This project aims to develop the programming logic and the foundations of computational thinking in children. It consists of a table where you can fit blocks that contain instructions for moving a character in a game or logical challenge developed in Pictolox. The blocks must be fitted to the table in a logical and sequential manner to produce the necessary movements to solve the game’s challenge. The ease and interactivity of this platform makes programming available to children who do not yet know how to read or write.
The blocks carry instructions for the character to make movements
such as: move right, move left, move up, move down, rotate right,
rotate left, jump and make sounds.
Command blocks
The challenge is to place the blocks in a logical sequence that makes
the character perform the correct movements to win the proposed
challenge. For example, we developed a three-phase game, called
Block Car Racing, which consists of taking the character (car) to a
certain point in the scenario, demarcated as the finish line.
For this to occur, the sequence of blocks placed in the project must
be correct, remembering that there is only one correct combination
for each phase. The blocks contain figures that indicate what the
character will do if that block is executed.
Table with embedded blocks Table without the blocks
Project challenge Incorrect sequence of programming blocks
The idea of this project arose from the thought that, the demand and
demand for qualified professionals to deal with new technologies,
tends to increase considerably, we will all have to have certain
technological knowledge, all due to the various scientific advances
in the digital world that imply in our work and in our life. For this
reason, we decided to develop a project that stimulates computational
thinking and programming logic in children.
The programming table uses an Arduino Mega board and it has 4 houses
to place the movement blocks, and each of these houses has a set of
3 Reed Switch magnetic sensors. The blocks have magnets on their
underside, depending on the position where the magnets are placed
they can trigger a certain amount of magnetic sensors on the table.
Thus, each block carries a movement instruction in the programming.
Project components( Arduino Uno,Reed Switch magnetic sensors).