Math Is Fun Forum

MindAfterMatgPhd

Novice

Registered: 2023-09-30

Posts: 3

Best way to teach algorithms to kids?

I'll admit I'm a bit selfish with this question, trying to introduce programming to my kids on weekends. But not just programming but computer algorithms. There are some creative ways going about right now that I'm seeing and things have changed since the days of flow charts. So I'm wondering if kids are understanding algorithms as a sequence of steps.

For instance. There was an image that we went through from Snowy Day, the great book that many grew up on, that tells kids to use arrows to direct the main character to the main points in the story from start to end.

There are other ways I've seen of stating an algorithm as a sequence of steps like the famous example of telling kids how to brush their teeth. I've also seen other grid examples like this ) and slitherlink) where the puzzle is to find a path in length n or less or some other constraint.

But I like the book one because I think it draws on the other interests of the child. When I saw it I thought it was beautiful.