Bitsbox – Marvelous Mischief Kit

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WHAT IS BITSBOX?With Bitsbox, kids 6+ learn to code by building apps that work on real phones and tablets. You can think of Bitsbox as a two-part learning system: Part 1. The Bitsbox Website The Bitsbox website provides each kid with a virtual tablet that runs the apps they build. The tablet is on the left and their code is on the right. To run an app on a real device, they scan the QR code on the computer screen. Zap! That’s all there is to it.  Part 2. The Box of Apps and Goodies Each Bitsbox is loaded with dozens of app projects. Kids love getting physical stuff in the mail, and Bitsbox uses that excitement to get them learning. Before you know it, they'll be writing their first apps and sharing them with friends and family.  That's Bitsbox: the coolness of coding real apps, fueled by getting a package from !WHAT'S IN THE BOX?The theme of this Bitsbox is Marvelous Mischief.  It features a cast of beautifully-drawn, offbeat cartoon characters like Rocket Girl, Panda Kid, Foxboy, Tuba Man and Mr. Fancy. The box comes with all of the following: Full-color activity book with 22 app projects Pack of 10 trading cards (each card is an app your kids can build) 3 sheets of colorful Bitsbox stickers 2 sheets of Bitsbox, skin-friendly Tattly temporary tattoos Original Slinky (to accompany a Slinky app in the activity book) 100% recycled and 100% recyclable cardboard packing materialThe apps in the book range from very simple (2 lines of code) to very challenging (66 lines of code). Here are the apps and the coding concepts they demonstrate:   Regal Eagle | simple graphics Hello City  | graphics and text What Does the Fox Say? | graphics and sound Birdy Boogie | sound and simple interaction Dress Up Ned  | screen coordinates Terrible Triplets  | variables Dream Drawing  | interaction as a function Plumber's Delight  | interaction as a function with motion Peekabot | random and coordinates Who's my BFF? | arrays and strings Road Racer | loops The Pirate Code | prompts and if/else statements Bubble Pop | random, repeat, and interaction Quick Paint | various interactions and custom functions Slinky Sculptor | custom functions with parameters Paul Bunyan | full game that combines multiple concepts Invasion of the Ox Snatchers | full game with emphasis on if/else One Man Band | custom functions with parameters Tuba Or Not Tuba | complex screen interactions and loops Time Machine | multiple custom functions Look Out, Sam! | complex loops Rocketgirl Saves Jetkid | full game inspired by BreakoutWHY BITSBOX?We created Bitsbox for three reasons:It’s never too early to start learning languages. If you want your kids to learn to code, the best time to start is when they’re little. Bitsbox is designed for kids as young as 6 years old, though we’ve seen 5-year-olds get the hang of it with help from their parents.Writing real code is awesome. We love block-based tools like Scratch—they’re great for learning programming concepts and computational thinking. But eventually, there’s typing to be done, and it turns out that kids think it’s fun and grown-up to use the keyboard.The enemy isn’t hard; the enemy is boring. Learning to code takes time and practice. Sometimes it’s just plain hard. But that’s okay—we know kids are willing to work at learning hard things as long as they don’t get bored along the way. Bitsbox is all about providing piles of exciting new projects and delivering them in an exciting format: surprise boxes that come in the mail.HOW DOES IT WORK?Bitsbox takes a “free play” approach to teaching kids to code. Kids pick and choose which apps they want to build. Different apps teach different concepts and language, but none of that is apparent to the kids—they end up learning to code as a consequence of having fun. Here’s how it works: 1. Pick an app.A Bitsbox gets delivered to your kid from . She (or he) goes through the materials and picks an app to build. The code for the app is right there on the printed page. 2. Type the app into the Bitsbox websiteYour kid goes to his (or her) account at the Bitsbox website, creates a new app, and types in the code. We’ve watched dozens of kids do this, and amazingly, they don’t think it’s boring at all. They think it’s exciting and challenging to “get everything right”; the payoff is being able to use the app. 3. Change the app to make it your own.Here’s the really fun part: It’s incredibly easy for kids to change the details of any app to make it their own. By swapping in new graphics and sounds, and changing variables like color, speed and size, they create brand new apps. And guess what? They learn what the code actually does. 4. Scan the QR code with a mobile device.To use the app on a real tablet or phone, your kid scans the QR code on the computer screen with the device’s camera. 5. Use the app on the mobile device. The app appears (in all its glory) right on the device. And when the code changes on the computer, the app updates on the device, too. Kids can even build apps that send information back and forth between multiple devices. HAVE YOU TESTED IT?Have we ever. Bitsbox is currently a featured activity on code.org's Learn an Hour of Code page. In the  months since we launched, over half a million kids have built apps with Bitsbox. We've done hands-on testing with hundreds of kids, in groups of 10 to 40. They've been girls and boys, ages 6 to 11, mostly in classroom computer lab settings. Our young testers are diverse, too—some have had computers and iPads since they were zygotes, and some only have access to technology at school.  We're happy to say that testing has gone very, very well. Kids of all ages are able to create their first "Hello World" app in less than 10 minutes, and most can complete three or four apps in less than an hour. More importantly, they LOVE it: In a test we ran with third-graders in October, their teacher tried to appease their end-of-session disappointment by saying, "If you do your homework, and you're good, we can do Bitsbox again soon." Apparently, we're the dessert of computer lab activities. Sweet. Here are some more nice things folks have said about Bitsbox:    "Our daughter started today and we LOVE how engaged she has been! We love the product! Absolutely a company we will love to support through the years!" — Kelly Leah Tate "My two boys (Tom 10 and Ben 7) are positively obsessed with Bitsbox. It’s perfect." — Josh Read"Thanks so much—we LOVE your product and have been telling everyone about it!! I will continue to give boxes for birthday gifts to everyone!" — Liz Gerecke    "I’ve taught a number programming workshops for kids. Bitsbox is the best material and coding environment I have found so far." — Jon Saints"My kids spent 6 hours playing with Bitsbox last night. They’ve been playing with Scratch and Code.org—but they felt that this was much cooler and they loved the fact that they felt like they were writing real code." — Brandon Seils    "A big congrats to everyone who contributed to making Bitsbox happen. It has everything to get kids enthusiastic to dive into coding: cool graphics, good content, stickers, tattoos, I wish my classes were as fun to learn as Bitsbox." — Jurgen Schepens"With Bitsbox, they are doing REAL coding! The drag and drop methods were great to get them started, but they really needed to do the real thing. They are animated and excited about Bitsbox in a way I haven’t seen with the other programs. They are THRILLED with their successes. And I am so proud of their learning!" — Susan Mietus "I’ve got to say, my daughter is loving her first Bitsbox. We’re taking it slow—I work to get her to think about what the programs will do, and encourage her to play around with changes. We just finished Tuba or not Tuba, which she loves. I am really impressed by the platform and definitely want to keep her moving forward."" — Scott Bradley "Just wanted to give a big bouquet to you all for the excitement and enjoyment my 9 year old daughter got when she received her first Bitsbox yesterday in Middle Earth (New Zealand). Fantastic job with the design, love the recycled packaging, and the first impressions of the coding experience is 'thumbs up'. Only problem now is that the 7 year old younger sister might have to be signed up, too—to avoid WW3." — Hassan Wong "I loved how open-ended the apps are and how kids can start tuning and experimenting even in the first couple of pages. There’s lots of opportunity for them to discover things, and it’s fun for them to see which of their instincts/guesses work out. My daughter was really engaged, and her reactions were: 'Best night ever!' and 'It’s also awesome because you get to spend time with me on it!' That second one was an unexpected side benefit. :)" — Sally Tinis