“The robots, to tell them what to do, we have to give them instructions. Do you remember what a sequence of instructions is called? “, asks the facilitator to the first grade students sitting in front of him. Come to attend an extracurricular workshop at the Jean Monnet school in Vincennes, we immediately tell ourselves that the level is flying high for children of this age.
Still, they don’t seem in the least bit lost or in awe of the coding and computing concepts they’ll be going through for an hour. Because it involves a very concrete and fun experience of what they learn.
The Colori start-up designed the content and educational materials for this workshop. His specialty is to introduce children from 3 to 8 years old to code, but without a screen. “We have two flagship activities. The first is the tale ‘Hayo the robot’ which is read to children in five chapters and each of which will address a major computer concept: algorithms, the binary system, Boolean logic, the functioning of the machine, up to to artificial intelligence “, explains the founder of Colori Amélia Matar.
A robot to approach programming
But the activity that children like the most is using the Cubetto robot. They almost fight to take it in hand and plan its movements. “Turn, turn”, the children shout as if he was going to answer them. They must choose colored tokens, in order to move it forward square by square. Each color corresponds to a different order. The tokens are then placed on a console. And when they activate a button, the robot moves according to the sequence of prepared instructions. A very simple way to introduce them to the main principles of programming.
Coloring, stickers, Memory, the session connects activities in assemblies and in small groups. The effects of screens or the way they are made are discussed. A kind of digital education. When asked what to do with smartphones when they are at the end of their life, the answer is available to the children of CP. “We have to recycle them! “. On this aspect, they may already know more than adults.