Unplugged – Beep & Pixel

Give super-exact instructions to a friend who acts like a robot, and discover what an algorithm is.

Program a friend across a floor grid with Forward, Turn Left and Turn Right cards.

Spot repeating patterns in a dance and write them as short loops.

Play a Simon-Says style game and learn how computers make choices with if, then and else.

Put number cards in order by comparing only two at a time, just like a computer does.

Write a favourite word in binary using two colours of beads and make a secret code bracelet.

Colour a picture by numbers on squared paper and discover how computers store pictures as numbers.

Be a detective who finds and fixes bugs hiding in instructions and robot programs.

Play a two-player guessing game and discover the clever trick of cutting the choices in half each time.

Make a paper code wheel and use it to scramble and unscramble secret messages with a Caesar cipher.