Fisher Price Code-a-Pillar review
I have been trying out the Fisher Price Code-a-Pillar. The first thing I noticed was that you need LOTS of room to play with this colourful fellow! Each forward segment moves around 90cm from his starting position and he turns in quite a large arc. This video shows the Pillar with:
one forward segment
two 90° turn segments
one forward segment
If you use him in your classroom, you will definitely need to clear a good amount of floor space. However, he is really easy to use and I think little hands will love playing with him and exploring what he can do, setting up their own obstacles for him to navigate or little ‘stations’ for him to stop at. The Code-a-Pillar provides a lovely introduction to early programming and more importantly, to tinkering, playing, exploring and learning! Children have the visual clues as to what the Pillar will do which will help them to spot (debug) any mistakes. The segments are easy to remove and change and he makes some really delightful noises, which children will love, although grown ups might not after a while! There is also a free app available to go along with the Pillar which gives children opportunity to play with him on screen too – Think and Learn Code-a-Pillar
