Code Piano is a fantastic coding toy for kids that gives them creative, hands-on experience of real text-based C++ coding.
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Using the Lets Start Coding online coding tutorials they’ll be able to program the board to play different notes and sounds, change the tone, progamme song snippets etc. alongside learning code concepts such as; common syntax, if statement, else-if statement, void setup, void loop, delay etc.
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What’s In The Box
Inside the Code Piano Box you’ll find
- Code Piano Board – with 8 programmable buttons and a mini speaker
- Retractable USB cable that plugs into standard USB 2.0 or 3.0 ports.
- Reference cards with code concept explanations and examples
As mentioned the coding language used is C++. The microcontroller is an ATMEGA 328P, like the Arduino Uno board and the Lets Start Coding software environment is compatible with Windows 7, 8, 10 and Mac OSX 10.9 and above, plus Chromebooks… you do need an internet connection to code using their software
No batteries are required as the board is powered by the USB port.
How To Set up Code Piano
Like all Lets Start Coding kits, code piano is easy to set up… you download their software to your computer
and then access your project.
or access it via their website using the Code On Chromebook link.
Whichever way you enter your project once you’re in, you plug in the code piano board, via the USB cable, and you’re ready to work through their online tutorials.
Code Piano Project Interface
The great thing about the way the tutorial units work is that it’s very easy to go back and forth between them, repeat them, jump ahead etc because they all stand alone as well as having a logical order to progress through.
Code Piano has 14 units plus a ‘Setup & Test’ and ‘Songs To Tinker With‘ bonus. They have been broken down to create nice, easy, bite-sized chunks, that won’t overwhelm, are all interactive, and naturally follow on from each other, so kids can build on their programming skills and code manipulation.
The units are:
- Piano Beep
- Piano Triple Tone
- Piano Morse Code S.O.S.
- Random Tones
- Ascend To Charge Song
- One Key Piano
- Two Key Piano
- 8 Key Piano
- Variable Note Piano
- Random Note button
- Piano Button Pitch Changer
- Piano Rising Siren
- Piano Rising and Falling Siren
- DJ Booth
Each Unit breaks down into: Intro, Code, Videos, Challenges, Concepts & Quiz
The Intro explains what the unit is about.
This is followed by the Code area. It’s here that some fully functioning code is already laid out that can be uploaded to the code piano board. There’s also a nice short video that talks through the code and how it works.
The code area is where the code can be tinkered with to complete the challenge further down the page. But kids don’t need to just complete the challenge. They can tinker away with the code and push its boundaries to see what else it will do to the board function, in a completely safe environment. Any time they go wrong, the code can be reset to the original. We found that our tinkering often took us further ahead to later units.
At the bottom of the unit there’s a short discussion on the concepts learned and a little mini quiz which helps re-enforce that unit’s lesson. And finally, there’s a bug fix option where kids have some code with a bug in it and that they have to work through and fix.
What Did We Think Of Code Piano
Code Piano is a beautifully portable programming tool that allows kids to dip in and out of it easily, and I liked that it had more ‘real-life’ text-based coding feel to it. The code chunks are broken down and explained well, and the units progress nicely, expanding and adding to the code previously learnt. Plus I like how the importance of adding comments/notation to code is included.
The kits are for aged 8+ and suitable for all ages upwards and if you’ve never coded as an adult then these are a perfect starting point for you as well.
Code Piano is a great hands-on learning environment that allows kids to safely explore and understand coding.