Kids First Coding and Robotics

Meet Sammy, a cute little peanut butter and jelly sandwich robot that teaches coding principles and skills to children in grades K-2 without the use of a tablet, smartphone, or computer!

You can program the robot to move in different directions, activate its output gear, light up its LED, play sounds, and respond to different function cards. Once the robot has stored the program, you'll place it on a grid made of map cards that fit together like a jigsaw puzzle and the robot will run the program you created! The optical scanner reads the map cards so the robot can always orient itself and interact with other objects and machines you build.  

In addition to Sammy, there are five other stories, each with a series of model-building and coding challenges and related lessons: a mouse moves through a maze to find cheese; a penguin wanders around a zoo; a soccer player moves a ball into the goal; a fire truck puts out a fire, and a factory robot performs tasks in a factory scene.

A full-color illustrated manual guides users through the coding lessons and the assembly of the different models. All models use the same robotic base unit.

Age: 4-8

What you get

Kids First Coding and Robotics by Thames and Kosmos. There are 38 different map cards included, allowing you to run more complex programs once you get the hang of it! A detailed manual guides kids through 30 coding lessons and the assembly of 6 different robot models.

How does it work

To program Sammy, simply lay down a sequence of physical code cards. As the robot drives over the code cards, an OID optical scanner on the bottom of the robot reads the cards and loads the program. 

Teach

• The six key areas of coding: sequencing, loops, events, conditionals, function, and variables. Even test their math skills in a special math mode!

WARNING: CHOKING HAZARD - Small Parts. Not for children under 3 years.