Unplugged Coding Activities You Can Do with Your Students | CodeMonkey (2024)

Are you looking for fun, free unplugged coding activities and games that you can do with your class? If so, CodeMonkey has you covered in its coding unplugged series. Best of all, you don’t need any programming experience to carry-out these activities – simply choose which coding concept you would like to teach, read the activity over and then do it tomorrow in class. In true offline form, there are no computers or Internet required!

The list below contains all of our offline coding lessons for you to use in your classroom. You can use them as a stand alone activity or combine them with your current computer science curricula on related concepts. We recommended using these games with 3rd-8th graders.

Offline Coding Lessons:

  • Sequences – coming soon
  • Objects – coming soon
  • Loops
  • Variables
  • Array indexing – coming soon
  • For loops – coming soon
  • Functions – coming soon
  • Until loops
  • If else conditionals – coming soon
  • Boolean operators – coming soon
  • Not – coming soon
  • Comparisons – coming soon
  • Event handlers

What is unplugged coding?

Unplugged coding aims to teach programming concepts through the use of games or activities that can be done offline using tangible objects, such as paper and markers. Offline coding is a good way to engage younger students without the use of technology. It helps students better understand computer science concepts through role-playing, analogies and other visual exercises.

Offline coding first came about in the early 1990s as an engaging way to communicate programming concepts. Back then it was mainly used as an outreach tool, which provided a good opportunity to cover topics in a short amount of time. It was only afterwards that it turned into a tool used for teacher training. Most recently it has entered the classroom to supplement teacher lessons.

CS Unplugged Key Principles:

  1. No computers required
  2. Real computer science
  3. Learning by doing
  4. Fun activities

Why should I go offline with my classroom?

Unplugged coding activities come in handy when you want students to visualize a certain programming concept that they have been struggling with. They are relatively easy to carry out and work wonders with helping students collaborate and develop computational and algorithmic thinking skills.

Since unplugged activities work well anywhere, you can take your class outside and carry out the activity there as they explore their surroundings. Offline activities are also great if you have limited access to a computer lab, are having technical problems or are short on time.

Another reason to implement unplugged coding activities is to get every one of your students involved. Since these activities are gender neutral, straightforward and engaging, they do wonders at getting girls, special needs students and those with disabilities quickly involved in the subject. Besides, what better way to learn about user input and output than by playing a fun guessing game? Teachers who have used such coding activities found that it made students more curious and eager to learn coding. Additionally, it was easily implemented across different age groups.

How do I teach Computer Science Unplugged?

First, decide which concept you would like to cover with your class. If it’s the beginning of the year, it might be a good idea to re-introduce a topic to your class with an activity on it. If you are ready for a more advanced topic, proceed to a concept near the end of the list (which is in order of difficulty). Once you have chosen the activity, read it through and collect the items it calls for. Some require index cards or cups with different-colored beverages so it is important to prepare for these ahead of time. Once you have organized all of the items, you are ready to start the activity.

Each activity takes between 15-20 minutes to complete. All of the above unplugged coding games were taken from CodeMonkey’s lesson plans, which are available with the purchase of a full teacher subscription. If you have a teacher subscription and would like the full lesson, you can download it on the teacher resources menu on the right hand side of your homepage.

A great way to teach unplugged coding is through CodeMonkey. Each course comes equipped with step-by-step lesson plans, beginning with an introduction, an unplugged classroom activity and/or screen time for real coding, followed by a debriefing. In a total of 45 minutes you can help your students to truly understand a coding concept and feel ready to take it on by writing real code.

The added value and benefits that unplugged coding activities bring to students are plentiful. They offer an engaging activity that helps to instill computational thinking in students. It takes learning computer programming from an independent task to a group one. Make your next class more exciting by introducing one of the games mentioned above and help your students explore CS in a new and meaningful way.

Unplugged Coding Activities You Can Do with Your Students | CodeMonkey (2024)

FAQs

What are unplugged coding activities? ›

Unplugged coding is teaching coding concepts without using devices. It is learning how to code without writing lines of code. When coding unplugged, students use their knowledge to work on computational challenges that will help them understand the concepts they'll use in coding projects.

