Parents' Guide to

Lightbot Jr : Coding Puzzles for Ages 4+

By D T, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 6+

Colorful, engaging intro to programming for young kids.

App iPhone , iPod Touch , iPad , Android , Kindle Fire Paid Educational Games
Lightbot Jr : Coding Puzzles for Ages 4+ Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this app.

  • Lightbot Jr 4+ Coding Puzzles App: Screenshot #1
  • Lightbot Jr 4+ Coding Puzzles App: Screenshot #2
  • Lightbot Jr 4+ Coding Puzzles App: Screenshot #3

Community Reviews

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age 4+

Based on 1 parent review

_Angie_
_Angie_ Adult
May 12, 2015
age 4+

Simple, fun, effective, not overly stimulating, no adds or in app purchases

I love this app! I have a mathy 5 year old (both parents are computer scientists) and I felt it was a great introduction to procedural thinking and computer programming. Yes it was easy for him, but he still learned something and he really enjoyed it. I probably could have started him on the non jr version. I loved having the option of starting him on one I knew he'd do well at though, since this was his first iPad app. I think he had fun, it wasn't graphically overstimulating or distracting and he did learn to break problems down into smaller problems, etc. I like that you can turn the music on or off. As a female software engineer, I love that there is a boy or girl robot you can pick - yay! The navigation between levels, etc was very clean. All in all, a pretty simple, well done app. Loved it. This is the same kind of learning you get from a game like Robot Turtles or Kodable. I'm sure for simplification purposes, but it's interesting that the recursive functions have no stop condition. Stack overflow!

This title has:

Easy to play/use
See all 1 parent review

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What’s It About?

LIGHTBOT JR 4+ CODING PUZZLES presents kids with a cute little robot, small levels composed of blocks, and a handful of drag-and-drop programming icons. "Move," "turn," "light," and "jump" comprise the core of Lightbot Jr's available commands. And, by placing these command tiles in a row, Lightbot Jr moves merrily through the level, lighting up designated tiles. Light up the correct tiles, and the player moves on to the next level.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say: (1 ):
Kids say: Not yet rated

As a puzzle game, Lightbot Jr is cheerful and fun. Littler kids will find the basic graphics appealing and the drag-and-drop programming a breeze. As the game progresses, some of the concepts may slip past the beginner and require some explaining. And the harder puzzles require long sequences of steps that may baffle even the adult partner. As kids get better at the game, they will have learned many of the basic concepts of procedural thinking. But, without follow-up, Lightbot offers only a taste of what programming is like.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about how all computer programs are lists of commands that a computer (or robot) runs.

  • Families also can talk about how thinking in steps makes a big problem seem easier.

App Details

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