At the recent Tops Day Nurseries STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths) conference, some of the team attended a workshop on the benefits of coding in Early Years.
Coding is like learning another language, if you start early it becomes second nature. Given the digital age in which we operate, it is more important than ever that children are exposed to some basic principles of coding. This will offer them the foundations for later understanding in today’s digital world.
Take a look at some of the skills that are promoted when teaching children to code:-
- Problem solving
- Maths
- Persistence
- Processing
- Critical thinking
- Logic
- Computational thinking
- Creativity
Each setting that attended the conference was provided with a ‘Code-a-pillar’ to take back to their setting.
A Code-a-Pillar features 9 easy-to-connect segments that children can arrange and rearrange to “tell” the toy how to move: forward, left, right, wiggle, dance or even wait for a couple seconds before moving again. Children can configure the segments in such a way that the Code-a-Pillar can reach targets they set up throughout the room. There’s even a motorized head segment with lights, sounds and blinking eyes that brings the Code-a-Pillar to life!
