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Introduce Kids to Coding with the Code & Go Robot Mouse
- Gabrielle Fischer Posted On Dec 1, 2017 | STEM
Are you looking for a fun toy that will help kids practice important skills for the future? You’ll want to check out the Code & Go™ Robot Mouse Activity Set. Programming the robot mouse is a wonderful, screen-free introduction to coding for kids. It works on if-then logic, problem solving, correcting errors, and critical thinking. These skills will help kids be successful innovators and leaders in the future.
The Code & Go™ Robot Mouse Activity Set is recommended for ages 5 and up. My daughter is 3 and half and she loves playing with the robot mouse, too. The way she plays is a lot different than the way my 7-year-old son plays. She needs more support and can’t really play by herself. This makes it a great activity for us to do together.
The goal is to help Colby, the robot mouse, travel through the maze to reach the cheese. You can choose one of 20 activity cards to design a maze or create your own. The set comes with 16 green maze grids, 22 purple maze walls, and 3 orange tunnels. Push buttons on the top of the mouse to tell Colby which way to go. The set also comes with coding cards to help you lay out your program.
To help Lily program the mouse, I had her walk the mouse through the maze. We used the coding cards to write down the program. The cards have arrows on them that correspond to the buttons on the mouse. In the picture above, you can see Colby moving through the maze. He went forward, turned right, and moved forward again to reach the cheese.
The activity cards start simple with needing only a few steps to reach the cheese. Then, they get more difficult. There are often multiple ways to reach the cheese.
For larger mazes, Lily likes to program one step at a time. She pushes one button and then presses the go button. Then, she programs the second step by pushing the next button. Lily places the mouse back to the start and presses go. The mouse will complete both steps. We continue adding steps and starting at the beginning to check our progress. I recommend using the coding cards to keep track of your steps with this method. If you make a mistake, press the yellow circle to clear the program and start over. You can read the coding cards to program the mouse again up to the point you made a mistake.
Creating mazes for the robot mouse is something my kids like to do together. They often build their own mazes and then figure out how to get the mouse to the cheese.
I think the tunnels are my kids’ favorite part of the maze. They love watching Colby go through them. Aiden designed the maze below with the cheese just after the tunnels.
Colby is on his way to the cheese!
You can change the arrangement of the maze tiles. They don’t have to be in a 4X4 grid. You can make a lot of different paths with the maze tiles.
The robot mouse can travel on different surfaces. He doesn’t have to stay on the maze tiles. My kids like to use the purple maze walls and tunnels to create mazes on the floor.
They also found out that Colby will push or pull the cheese around.
They thought this was extra fun. I love it when my kids create games on their own with these imaginative toys.
First, mix up about 10-15 drops of food coloring with about a quarter cup of water. Be sure to stir it up.Grab one of your clear containers and fill it with warm tap water, about three quarters full. Take the shaving cream – this is the big hit with the kids – and create a dense mound of it on top, simulating a cloud. Yes, you want the shaving cream touching the water. The water is acting like the Earth’s warm, wet atmosphere, similar to conditions when it rains.Using your dropper, extract up some of your food coloring/water solution, and begin to drop over the shaving cream cloud.
After a few drops, your child will notice that not much is happening. But as you begin to add more and more drops, the “cloud” becomes saturated. This is the same phenomenon that makes rain clouds occur – when water droplets become heavy enough in a cloud, they fall. Looks like a brewing storm from below!
Experiment with different colors, as well as different shaped containers.
What about different colors all the same container? The same results, just a bit more muddled!
Lastly, try adding shaving cream atop water that is already colored. You’ll get a beautiful mix. Creating a rainstorm in a jar will keep kids fascinated, but more importantly, asking great questions about weather! Learning is Where We Play:
First, cut your viewing hole. Cut it no more than an inch wide and about 1-2 inches tall.
This hole is where you will view the eclipse, so your white paper will cap the bottom. Cut a circle a little larger than the circumference of the bottom of the tube and attach with tape. Make it flat like a canvas.
Next, cut a square of your tinfoil and fit it over the tube’s other end. Fasten it with the rubber band.
With your pin, poke a very small hole through the top of the tinfoil.
Practice with your viewer outside before the eclipse. Head outside to find your child’s shadow. Position your child with their back to the sun.
Point the tin foil end toward the sun. Look through your cutout window to find the eclipse on August 21st!
Check NASA.gov or your local news to find out the peak time when you will be able to see the eclipse in your area. Happy viewing!
Note: It is recommended to use AAS approved eye protection when viewing a solar eclipseHere are some other fun ways to view the eclipse:
