Year 1 ploughed on through their ‘Programming Toys’ unit and further developed their learning about algorithms. Building on last session’s learning about the importance of giving instructions in the correct order, today’s focus was on the amount of precise details given to ensure the desired finish.

At the beginning of the lesson, poor Mr Potato Head was in a bit of a muddle. The children quickly realised that it was because it had been built following very vague instructions like ‘Add the mouth’. Nobody was clear on exactly where the mouth should go, so no wonder Mr Potato Head ended up looking so odd.

The children were able to listen to a set of very precise and detailed oral instructions telling them exactly how to rebuild Mr Potato Head correctly. The instructions included phrases like ‘Next, add the blue eyes into hole number 4.’ This way the children knew exactly what feature was needed to go where and in which order. Not surprisingly, Mr Potato Head was soon muddle free and back to his usual cool looking self again.