Visual and unplugged coding with smart toys

Abstract

Our Computer science k-12 education research group the educational toy company Quercetti have been collaborating together to design and manufacture toys that help stimulate and consolidate so-called computational thinking. This approach has been inspired by methods already consolidated in the literature and widespread worldwide such as the Bebras tasks and CS-Unplugged. This paper describes two of these smart toys, their design process, some evaluation’s results, and finally feedback and reviews from buyers. The main activities proposed by these toys leverage visual coding through small colored physical items (e.g., pegs and balls) to deliver the unplugged activities to young users.