Electronic Blocks: Tangible Programming Elements for Preschoolers

This paper describes the design, implementation and evaluation of Electronic Blocks, blocks with electronic circuits inside them. By placing Electronic Blocks on top of one another young children build “computer programs” – each stack of Electronic Blocks is capable of a different function. Significantly, the blocks programming input and program output are based in the physical world, with the digital implementation completely hidden from the children. Preliminary studies have found that children aged between four and six are capable of using the blocks to create robots that crash into each other, remote control cars, and lights that flash when you clap. Most children became heavily engaged with the blocks, and learnt simple programming with a minimum of adult support.