SoylentNews

An Anonymous Coward writes:

The previously mentioned Turing Tumble educational game has achieved its funding goal. It will now be possible to produce molds and distribute the game to its thousands of crowdfunders and beyond. The game has similarities to Castle Turing in Neal Stephenson's book The Diamond Age and a manual which has a passing similarity to educational electronics kits but with the unnecessary storyline of a space escape with manga styling.

The Turing Tumble has this description on the project's Kickstarter page:

Turing Tumble is a new type of game where players (ages 8+) build mechanical computers powered by marbles to solve logic puzzles. It's fun, addicting, easy-to-learn, and while you're playing, you discover how computers work.

I'm all about teaching kids to code. When I was a professor at the University of Minnesota, I saw how valuable it is for all students to be coders. I have three young kids and I've tried all sorts of games to build their interest in coding. The problem is that they all treat computers like abstract, black boxes. They overlook the fundamental, most amazing concept: how simple switches, connected together in clever ways, can do incredibly smart things.

Kids learn best when they use their senses to explore concepts. Turing Tumble is the only game that lets kids see and feel how computers work. The logic isn’t hidden inside a computer chip – it’s all right there in front of them. It builds logic and critical thinking skills, fundamental coding concepts, and grounds their understanding of computers.

Original Submission