 Braille sticker sheet for the 30 Coding Cards
Introducing Code & Go: Tips for Beginning Programmers
Start by providing a simple, guided introduction to the mouse: identify the color and function of each
of the mouse’s buttons (see
Basic Operation
). Reinforce that the green button means go—it tells the
mouse to perform an action. Set the mouse on the floor or a table. Let the child try moving the mouse
forward by pressing the blue arrow once and then the green button. Point out that the mouse moves
forward in the direction its nose is pointing. Let the child explore the other directional arrows, one at a
time. The right and left arrows make the mouse rotate, in place, 90 degrees in either direction.
Remember there are seven buttons and each button has a color. To get a better understanding of the
color, please associate these objects with each color. For the color red, think of fire. For the color blue,
think of the sky. For the color orange, think of an orange. For the color yellow, think of a lemon. For
the color green, think of grass. For the color purple, think of a grape.
