Teaching a Child to Code Without PCs or Robots: Free Board Games, Printable Kits, Books, and Resources

When you talk about teach a child programmingthe best programs/languages ​​to do so, the most complete and appropriate programming kits for each age, or the best tips and resources where the PC or electronic devices are the base, immediately come to mind.

But teaching programming to a child can be done without a PC, tablet or robots involved. We talk about resources to get started programming without a PC and later move on to classic devices. We recommend you board games, printable kits, books and many free resources to get it.

Board games about programming

The boom in board games has no exception in those that are aimed at the little ones acquiring the basics common to many programming languages or at least to perform, playing, an introduction to concepts such as algorithms, loops…

A curiosity: many of these games have gone ahead after crowdfunding campaigns on sites like Kickstarter and now they are products that we can buy very easily.

Robot Turtle

A classic in which players, using cards that represent program instructions, must dodge obstacles and reach the gem. The player who makes no mistakes and reaches the end of the game in the most optimized way is the winner. He costs 37 euros.

Code&Go

An interesting and motivating mix between games based exclusively on cards that simulate programming instructions, and robots that we can program. This game is not one of the cheapest, and it costs 59 euros.

Very similar we find the programmable mouse from Learning Resources, which costs 32 euros.

Code Master

From the creators of Robot Turtles, this second game is for a more advanced age (from 8 years old), and introduces more advanced programming concepts, as well as more complex problems to solve, but without the need for a computer. From 60 euros.

Cubetto

Although there is a robot in this game, it is not just any robot but made of wood and that executes the instructions that we indicate by means of tokens. Easily expandable with maps, educational stories and challenges and recommended for ages 3 and up. It is approved by the Montessori method. It is expensive, above €199.

On The Brink and Rover Control

With challenges divided by levels, from beginner to advanced, the objective of the game is to solve the problems posed by color codes by means of instructions that guide a virtual robot. cost less than 13 euros.

Littlecodr

With a recommended age from 4 years, this board game is very simple. It is based on five basic cards that we can combine to, in a real environment, solve puzzles and missions with which we can introduce ourselves to the basic concepts of programming and problem solving. Its price is 20 dollars.

CoderBunnyz

Board game for up to 4 players from 4 years and where on a board we resort to repetitions, conditions and other concepts of programming languages ​​to advance. It was created by a 9 year old girl. She costs 35 dollars.

Let’s Go Code!

One of the most playful proposals among the games to learn to program. In this title the “chips” are the players themselves, who move around the board following the instructions that their partner indicates. It costs 27 dollars.

Rover Control

Something more complex to play and only with individual mode, this Rover Control puts us at the controls of an explorer robot that must be guided through different challenges on land with different problems to solve. It costs 24 euros.

Moon

For children from 8 years old, Moon is a board game that simulates the logical operation of a computer. can be purchased for 14 euros at multiple sites or print your own cards for free.

Books, DIY games and online resources to print

In addition to the many books and manuals on programming languages, there are more relaxed reading options that allow the smallest of the house to acquire notions about computational thinking and get to know the world of programming from an early age.

Even if we don’t want to spend any money, we have free resources and games to download and print.

Secret Coders

In comic format and with teenagers as protagonists, this series of comics takes place in a school where mysteries are solved using logic, completing puzzles and instructions related to computational thinking. Only available in English, the books are quite affordable, starting at just €10 in paperback format.

Computer-Science Unplugged

The worldwide reference for programming learning without a PC. Created by the University of Canterbury, it is free to download. The best thing about its more than 200 pages is its immense reference of games and activities that we can do without a computer and for many levels. If we prefer to go to the point, on your website there are many computer resources by topic and ready to download and print.

hi ruby

Linda Liukas is a regular at talks about the importance of STEM education and the importance of programming logic. In this book, Ruby, a girl with a great imagination, introduces the basics of programming through adventures and exercises. On Amazon, with a hard cover, it costs 12 euros.

Schedule on graph paper

Pencils, grid paper templates and desire to transfer the drawings to instructions that other classmates must then try to repeat following the instructions we have given them.

My friends the robots

plastic cups and some instructions we can print or simply drawing on paper are the basis for teams to build “castles” once again paying attention to what their teammates have thought is best. The game supports tasks of debugging (depuration).

Conditional statements with letters

A deck, whether poker or Spanish, is the only thing we need to this game in which children can write algorithms in the form of pseudocode according to the cards they reveal.

That the little ones learn about programming does not have to include any PC or tablet in the equation. You can use any of these resources, some of which are very interesting, such as board games, and begin to lay solid foundations in an entertaining and different way.