Learning to Code

July 2016 Volume 24, No. 7, Issue 196 A Survey of Apps, Toys and Sites for Learning to Code LittleClickers: Moon The Very Hungry Caterpillar: Creative Play Children’s Technology Review On the cover: A child’sJuly 2016illustration made with , Reviewed on page 21 Heads Up! Kids*, p. 12 Explorer, p. 18 Hopscotch (3.0)*, p. 13 Swift Playgrounds, p. 18 Volume 24, No. 7, Issue 196 KinderTEK Math, p. 13 Tappy Alphabet, p. 19 LeapStart, p. 14 Think & Learn Code-A-Pillar, p. 19 Adventures of Mountain Pony, The, p. 9 Learn & Groove Musical Mat, p. 14 Thomas & Friends TrackMaster Batman Unlimited: Gotham City’s Most Love2Learn Elmo, p. 14 Thomas' Sky-High Bridge Jump, p. 20 Wanted*, p. 9 Magic Store Math, p. 15 Tyco Terra Climber Radio Control Busy Water, p. 9 MegaPro Calculator 5000*, p. 15 Vehicle, p. 20 COJI, p. 10 Melody the Musical Turtle, p. 15 Unity (Programming lan- Count Along Register, p. 10 Minecraft RC Ghast Quadcopter, p. 16 guage), p. 20 Curious George Train Adventures, p. Minecraft: Educational Edition, p. 16 Very Hungry 10 Mussila - Musical Monster Adventure, Caterpillar, DreamWorks Dinotrux: Trux it Up!*, p. p. 16 The: 11 Osmo Coding*, p. 17 Creative Finding Dory: Just Keep Swimming*, p. Pet Friends Park Racing, p. 17 * Denotes “Editor’sPlay*, p.Choice.” 21 11 Read - Kids Learn to Read and Write in Gigglebug's Face Race*, p. 11 20 Easy Lessons, p. 17 Google Maps*,Our p. 12 12,160th Review • Ready,$60/year Jet, Go! • Space http://childrenstech.com • @childtech July 16 News and Trends in Children’s Techology One Tester Especially Loved “The Children’s Technology Review Very Hungry Caterpillar, Creative July 2016 Play.” You Will, Too. Editor LittleClickersVolume Editor 21, No. 7, Issue 196 Every once in a while, it’s nice to remember Warren Buckleitner, Ph.D., why we work so hard to review all these new Director([email protected]) of Publishing [WB] apps, toys and video games. For me that reminder came from a very quiet girl, about 6 Staff Update: Megan Billitti years of age. She was mixed in with a group of Matthew DiMatteo [MD] middle school boys, including her older brother, who were enrolled in a one week ONE YEAR SUBSCRIPTIONSThis will be Sarah McDougall’s last coding camp, held each summer in our public issue. We’re sad to see her go, and wish her library. I had just downloaded a fresh app the best. (The Very Hungry Caterpillar, Creative Play), are $60 forChildren’s 12 reviewed on page 21) that was designed to let Technologymonthly issues, Review™ 52 weekly issues plus online you create with Eric Carle’s tissue papers and database access. Weekly issues are sent at paints. I was curious to find out how the kids 8:30 AM on Wednesdays EST. Site would respond to it. The quiet girl’s hand subscriptions are available. Contact went up and I left her alone with an iPad Pro PRODUCT SUBMISSIONS., 120 Main Street, Flemington, NJ 08822 or call 800-993-9499. and a fully charged Apple Pencil. I came back at the end of the morning, just as the Visit www.childrenstech.com to learn more. coding instructor started airplaying the girl’s work so everyone could see. It was ) Editor, 120 dazzling. Here was a case where all the right elements lined up: the safe environ- Main Street, Flemington,Send NJ one08822 product (Phone: or ment our library, a child with some time, and the best materials. In this case those 908-284-0404).download code with No releaseswag or information cash, please. to materials were unlocked by some clever app designers who had the keys to Eric Warren Buckleitner OUR RULES([email protected] Carle’s studio. It was like being able to hand a child Beethoven’s baton, or Walt CTR Disney’s camera. All the elements were in one place, at one time, in my home town. A crowd of children and parents had gathered around the pictures, wanting more. I heard the very quiet girl say her first word: “tomorrow.” That’s why we invest in . No ads, gimmicks or politics; we this2016 technology Barbie Bodiesand take Reflectthe time toHuman find the Diversity magic. See video of two other children work for the benefit of children. follows editorial guidelines at testing this Editor’s Choice app, at https://youtu.be/HZl-4djUWl4 (http://childrenstech.com/editorial- guidelines/). Highlights include: • We don’t sell or profit from the products we review. This year's Barbie lineup, and $10 price (including outfit), just scream "collect me." • We don’t distribute, sell or leverage sub- Whatever the business motive, the reality is that the diverse lineup serves as a more scriber information. accurate cultural mirror. In other words, it's far more likely that every child can find • Contributors are required to disclose