Seven kids coding projects that crowdfunded their first steps

http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2014/mar/26/kids-coding-kickstarter-crowdfunding-programming

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There's currently a big buzz around the idea of kids learning to code, fuelled in the UK by the fact that from September, programming will be part of the curriculum for children as young as five years old.

There are also a number of communities emerging around this area: parents keen to give their children the chance to see if they take to coding; teachers figuring out what tools and languages to use in the classroom; volunteers running after-school coding clubs; and technology companies contributing funding and other resources.

There's another growing community that draws from all of those groups, though: an online crowd that is helping a number of coding-for-kids projects get off the ground by pledging money on websites like Kickstarter. Several of the most prominent projects took their early steps through crowdfunding, including apps, books and boardgames.

Those communities of backers are good for more than hard cash, though: they're providing early feedback on the resulting products, and spreading the word about them to other parents and teachers. Here are six successful examples (plus one that didn't meet its target) from recent times:

Kano

Pitched as "a computer anyone can make", Kano raised $1.5m on Kickstarter in December 2013. It aims to put a friendlier face on the pioneering Raspberry Pi computer: parents pay $129 to get a case, speaker and keyboard, although their children still have to build the computer before they can start exploring its Kano Blocks visual programming language. Manipulating jigsaw-like blocks which represent JavaScript and Python code, it helps them create their own programs, with a Minecraft tie-in ensuring the popular creation game is available too.More information: www.kano.me

Play-i

US startup Play-i is all about the robots: a pair of toy robots called Bo and Yana, who are controlled by the code that children have created using a companion app. The company chose to crowdfund through its own website rather than Kickstarter, raising more than $1.4m in pre-orders in its first month and selling out of its first batch of bots. Yana costs $59, Bo costs $169 or the pair can be bought for $228. The app will support several age ranges too: 5-8 year-olds will use a playful programming interface with music, stories and animation, while kids aged eight and up will get their hands dirty with programming languages Scratch and Blockly.More information: www.play-i.com

Primo

Primo is an example of blending physical play with early coding skills: "a playful physical programming interface that teaches children programming logic without the need for literacy" as the company put it when raising just under £57,000 on Kickstarter in December 2013. Aimed at 3-7 year-olds, it gets children to guide a robot called Cubetto to its destination by slotting coloured shapes into a board – essentially creating a string of commands. The company is now selling its playsets from £170 through its own website, with plans to run day-long workshops for teachers and children starting in April.More information: www.primo.io

Hello Ruby

From board games to books, with Hello Ruby. It's the work of Finnish developer Linda Liukas, who had an idea for a combination storybook and workbook introducing early programming concepts through the story of Ruby – "a small girl with a big imagination". Liukas tried to raise $10,000 on Kickstarter to finish the project in February 2014, but ended up with more than $380,000 from more than 9,200 backers. "Code is the 21st century literacy," she said in her pitch. "Our kids should learn to bend, join, break and combine code in a way it wasn't designed to. Just as they would with crayons and paper or wood and tools." The book comes out later this year in digital and hardback form, with parents who didn't get in early still able to pre-order them for $20 and $40 respectively.More information: www.helloruby.com

Robot Turtles

Another board game here, "accidentally" launched by Googler Dan Shapiro last year, when he smashed past his $25,000 crowdfunding goal to raise more than $631,000 on Kickstarter. Shapiro is now the CEO of Robot Turtles (the company) selling Robot Turtles (the game) which "sneakily teaches programming fundamentals to kids aged 3+". The game involves guiding turtles through mazes to collect jewels, playing "instruction cards" to control them. The initial run of 1,500 copies sold out in eight hours, but courtesy of a distribution deal with publisher Thinkfun, it's being relaunched in June, with $25 pre-orders being taken now.More information: www.robotturtles.com

ScratchJr

ScratchJr hasn't actually finished its crowdfunding campaign yet, but with 35 days to go on Kickstarter, it has already nearly doubled its target with $45,000 of pledges. It's an "introductory programming language" inspired by the Scratch language developed by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), but designed to be more accessible for 5-7 year-old children. MIT is working with researchers at Tufts University and kid-tech startup The Playful Invention Company on ScratchJr, which will make its debut as an iPad app this summer, with Android to follow. Like Scratch, it will be based on stringing together "graphical programming blocks" to make characters "move, jump, dance and sing".More information: www.scratchjr.org

Craft Computer Club

Sadly, this project differs from those mentioned above in one crucial respect: it missed its £35,000 crowdfunding target on Kickstarter. Craft Computer Club is the work of Cardiff-based developer and educator Dan Bridge, who came up with the idea as part of his work as a Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM) ambassador. "The Craft Computer is a paper model of a computer children can make using everyday materials like card, scissors, glue, string," explained his pitch. Besides the computer, there would have been a book and online community for children, parents and teachers. All is not lost now though: Bridge is currently figuring out how best to take the project forward, and can be contacted via his own website below.More information: www.inpractice.org