How to follow the child's nature to make him like programming? My new inspiration is to start with the Lego bricks that children like, let the children make the Lego bricks more playable through programming, and then further guide the children into programming. This idea came to me recently while browsing programming building blocks on the Internet. Many children's programming products are compatible with Lego and are very creative. So I bought a relatively simple beginner's kit and an inventor's kit that supports programming from Leshell Pinjia. The beginner's kit allows children to play with it first, and the inventor's kit is intended to play with mythical beasts to arouse his interest.
The choice of Lekepin was carefully considered. All the sensors are packaged in the kit of Lekepin, and different colors are used to mark different original sensor components. Firstly, the electronic components are relatively fragile, preventing naughty children from breaking them in minutes. The precautions for playing with electronic components are still later. It needs to be taught; secondly, children are very sensitive to colors. Even if they don’t know the specific names of components, they will distinguish their specific functions by color; also, Lekepin connects different components through magnetic contacts, so no need I am more concerned about using a soldering iron. Being burned by the soldering iron is the second most important thing. The key is that he has not yet formed an awareness of electricity safety. Finally, the inventor kit has supporting graphical programming software, and children can learn on the APP. The content is similar and you can further deepen your learning.
Introducing interest - Beginner Kit
The Beginner Kit is relatively simple. It uses origami that children have been familiar with since childhood to build some scenes, and let the children follow the instructions to reproduce. I originally bought this starter kit just to let my children become familiar with the functions of basic sensors and the connection rules between packaged modules, and to lay the foundation for the subsequent inventor kit.
The kit contains 5 origami scenes, a power module that supports Mic-USB charging, a logical NOT module, an LED light module, a touch sensor module, a light sensor module, an infrared reflection sensor module and a buzzer The box also contains a magnetic cable, a charging cable for the power module, a supporting tool kit and instructions. There are detailed assembly instructions in the instruction manual, so children will have no problem assembling it.
Here we use the modules in the beginner set to show the connection method of Lekepin modules, which is not the correct circuit.
Modules can be connected through fool-proof magnetic interfaces. Modules that are farther away can be connected through magnetic cables. There are Lego slots on the back and sides of the modules, which can be easily connected with Lego bricks. Convenient connection. Next, use the preset items of the product to assemble a "flash window light". The principle is shown in the animation below. Connect the power module, infrared module, and LED light module. When the infrared module senses an object in front, the LED module will light up. This is the primary project of equipment development: lighting up a light.
The finished product looks like this. The gears on the wooden pole will intermittently block the infrared module, allowing the infrared module to sense an object in front and activate the LED light.
The overall difficulty of "Flashing Window Light" is very low. The packaging recommends children over 6 years old to use it. For example, my 11-year-old child already thinks origami is a bit childish, but he enjoys the process. He played with the components in the kit for a long time, tried various combinations, and explored the working principles of the modules. He couldn't wait to take apart the inventor's kit before completing the project at hand.
In-depth programming - Inventor Kit
The Inventor Kit is a bit complicated for the child, and some knowledge of hardware development needs to be slowly instilled in him. Most of the APP courses I bought for him were application development courses, and most of them helped children develop programming thinking through the reproduction of some simple scenes in mobile games. The child has little exposure to the device development part, and has no idea what the circuits and GPIOs are about. As a father, I have to get started first, and I also have to take the time to sort out the relevant knowledge so that I can do it with my children in the future.
Next, let’s briefly introduce the Inventor Kit while building the elevator scene in the Inventor Kit.
The inventor's kit is much richer than the beginner's kit. The module includes an expanded version of Micro:Bit, ultrasonic ranging sensor, 2 infrared reflection sensors, 2 DC motors, buzzer, red LED light, infrared sensor, 1 color sensor and a Micro:Bit development board. The inventor kit supports 12 preset development projects. Of course, if you are a Lego player, I believe you can create more usage scenarios with the help of building blocks. Show off the DC motor module that I have been playing with for a long time, and then we enter the "project development cycle".
The first step is to build Lego. This part is not difficult. The instructions have very detailed steps. As long as you put the bricks into categories before building the Lego, it is basically trouble-free.
The second step is to write the program. To write a control program on a computer, you need to download the LetsCode program. This program is similar to Scratch and supports graphical programming. The instructions clearly explain the pitfalls of coding, and there are also exercises similar to after-school development at the end of each project, which is a relatively good guide to promote learning.
The third step is to debug the code. When debugging the code, you need to connect the Micro:Bit board to the computer, download the serial port driver and install the Scratch Link software, and install the corresponding plug-in in LetsCode, so that you can successfully flash the control program. It took a long time to connect the board to the computer. The main reason was that I selected the wrong plug-in in LetsCode and the device could not be detected...
The fourth step is to complete the code debugging and inject soul into Micro:Bit. Get the final assembly done.
The Inventor Kit has only tried the "elevator" project so far, which is very interesting. In addition, the child usually plays a lot of Lego, so this project also has some of his "credit". It is not that he took the wrong building blocks. I just spelled it in the wrong position, which led to it being dismantled several times. The task that was originally expected to take 2 hours ended up taking 4 hours. On the contrary, the coding process that he is usually familiar with is fast and skillful, and takes the least time. This time he also vaguely understood what GPIO is, and it should be much smoother later. The old father was very pleased that the money was finally not wasted.
Conclusion
I once asked many big guys around me how to introduce children to programming. The answers from the big guys were varied, but one thing is the same, that is, you can also You have to do it, and ask your children to accompany you to do it. If your children follow suit, they will naturally think that this is play. If you plan to let your children learn programming, you must first get involved yourself, otherwise what you buy will be like a tutorial book that your children will not be interested in chewing on their own.
Are parents who want their children to learn programming already aware of this?
I am more interested in these two sets of LeKe. At the same time, my children’s acceptance is relatively high. I plan to take my children to complete all 12 projects in the developer kit later, and also plan to use LeKe Get all the modules in the game and save up a larger DIY project with your children.