bias. something in common with one of the dolls. Another thing we like about this partic- • There is no sponsored or advertising con- ular set -- they don’t require any batteries, they don’t talk, and don’t require Wi-Fi. tent of any variety. And not one has Bluetooth. Have a look: https://youtu.be/KeiIbxWkE2M • Complete transparency. We make every PUBLISHEReffort to INFORMATION disclose review Children’scriteria and Technologysources Review of potential bias. • We don’t skim from other reviewers. Children’s Technology Review™ ™ (ISSN 1555-242X) isUse pub of - thislished publication monthly (12 for issues) any commercial by Active Learning publish- ingAs so activity ci ates, Inc. without Send addressprior written changes permission or new issubscriptions strictly prohibited. to , 120 Main Street, Flemington, NJ 08822. Contents © 2016 by ActiveReaders Learning are subject to Associates,the TERMS OFInc. USE found at http://childrenstech.com/disclaimer Your Subscription is Your Key to Over 12,000 Archived Reviews All Rights Reserved. CTR CTREX hildren’sYour Technology paid $20 or Review $60 subscription to includes exclusive password2 access to the database — a collection of reviews going back to 1985. If you’ve lost or forgotten your password, please call 800-993-9499 between 9-3 PM EST. C , July 2016 5 (or so) sites & 10 videos is made possible by Image: www.wonderopolis.com LittleClickers is brought to you by Computer Explorers, who offer camps on programming. The Moon Visit www.computerexplorers.com to learn more. The web-based (html) version of this page is at http://www.littleclickers.com with live links, plus a place to report any errors. Note that CTR and COMPUTER EXPLOR- ERS do not have commercial interests in the sites listed on this page. Librarians www.littleclickers.com/moon and teachers are permitted to copy this page for non-profit use. To suggest a future topic, or to report a bad link, please contact the editor, Warren Buckleitner Read this column online, with links, at [WB] [email protected] or call 908-284-0404 (9 - 3 PM, EST). 1.Forty Can seven you live years on ago the (July moon? 20, 1969 to be exact) the Apollo 11 space mission landed a man on the moon. Let’s poke around the Internet to explore this amazing place. Not without a really good space suit. The2. Where temperature on the goesmoon from did HOTthe astronauts (287 degrees land? F) to COLD (-243 degrees F). There are some other problems, like a lack of air, food and plants. Learn about the moon surface at http://bit.ly/1JpGQfg. 3. How big is the moon? Google Moon https://www.google.com/moon/ has cool maps of the landing sites, including links to the pictures that were taken there. 4. What US President decided we should visit the moon? This photo lets you see the answer http://bit.ly/292E8iT . 5. Can you name 10 inventions that came from the moon Themission? history of mission to the moon is explained at the JFK museum site, at http://bit.ly/1KgK0jM. EXTRA CREDIT Here’s When is the next full moon? a site that lists 15 http://bitly.com/29aBXtV If you weigh 100 pounds on earth Check out the moon’s schedule for this year- http://bit.ly/1TZOHBs , how much would you weigh on the moon? Use this Wonderopolis calcuatorMoon http://bitly.com/29hKBrF Videos andHere’s find a out! starter set of hand-picked YouTube videos. Starting with this issue, we’re letting you add to this list, using the link below: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLcBVHzUUEKwl5q6NEuE2o0FGQVNlRTP53&jct=JfsPFPB32A8UqOhbsrTZ__HoEes6cg 3 hildren’s Technology Review C , July 2016 A Survey of Apps, Toys and Sites for Learning to Code IBy fell the in CTR Editors love with and the Reviewers gears. This is something that cannot be reduced tohttp://bit.ly/childrencode purely "cognitive" terms. Something very personal happened, and one cannot assume that it would be repeated for other children in exactly the same form. My thesis could be summarized as: What the gears cannot do the computer might. The computer is the Proteus of machines. Its essence is its universality, its power to simulate. Because it can take on a thousand forms and can serve a thousand functions, it can appeal to a thousand tastes. This book is the result of my own attempts over the past decade to turn computers into instruments flexible enough so that many children can each create for themselves something like what the gears were for me. The Foos Seymour Papert (1980, in MindStorms) e’ve now reviewed over 50 products that come with ($free on iPad, iPhone, Android, Kindle, Mac OSX, some sort of implied promise that they will help your Internet Site).

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