In today’s session of Junior Adventures in Coding, the campers explored additional features of the Scratch Jr. iOS app. In addition to experience with coding skills such as sequencing and loops, the app also provides literacy opportunities as children can use the app to create animated scenes and stories. Children are able to select a background for their story and then sequence different “blocks” to control their characters’ movements.
Later in the session the children explored the Kodable app on the iPads. Similar to Daisy the Dinosaur, Kodable also uses a game-like format to introduce young children to the basics of computer programming. In addition to coding skills, the tool also provides practice toward specific Common Core Standards. As children progress through the various levels, the game prompts them to “think like a programmer” to solve problems and to utilize programming elements such as functions, conditional statements and loops.
