 | Turing TumbleAge range 8 years thru 12 years Toy Type BG Board Game CO Construction ES Educational GE Game MA Math PZ Puzzle SC Science TY Toy Turing Tumble is a fun, engaging new type of game (for ages 8 to adult) where players build mechanical computers, powered by marbles, to solve a series of fun logic puzzles in order to rescue Alia the space engineer. Players learn coding, but also how computers work by using a set of 6 different types of parts to build computers that can generate patterns, add, subtract, multiply, divide, compare numbers, and much, much more. It’s a "Turing-complete" computer, which means that if it were big enough, it could do anything a regular computer can do. . Paul Boswell (at the time a professor at the University of Minnesota) spent a lot of time at work teaching students from all different backgrounds how to code. At home, he tried all sorts of games and toys to get his three young kids started coding early. The problem is that all of the games and toys treat computers like abstract, black boxes. They overlook the fundamental, most amazing concept: how simple switches, connected together in clever ways, can do incredibly smart things. Paul and Alyssa Boswell (a former high school teacher) started creating Turing Tumble, and launched a successful Kickstarter campaign. They have created a number of online resources to help educators more easily teach with Turing Tumble in the classroom. At edu.turingtumble.com, there is an educator guide, a practice guide, as well as online simulators that make it easy to demonstrate/teach to a classroom. Because Turing Tumble is free of electronics, there are no batteries to charge, no apps to download, and no wireless connections to troubleshoot - it's easy and reliable for parents and teachers to pull off the shelf and use immediately with curious young programmers.
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