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Coding
CS Unplugged
Computing ideas explored with cards, puzzles and movement, away from the screen.
CS Unplugged turns computer science concepts into activities with physical materials. The at-home collection includes card-finding challenges, binary activities, picture codes and Kidbots, where people act out instructions. Many activities come with a guide and questions for the adult leading them. The idea is to investigate how a process works without opening a programming editor.
- Ages
- 5–14 years across different activities
- Works on
- Web browser
- Topics
- Coding
- Languages
- English
- Listed
- 2026-10-11
What kids do
- Try a card-finding challenge
- Explore binary patterns
- Act out Kidbots instructions
- Encode a picture
Who it suits
The activities span ages 5–14, and many of the early ones are grouped at 5–10.
Notes for parents
Some activities were written for classrooms and need adapting for one child and a parent. On a day when a child wants a puzzle but has had enough screen time, this is one option.
What you need
- Adult preparation
- Household materials for the chosen activity
In these guides
- Coding for kids, from picture blocks to typed Python: Where kids can start coding at 4, 7 or 11: picture-block apps, Scratch, typed Python and robots, in the order many children come across them.
- Screen-free learning activities that start on a website and end at the kitchen table: Seven websites that describe screen-free activities: bedtime math stories, table games, drawing prompts, paper puppets and unplugged coding.
More Coding
- Code.org / CodeAI: Guided coding activities alongside open tools for making games, animations, apps and web pages.
- ScratchJr: Picture-based programming blocks for making characters move and telling interactive stories.
- Scratch: Interactive stories, animations and games built by snapping visual coding blocks together.
- Kodable Basics: Maze-style coding challenges that begin with sequences and patterns.
- codeSpark: Coding for Kids: Coding puzzles that don’t rely on reading, leading into tools for making stories and games.
- Tynker: Coding for Kids: Guided coding puzzles, game-making and Minecraft-related projects.
- Hopscotch: Programming for Kids: Tutorials and open creation tools for building games and other interactive projects.
- Tynker Junior: Coding for Kids: Picture commands, voiceovers and themed adventures that introduce sequencing, loops and conditions.