Innovative “unplugged” card game teaches 4 year olds the basics of coding
Vancouver, BC (PRWEB) June 25, 2015 -- Two friends and serial technology entrepreneurs Dr. Alexandra T. Greenhill and Nathan Slee created a game to help their own kids learn to code that has been lauded by educators and parents as an exciting new tool to help teach kids as young as 4 the fundamentals of coding.
Says Dr. Greenhill, “I am a mother of three girls and I had assumed that they would be getting exposure to coding earlier than I had. Then I realised that while teachers wanted to, there were no tools available to them to start digital literacy at the same age as kids are learning A-B-C and 1-2-3. Litllecodr fills that gap and is something parents can use at home too!”
“When asked what they associate with coding, people say ‘math, boring, lonely, rocket science’, but in fact it’s all about power - the power to get something to do what you want. It’s also about fun, experimentation and collaboration. We wanted to transform the kids’ (and parents’) mindset.”
Designed to fill a major gap in the journey to digital literacy, this game is a pre-cursor to popular tools like Scratch Jr and littleBits, helping kids understand logic, sequencing, experimentation and “debugging” without the complications of keyboard and screen.
Educators and experts agree that STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) interests should be nurtured from a young age, because early experiences shape lives. Playing with Littlecodr inspires lifelong creative engagement with technology, that becomes key to employment in all future types of work.
Littlecodr is played entirely offline and mimics something many teachers already do with their classes when introducing coding - the grown up pretends to be a robot and the kids create instructions on how the robot should move from point A to point B. Littlecodr takes this to the next level by providing action cards and structuring mission and experimentation cards that progress the children through tasks of increasing complexity and fun! Who doesn’t want to boss another person around?
Expert endorsement, from Prof. Gerald Ratzer, Professor and founding member of the School of Computer Science at McGill University:
"At McGill, one of the introductory courses I taught (think large numbers) was the basics of coding in a couple of computer languages. Many of the students commented that this was one of their favourite courses as it taught logic, decision making and clear thinking. To be able to do this at an early age, without worrying about the details of language syntax is a clear plus. So extending the age range from 3 on up to old age - I agree is excellent."
The game is currently on Kickstarter and has received support worldwide from five continents, raising 100% with more than two weeks to go.
To learn more about Littlecodr and the Kickstarter campaign, visit http://www.littlecodr.com.
For more information, please contact:
Alexandra T. Greenhill, creator Littlecodr
Phone: 604.347.7338
Email: a.t.greenhill(AT)gmail.com
Alexandra Greenhill, Littlecodr Games Inc., http://www.littlecodr.com, +1 778-840-3505, [email protected]
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