Early learning of Robotics
Seymour Papert’s early work at MIT with the Logo Turtle stands as a cornerstone of modern, hands-on approaches to teaching computational thinking. Papert’s constructionist philosophy—championing “learning by doing” and directly manipulating elements to gain deeper insight—paved the way for a multitude of tangible coding tools, including Cubetto.
Much like the original Logo Turtle, Cubetto provides children with a simple, engaging interface for building algorithms: color-coded command blocks fit onto a wooden control board, and each block corresponds to a movement instruction (e.g., forward, turn left, turn right). When children press “Go,” Cubetto physically follows their program, effectively translating abstract instructions into real-world motion. The feedback is immediate—if Cubetto overshoots or turns the wrong way, the children can see exactly where their plan went astray. This iterative cycle of creating, observing, and modifying mirrors Papert’s Logo experiments, in which students honed problem-solving skills by tinkering with on-screen turtle graphics.
Today, educators and researchers alike continue to explore Papert’s ideas in both digital and non-digital realms. Websites such as Primo Toys (Cubetto’s official site) outline lesson plans, videos, and tips for weaving tangible robotics into the broader curriculum. Teachers can also turn to major academic hubs such as ResearchGate or Academia.edu to find conference papers and journal articles on “Cubetto AND Logo Turtle” or “tangible coding in early childhood,” where scholars document classroom experiences and measure how physical programming affects student engagement and learning outcomes.
Papert’s own seminal text, Mindstorms: Children, Computers, and Powerful Ideas (available via MIT Press), remains crucial for understanding the theoretical framework underpinning Cubetto. Although Mindstorms primarily discusses the Logo programming language on a computer screen, the underlying principle—offering children direct control over a programmable agent—resonates strongly when applied in the physical domain of robotics. The MIT Media Lab’s Turtle Art project and many other “turtle-inspired” innovations further illustrate how Papert’s original vision has spawned a variety of tools that harness children’s inherent drive to discover through manipulation.
Additionally, resources such as Edutopia’s “Coding for Kindergarten—Simple, Fun, and Interactive” and papers in the European Journal of STEM Education echo the same philosophy: children learn best when they are not merely passive recipients but active creators of their own knowledge. By placing Cubetto on a themed grid mat and challenging students to navigate from one point to another, teachers invite playful experimentation. Each successful sequence—forward, forward, turn right—becomes a mini narrative. Each unexpected result is an opportunity to debug and refine.
As children grow and look to move from tangible robotics to on-screen programming, environments like Ardublockly serve as a natural bridge. Ardublockly allows users to code Arduino boards through a simple, drag-and-drop interface—reminiscent of Cubetto’s block placement. This keeps the spirit of constructionism alive: learners incrementally build, test, and modify their sketches in real time, seeing immediate results on microcontrollers. You can explore Ardublockly by installing it to your computer.
By transitioning from physical command blocks to block-based software (and eventually text-based code), students can progress smoothly along a development path that still upholds Papert’s principle of hands-on experimentation.
Hence, whether you explore the official Cubetto site, read Papert’s Mindstorms, or investigate block-based platforms like Ardublockly, you’ll find a shared conclusion: tools grounded in Papert’s Logo Turtle legacy foster meaningful, collaborative, and playful experiences with coding. By merging tactile manipulation, visual feedback, and iterative design, children of all abilities can step into the role of programmer, forming a robust foundation in computational thinking that will serve them well into the future.