With Scratch, it is easy to see how your program works and runs.

Scratch's ease of use makes it easy for anyone to begin programming.

Scratch is designed to help young people (ages 8 and up) develop 21st century learning skills. As they create and share Scratch projects, young people learn important mathematical and computational ideas, while also learning to think creatively, reason systematically, and work collaboratively.

If you know of a young person who is interested in learning how to program, consider introducing them to Scratch. Or, try it out for yourself! It’s free! Scratch.

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1. RoboZZle – a Robot Programming Game
2. Bots4Tots – Charity Offers Kids Hands-on Robotics Learning
3. iRobot’s Tiny ‘Ember’ Bot Creates an Ad-Hoc Network for Soldiers.

RoboZZle, The robot programming game.

The player / robot programmer solves puzzles by creating programs which controls the robot’s movement through the puzzle.
The robot is programmed using functions with a set number of steps. Your job is to figure out the robot movements in each function needed to move to the star and complete the puzzle.

The puzzles are user created, and range from simple to very difficult. Your challenge is to create an algorithm which moves the robot to the star.

Not only is this a fun and addicting game, I could see it as being an entry point for children into robotics and programming.

As seen in the video below, you have a lot of options when it comes to what your robot does, and when it does it. For example, your robot can sense its environment through color tiles. You can also change and interact with the environment by painting tiles colors. These additional features give it some extra playability which some other similar games do not have.

Have fun!

Related posts:

1. “Scratch” Teaches Programming Concepts to Kids
2. Robot Plays Marco Polo, Senses and Intercepts its Target
3. Bots4Tots – Charity Offers Kids Hands-on Robotics Learning