Crabs & Turtles: A Series of Computational Adventures is a life-size board-game that aims at providing an unplugged and low-threshold introduction to computational thinking. In particular, the games aim at introducing basic coding concepts and computational thinking processes to primary school children. Crabs & Turtles consists of three different games:
i. The Treasure Hunt, ii. The Race, and iii. Patterns.
Currently, all three games are available in English, German (“Schildkröten & Krabben”) and Greek (“Χελώνες & Κάβουρες”).
Crabs & Turtles share common ideas with concepts of the educational Logo-Turtle and Logo-inspired games and gamified educational activities. The life-size dimensions of the games allow playability within the classroom or open-air spaces. The chosen un-plugged mode takes into account common concerns on introducing coding to primary school children and offers a smooth and children friendly transition to digital more complex educational programming environments. Moreover, we feel that using a non-digital mode is crucial because it fosters the experience that possible applications of coding concepts and CT processes are not restricted to digital contexts but also generalize to real-life conditions.
The games can be used as a standalone game interventions however, they are intended to be part of a structured course curriculum currently offered in several Hector Children’s Academies in Baden-Württemberg which builds upon skills acquired within the game.