SciFest in Grahamstown South Africa is now on the second day and is visited by thousands of kids every day. The first report will be from a workshop where kids can do some programming without needing any pre-knowledge of computers. The participants so far during the workshop has been in the age 5-14 years. The GameBlocks is developed using cheap and affordable components for a developing context. At present they are used to programme a Lego robot to move forward, backward, left, right or play different tunes. Kids can choose their programming instruction by finding a colourful cube with a symbol representing what the robot should do. The cubes are placed in sequence on a mat that can take up to 8 instructions. Kids are given a small programming challenge and if they manage to instruct the robot according to instructions they will be given a small prize. The workshop allows kids to participate in a research experiment and at the same time have fun and learn some basics of programming. GameBlocks are developed under the leadership of Andrew Smith at Meraka Institute in Pretoria.
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