Photo via Kickstarter/Littlecodr
Photo via Kickstarter/Littlecodr

Teaching kids the basics of coding early on is all the rage, and why not? As this Kickstarter points out, digital literacy is the next frontier.

Enter Littlecodr, a card game created by Alexandra Greenhill, a Vancouver, B.C., physician and the CEO of myBestHelper, a website that connects parents with child-care services.

“To help my kids learn more about what I do, I created a card game to learn the basics of code — logic, experimentation, debugging, collaboration — all the key skills for a digital future, but adapted for a 4 to 8 year old,” Greenhill said via email. “It’s like Seattle-created Robot Turtles except the cards ‘control’ another player — and what child doesn’t love bossing a parent or a friend?”

Photo via Kickstarter/LittleCodr
Photo via Kickstarter/LittleCodr

The premise is pretty simple: Kids use Action Cards to create instructions, or code, to tell friends where to go and how to get there. Often they’ll need to navigate obstacles in their way, too. The card set also includes Mission Cards, which give them more complex tasks once they get the hang of the basics, and Lab Cards, which allow them to add new variations to the missions.

The game is already garnering some nice press from up north, including this piece in the Vancouver Sun.

The makers have raised nearly $5,000 of their $8,000 goal with 23 days to go. A pledge of $20 secures you the game.

Watch them explain the game below:

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