What are the benefits of unplugged activities? ›

Unplugged coding activities also show students that the skills they are developing have real-world applications. By engaging in these activities outside the computer lab, students learn to break down complex problems into manageable parts, recognize patterns, develop algorithms, and think logically and sequentially.

What are the functions of CS unplugged? ›

Teaching Computational Thinking through CS Unplugged activities teaches students how to:
  • describe a problem,
  • identify the important details needed to solve this problem,
  • break the problem down into small, logical steps,
  • use these steps to create a process (algorithm) that solves the problem,

What is the effect of unplugged coding activities on computational thinking skills of middle school students? ›

Following the analysis of observation and daily data, the findings obtained revealed that the students usually displayed high levels of motivation and class participation in unplugged coding activities, they had difficulty in concretizing certain concepts as well as subjects requir- ing mathematical knowledge; various ...

What are unplugged activities examples? ›

10 unplugged activities to teach computing at home with everyday household objects
  • MAKING FACES: PLAYDOUGH PROGRAMMING. ...
  • JAZZY JIGSAWS. ...
  • THE COMPUTATIONAL THINKING DUCK. ...
  • PAINT BY PIXELS. ...
  • ACCIDENTAL ADVENTURES. ...
  • COMPUTATIONAL WORD GAMES: WORD SNEAK. ...
  • COMPUTATIONAL WORD GAMES: THREE WORD STORIES. ...
  • ORIGAM-ORITHMS: ALGORITHMS.

What are unplugged performances? ›

The term "unplugged" has come to refer to music that would usually be played on electrified instruments (such as an electric guitar or synthesizer) but is rendered instead on instruments that can be played without electricity, for example acoustic guitar or traditional piano, although a microphone is still used.

What is an unplugged activity in code org? ›

We refer to lessons in which students are not working on a computer as “unplugged.” Students will often work with pencil and paper or physical manipulatives. These are intentionally placed kinesthetic opportunities that help students digest complicated concepts in ways that relate to their own lives.

What is the main idea of unplugged? ›

Gordon Korman's novel finds a bratty Silicon Valley boy exiled for his misdeeds to a wellness resort in the wilds of Arkansas, with no tech devices allowed and the mantra "Be Whole" front and center. Young Jett may be Unplugged, but as a true hacker, he lives to overcome limitations.

What is the unplugged approach? ›

Educational process or activity, usually kinaesthetic, which makes no use of computers or digital equipment. This chapter focuses on the “unplugged” approach for teaching computational thinking (CT), that is, teaching without the use of computers or digital equipment.

What is unplugged computational thinking? ›

Free. Educator implements an activity in which students build computational thinking skills without the use of computers or other devices. UTeach Computer Science. Instructional Strategies for Computer Science.

What is the difference between plugged and unplugged programming? ›

According to the University of British Columbia Scarfe Sandbox, “Unplugged coding is a collection of learning activities that introduce coding and programming through engaging games that only use cards, crayons, markers, etc.” Plugged coding, “...is the language that a computer understands.

What is barefoot computing? ›

Barefoot empowers primary school teachers across the UK to deliver an inspirational computing curriculum. Barefoot combines exemplary lesson plans with teacher professional development through supporting resources, interactive workshops, specialist partnerships and live lessons.

How does coding affect students? ›

For many students, learning basic coding can be an empowering experience that teaches a wide range of skills: creativity, problem-solving, perseverance, confidence, and more. Teaching coding to your students helps them to better understand how the modern world works, and perhaps, someday, shape the digital future.

What are some examples of computational thinking in students? ›

Relatable Examples of Computational Thinking for Students
  • Solving Puzzles or Playing Games. ...
  • Building with Legos or Blocks. ...
  • Math Problems. ...
  • Science Experiments. ...
  • Creative and Academic Writing. ...
  • Art and Design. ...
  • Solving Everyday Problems.
Sep 28, 2023

How does coding improve computational thinking? ›

It enables children to crack the complex problems by breaking them down into its parts and solving them with ease. It also is the stepping stone to computational coding.

What is unplugged computing? ›

Therefore, an appropriate definition of 'unplugged computing' might be “teaching computing concepts away from the context of computing, to explore concepts through analogy, physical objects, role-playing, puzzles, games, magic, etc”.

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