Teaching programming by solving puzzles?

Question

I'm going to teach the basics of programming to a group of young kids (c.a. 10 year old) and was wondering if asking them to solve puzzles or play simple games with programming might be a clever thing to do?

For example by asking them to write down the though process behind playing Tic-Tac-Toe. (1. Can I make a line? Then put a marker there 2. Can the enemy make a line? Then put a marker on that line. 3. Otherwise just put a marker anywhere.) Or something like that? If so are there any specific puzzles or simple games that are more suited to simple algorithms?

Or should I just do it the traditional way by explaining variables, conditionals, etc. using examples and a console program?

Answer 1

If you have computers available, I recall LightBot as a good game to introduce programming to children. Children have very short attention spans and static activity does not help much. An active game like this one is a good starter to get them warmed up on thinking algorithms.

Some references,

1. Light Bot: Learning Objectives and Game Elements
2. LightBot 2 -- second version

Answer 2

Scratch may be something worth checking out. Its a project by MIT to create a programming language to teach kids about programming. Its a more visual way to program and gives visual feedback which can keep kids interested. It was developed for a younger target than 10 year olds, but I think it could still meet your needs.

Answer 3

Some games use logical paradigms similar to programation as their core game play. For instance, Spacechem or RoboZZle are definitely programming games, which make the kid think logically.

As Ryathal said, Scratch is also a great start for kids.

On a more advanced topic, you could also take a look at Robocode, in which you must program a tank's AI.

Update

I just ran into Cucumber which is a natural language development tool. I guess it could be worth taking a look at this.

Answer 4

I think languages like Python and Ruby are good for kids too.
Some references (note, I am not recommending these specifically). `

1. 36 Resources To Help You Teach Kids Programming
2. Stackoverflow: Ruby and Rails book or tutorial for kids?
3. Python Tutorials for Kids 8+
4. Manning -- Computer Programming for Kids
5. O'Reilly -- Python for Kids

Answer 5

Another possibility might be LabVIEW. Its an ENTIRELY visual IDE (no code whatsoever) -- you are given a bunch of different operators and a bunch of different data types, controls, displays, etc, to hook up to each other. You can also do loops and conditionals, of course. It's actually pretty powerful. It was the first programming "language" I ever wrote in, and I can almost solely attribute my interest in programming to it.

And for the tic tac toe example, I could probably have a working TTT game written with LabVIEW in 15 minutes.

Answer 6

LEGO Mindstorms?

Personally, if I were 10 years old again and my parents wanted to teach me programming, that would be how they'd get to me. Let me build something that looked cool, and then the programming would make it come to life. AFAIK the programming software is a very simple drag/drop interface, incorporating simple commands, loop structures, etc that can nevertheless make for a very complex set of behaviors. This would give kids an insight into what programming can do, as well as force them to solve the logic problems inherent in getting the creation to do what they want.

The downside would be cost; at $400 for the basic NXT kit, that's probably prohibitive for a single demonstration.

Answer 7

I came across this educational program when searching for one for my son:

http://www.bootstrapworld.org/

Bootstrap is a standards-based curriculum for middle-school students, which teaches them to program their own videogames using purely algebraic and geometric concepts. We work with schools and teachers to integrate Bootstrap into their algebra classes and technology programs, as well as parents and afterschool programs across the country.

Unlike most programming tools, Bootstrap uses algebra as the vehicle for creating images and animations. That means that concepts students encounter in Bootstrap behave the exact same way that they do in math class. The entire curriculum is designed from the ground up to be aligned with state standards. Bootstrap lessons cover mathematical topics that range from simple arithmetic expressions to the Pythagorean Theorem, Discrete Logic, Function Composition and the Distance Formula. The program is based on cognitive science research and best practices for improving critical thinking and problem solving.

Most of our students use WeScheme, a cloud-based IDE that lets anyone with a browser start writing code - no downloads necessary! Currently, anyone with a Gmail login can also save and share their work with others.

http://www.wescheme.org/