Top 5 Preschool Coding Activities to Give Your Child That Step Up

I will make it clear at the get go, my coding and computer skills suck.

Big time!

My daughter who barely comes up to my waist probably knows way more shortcuts and functions on my computer than I do. So this puts me in the illiterate category by today’s standards.

Back in my day (no I’m not that old), but back in those days, coding was something for the really talented and dedicated people. Wow that has all changed! (And in such a short time!)

The sooner you get children to start coding, the better chances they have to prosper in today’s day and age.

So here are the top preschool coding activities for toddlers to give them that step up. (And they are all screen free for all those parents who, like me, have computer literacy issues.)

1. While/do in the backyard

While/do coding is very similar to if/then coding (but that has already been talked about in a previous article on preschool coding games).

This is conditional coding, and it is used to program instructions based on the conditions set by the programmer.

In simple terms, the computer will carry out an instruction if the conditions are fulfilled.

The game involves one person being the programmer and the others being the ‘computers’. The programmer has to make a statement in the form of ‘While I do ______, you do _____’.

The computers will then have to do the actions only when the given conditions are being fulfilled

I use these all the time with my little one; “While I clean, you play quietly on the carpet” or “While you sleep, mummy will have a much needed wine coffee”, and so on (you get the picture).

Out in the backyard, the programmer can come up with different games like:

• “While I count from 1 to 5, you will hop on your left leg”
• “While I hold my left hand up, you will touch your right ear with your right hand, and while I hold my right hand up, you will touch your left ear with your left hand”
• “While I am trying to catch a nap on this chair, you will remain quiet and not utter a sound” (Yeah right – good luck with that one)

I’m actually starting to think I’m an expert in this field.

This game teaches one of the fundamental principles behind programming and allows them to think in terms of a computer without actually being stuck behind a screen.

Now onto the next one.

2. Code your name in beads

Computers use a binary system to code. It’s a relatively very simple system when considering how complicated they can get. This system is made up of 1s and 0s and each letter, number and symbol is assigned a specific sequence of 1s and 0s.

How do you turn this into a fun and exciting activity?

Simple.

Get a full list of letters and their binary counterparts. Get some coloured beads or coloured pasta shapes and string, and make name necklaces or bracelets (depending on the length of the name). Mine would probably make a very fine belt.

Ask your child to choose a coloured bead for the 0s and another colour for the 1s. Choose a third colour for the space between each letter.

Let them follow the list and string in the sequences of 0s and 1s accordingly to create a beautiful piece of jewellery. It would also make a great conversation starter at school.

The same thing can be done for birthdays or to give as presents to all your techy friends and family.

3. Coded scavenger hunts

Heads up! You will need some preparation for this activity, but I promise the results are definitely worth it. This is one of the best preschool coding activities for kids’ parties.

One of the basic skills in coding is just that… coding… and decoding.

As a parent I already feel like I’m an expert at this. I decode jargon on a daily basis (and that’s with my husband not my daughter).

You will need a few good hiding places and some yummy treats to hide. Once the hiding spots are sorted, name them (sofa, table, tree, etc.) and prepare cards with blank spaces for each letter.

Assign a number to each letter and write this down on another list. To make it a bit easier for yourself, I usually assign them in ascending order and keep it simple. So that’s A=1, B=2, C=3, etc.

Then, under each blank space on the place cards, write a small math problem resulting in the corresponding number.

Let’s recap. So far you should have place cards with blank spaces (corresponding to the number of letters in each word) and a mini math problem under each space, a code card with numbers and letters, and goodies hidden away.

What’s left to do (after all that hard work) is to give your pre-schoolers the instructions – decode the messages and get the goodies. You will have coding and math geniuses in no time.

4. Minesweeper maze

Growing up, one of my go to games on the computer was minesweeper (yes, yes I had boring tastes back then).

Eventually I upgraded to spider solitaire (it took me a while to discover the really interesting games).

Back to minesweeper. It was a very good game for logic, patterns and inferencing. And the good news is it can be adapted to an off screen version.

If you have tiled flooring, you are in luck because it’s less prep for you.

Section off a 4 by 6 tile area of your flooring (add or reduce depending on how big each tile is).

Prepare a few grid drawings representing the tiles you have chosen and draw a few mines on each. Make sure you leave a path.

You and your kids can then take turns guiding each other through the maze while avoid the tiles that have mines.

This activity aims to introduce your children to giving instructions (you are by now an expert at this), following instructions and understanding the way instructions (codes) need to be given clearly in order for others to follow them.

5. The very hungry coding caterpillar

We all know the story because we have read it hundreds of times (and we know exactly what, when, and how many the caterpillar ate).

Now it’s time to use this story to learn to code.

You will need a very hungry caterpillar cardboard cut-out and a number of cardboard or plastic food items. You can make use of the grid from the above activity. Less stress to plan and you can leave it on the floor for the whole week.

You will also need a number of arrow flashcards which will be used to guide the caterpillar.

Once the caterpillar is at one end of the maze and the fruit is at the other, ask your little ones to lay down the arrow flashcards in the order they should be followed in order to guide the hungry worm towards the food.

Once the code is ready, follow the instructions given by the arrow flashcards to see if the caterpillar will in fact get to the food.

Once your child masters the basic version of the game, you can make it more difficult by adding obstacles which the caterpillar will have to avoid such as rocks, leaves, other animals and so on.

Mind you, by the end of the activity, the caterpillar might want directions to get to the treadmill.

 

And there you go. 5 coding activities for preschoolers done and dusted. Now on to rocket science!