Hands-On Early Learning LEGO Coding Express
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Want to introduce your youngest learners to coding? LEGO Education Coding Express introduces children ages 2 – 5 to coding concepts by combing with the playful learning fun of LEGO Duplo bricks with the beginning coding concepts. My four testers LOVED this early technology and science train set– and didn’t want to stop playing with it when it was time to pick up.
Early Learning LEGO Coding Express
Kids get to build train tracks with mini “codes”.Kids will learn how to make the train pause, stop, change directions, make a horn noise, and make a water noise. They’ll do this with colored action bricks that can be placed inside the train tracks. These actions will help children develop the understanding of sequencing, looping, and conditional coding.
Each action brick corresponds to an action. Red is stop. Blue is a water sound. Yellow is music. White is a light. Green is for changing directions.
My testers worked cooperatively to problem solve where to put certain action bricks. For example, they decided not to put the reds in the middle of the tracks and they loved putting the blue (water sounds) everywhere! There are many possibilities for combinations of tracks and actions.
Watching these kids work together I realized that the Coding Express offers a wealth of opportunities for cooperative learning in the classroom and at home.
Additionally, you’ll get building cards in two levels of difficulty that will help your children extend the learning of the Coding Express. These cards give preschoolers building ideas such as a train engine or train station. (Printable model cards are also available online here.)
Overall, the Coding Express seems to be a hands-on way to learn very beginning coding concepts playfully. Not only that, you’ll see kids making predictions and observations, developing spatial thinking, computational thinking, and understanding cause and effect.
Preschool teachers, you’ll want to know that there is a Teacher Guide with 8 online lessons using the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC), the 21st Century Early Learning framework (P21) and Head Start Early Learning Outcomes Framework guidelines.
Expect to also see a free app for this LEGO set that will help kids combine real-world play with digital play.
Go to the LEGO Education Coding Express Resource page for teacher guide, lesson plans, and building instructions. Buy the Coding Express here.
GIFT GUIDES BY AGE & GENDER:
Coding activities like these are a great way to spark a child’s enthusiasm towards coding. The lego coding activity which you have shared seems really fun and interesting for kids. Thanks for sharing and explaining it so well!