A child lays out arrow cards in an order and presses go, and a friend carries them out one square per beat. The card being carried out lights up, so the child can read their own plan back a card at a time.
Walk into a tree and the friend is startled, the tree wobbles, and they stop. That is the whole of it - no buzzer, no red cross, no offer to try again. The cards are still there, so change one and go again.
There are thirty-one boards and every one is open from the start. A child who cannot do board 4 can do board 9 and come back. The last one has nowhere to reach at all. It is just for walking about.
What comes before block coding is not syntax, it is sequence. A child who can put four arrows in an order and say what will happen is ready for picture blocks.
How it goes
Thirty-one boards, all of them open - a child who cannot do board 4 can do board 9 and come back. Nothing is ever locked.Pick cards and lay them in a row - tap one in the drawer and it joins the plan. Tap a card in the row and it comes out again.Press go, and it happens one square at a time - the card being carried out lights up, so a child can read their own plan back a card at a time.Walking into something just stops - the friend is startled, the thing wobbles, and that is all. No buzzer, no red cross. The cards are still there.Arriving, and the two of them cheer - no stars and no clock. Footprints show the way they came.