There is so much to say and learn about coding and robotics, so many tools, so many ways to utilize them in the world…
By doing coding & robotics in school, we are NOT trying to make everyone a coder (though that might not be a bad thing). Exposure to coding & robotics helps with so many skills (life skills & specific skills). It helps foster critical thinking, computational thinking (decomposition, pattern recognition, abstraction, algorithmic thinking), logical thinking, problem solving, literacy… build creativity, confidence, and perseverance…redefining failure…physical computing (controlling objects in the world). If you haven’t noticed it, a LOT of our world has coding & robotics at its foundation, so understanding C&R could only be beneficial.
It is also a great avenue to learn many topics across the curriculum. C&R can be utilized in art , design and fashion (sphero painting, turtle art, turtle stitch, or tinkercad codeblocks). Animating scenes from stories enhances literacy. Building/coding things that move can help explore motion concepts in science or shapes, numbers and measurement in mathematics. Building/coding your own pedometer makes PE/health a little more exciting.
There is no, one best robot or coding platform. I believe exposure to a variety over the years is important. And you need to have enough so that each child can get their own hands on experience… 1 robot per 4 kids doesn’t work. I like 1 to 2.
You will most likely start the littles or non readers with a bunch of Uplugged/Screen free activities (code a dance, make a sandwich, code a human robot through an obstacle course). Beebot, Sphero Indi, and Botley seem to be popular screenfree robots to start with. Beebot even has a browser based emulator. iRobot also has an emulator for its Root robot, and level 1 is icons (non-text).
Next, the things I like the best are browser based tools.
There are several ways to do turtle art (pencilcode , blocks , “python with turtle” (last one needs an account)). Creating snowflakes is a good way to integrate math and science (6-fold symmetry only). But you can create snowflakes WHILE you have conversations about other things, like poetry/stories that have snowy settings, historical events happening in wintery conditions.
To get started with robotics/physical computing, I like micro:bit based devices and makecode. The micro:bit is a small (smaller than credit card) micro-controller, it runs one program, has built in sensors and about 20 I/O pins. Makecode is nice because it is browser based and you can code with blocks/python/javascript. There is a massive 3rd party industry around micro:bit : kits, expansion boards, input/output devices. (There are also many, many other micro-controllers)
I like Adafruit as a micro:bit supplier (as well as other electronics items). Elecfreaks has a couple of kits that I really like (they have others). Elecfreaks cutebot is nice because it moves, has lights and a distance sensor, as well as pinouts to add other I/O items. Elecfeaks 32 in 1 has a nice expansion board, motor, servo, sensors and Lego Technic building parts. BirdbrainTechnologies has Hummingbird and Finch robots that are micro:bit based. (Brown Dog Gadgets has recently come out with a “Bit Board Rover” kit, but I have not played with it yet)
I also like the idea of DIY robotics kit, but still micro:bit based. Pick an expansion board. They range from $7-$50 based on functions. Buy some I/O devices (servos, motors, IR distance sensor, HCSR04 distance sensor, neopixel strips/rings, arcade buttons, LED’s, OLED, 1602LCD, variety of jumper wires…). You can build from cardboard, as well as laser cut or 3D print parts. Some people build out with Lego’s. (i have been working on a list of options)
There are a myriad of other ideas for C&R, and you should utilize multiple. But start with your “why”, what are you goals. That should lead you to which combo of things to implement :
Scratch and Snap have a role to play. microblocks can also program micro-controllers. Earsketch is one way to code music, so is SonicPi (but it is a download). Tinkercad Codeblocks allows you to code designs, 2D for laser/vinyl cutting or for 3D printing. Edublocks tries to help people step from blocks to Python or HTML.
Makey Makey allows you to create physical interfaces to Scratch, build sensors, musical instruments, explore circuits…
Firia labs has a “Jumpstart Python with micro:bit” course, as well as a CodeBot to learn python and a virtual environment for CodeBot.
Edison is an all in one, palm sized bot with wheels, sensors, and light & sound output. Coding is browser based and covers 3 levels (icons, blocks, python). You can build out with Lego’s and create a variety of devices.
Sphero has several options (indi, mini, Bolt, RVR)
Wonder Workshop has Dot, Dash, and Cue and a variety of apps to code them.
Root is from iRobot, think roomba. They have 3 levels of coding (icons, blocks, python)
Marty from Robotical is a humanoid style bot with multiple servos and few sensors.
Makeblock has their mBot line, which goes from a palm size build to a larger kit.
Speaking of larger kits… there are the big kits to look into.
Each brand has multiple levels of kits, all have plusses and minuses, and some have their own competitions.
Lego (SPIKE, BricQ) (I think they retired WeDo and Mindstorm)
VEX (123 , Go, IQ , EXP , V5 , Pro)
UBTech Education (Beginner , Intermediate , Advanced)