KinderLab Robotics today announced that KIBO‘s newest product, the Advanced Coding Extension Set, and an accompanying curriculum guide, Ask and Imagine, are now shipping. The Advanced Coding Extension Set supports children who are experienced with KIBO's core concepts and offers them the next step along their computer science pathways. The Advanced Coding Extension Set creates a bridge between KIBO's core pre-K to 2nd-grade curriculum and the computer science and engineering work students will do in upper elementary and beyond. Children can explore advanced computer science concepts such as subroutines, randomness, and conditionals, while staying rooted in KIBO’s familiar screen-free, hands-on coding environment.
KIBO™ is a robot kit designed for children ages 4–7 years old. KIBO is entirely screen-free, as children program their robots with “tangible code” made of wooden programming blocks. Through these physical materials, children engage with a range of powerful ideas found in STEAM, computer science, and design thinking, all while integrating directly with literacy and art curricula.
The new Advanced Coding Extension Set unlocks three new programming options:
Subroutines: A subroutine is like a miniature program within a program. With KIBO’s subroutines, children create their own programming block by defining a sequence of commands then assigning that sequence to a subroutine block. To personalize their creation, children can even use an included erasable marker to draw their own icon right onto the programming block sticker. The set includes multiple blocks to call the subroutines, allowing students to dive into the powerful ideas of modularity and reusability.
Random Parameter: This new card makes KIBO’s repeat loop run a random number of times. Kids can teach KIBO to play “Duck, Duck, Goose”—spin KIBO a random number of times, and who knows who will be “it”?
If Not: Children can already design programs that respond to light, sound, and distance using KIBO’s conditional programming. The new “If Not” block lets children tell KIBO to do one thing if a sensor is triggered, and something else if it’s not. This foundational concept in computer science expands the expressive possibilities for KIBO while deepening students’ understanding of conditional programming.
