codingFarmers is the first ever board game to teach real programming concepts to children as young as 7 years old. This innovative and ground-breaking game exposes kids to a language used widely by both students and software engineers, the Java Programming language.
Because it was created by kids, for kids, it is an intuitive and fun way to learn programming concepts.
Children play the game with action cards, which describe an action, like "move forward by two spaces" in two ways: regular English, and Java code. By playing the game several times, kids learn to connect their actions with written code. They become programming literate all while having a blast - rolling a dice, maneuvering around obstacles and chatting with their friends and family.
The final test comes when they substitute the action cards with Java cards - when they are able to play from code alone, you realize that they got all the main concepts of programming.
The aim of the game is to show kids that computers aren't doing "voodoo magic" when they run programs; they are simply doing simple operations, like addition and subtraction, and making choices. In this game, kids quickly learn to gain an appreciation for how powerful and simple programming can be.
For more information on the game rules, scroll down to the "How does codingFarmers teach coding" section.
In the United States alone, there are two software developer jobs for every student graduating with a computer science degree. There is a high and growing demand, in almost every field, for people who can "tell computers what to do". Unfortunately, in spite of the awareness about programming, not many children are learning about real programming concepts.
High school courses often jump right in to heavy programming, which is difficult and frustrating for many who have no experience with programming concepts. Meanwhile, many kids tinker with online visual languages, such as Scratch, but have trouble translating this into written code.
Research has shown that, learning a programming language is like learning a foreign language. The sooner kids get exposed to the languages, the quicker they can learn. Programming, in general, improves critical thinking skills. It can help with addressing problems in innovative ways, and can even teach life lessons. It also simplifies many jobs we do irrespective of the profession we are in. It is extremely important that children, especially in the upcoming generations, get exposed to coding.
The game cards have instructions written in English, as well as Java code. These cards expose children to all the basic concepts of programming with just one round of the game.
We optimized the game for both learning and fun using a genetic algorithm. Those who decode all the game cards correctly have a better chance of winning - this encourages children to learn the concepts quickly.
The game has three types of cards, each containing a different subset of actual programming skills.
Basic: These cards teach the basic concepts of programming, like assignment and arithmetic operations.
Control: These cards teach conditional operations, such as if-else statements (where the player does a task if something has happened).
Loop: These cards teach loops (where the player repeats a specific task until something happens).
The game can be played in three levels:
Beginner: Each player gets three action cards and picks the best card to move his or her tractor. All players race to reach the barn first. These cards have the Java code at their bottom and expose kids to the basic concepts of programming.
Intermediate: Each player has the option to pick one action game card or two java cards. When a player picks the java card option, they have the choice of picking the best out of the two cards for their next move, improving their chances of winning. This incentive encourages kids to try out "Java" cards during the game.
Advanced: Players play only with Java cards. This is the ultimate level of skill - the point of no return for players! If they reach this level, this means that they are truly programming literate. We can't guarantee that they'll be the next Bill Gates, but we can hope! Players usually reach this level after 2-3 rounds of playing at the intermediate level.
We have already created several game prototypes and tried it out in after-school clubs and in our own MathAndCoding sessions. The game was very well received, with many kids learning to play with Java cards alone after about 40 minutes. We noticed that kids often taught each other how to decode the Java cards - a wonderful example of the co-learning and teamwork that real programmers also need to succeed.
We are ready to launch full production of the game. We've chosen the manufacturer for the game (521promo.com). We have all the graphics ready. All we're waiting for are the funds to start the production runs. The funds will help us launch the game on Amazon, and all the profits from the sales will be channeled into our efforts at teaching programming to more students through our non-profit mathandcoding.org
We need to order a minimum of 250 board games to begin manufacturing our game. We are reaching out to you to help build this board game, that teaches programming concepts while kids have fun.
Help spread our love for coding to kids all over the country.
Apart from the satisfaction of helping create an awesome new board game for kids, and apart from putting a smile on our faces, we have several incentives to encourage you to fund this project. Browse through our rewards section to see what option works for you!
As soon as the project is funded, we will send out graphics to our manufacturer and have the first 250 games made. It takes about 10 weeks for the games to be ready. You will get your copies by first week of November - well before Christmas!
Risks and challenges
We researched thoroughly before picking 521promo.com as our manufacturer, partly due to their history of delivering board games for many Kickstarter campaigns before.
We've been through several internal iterations of the game, re-designing based on feedback from actual players. It should not take longer than 10 weeks after the program is fully funded to get the games in our hands from the manufacturers, as we have already built several prototypes.
To ensure that the project stays on schedule, we will track the production progress closely. We know that there might be potential setbacks, but we're motivated to tackle them head-on and post timely updates here so that you, our backers, have updated information on the manufacture and delivery of the codingFarmers board game.
Sharada, Nikhil and Anika's mom, is the point of contact for the manufacturer and warehouse. She will take care of all logistics involved in shipping the game to all of you after a successful campaign.Learn about accountability on Kickstarter
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