The Xylophone Maze: Screen-free coding for children

My child is 3 years old. I was looking for a game that we could play together and would be her first programming-like activity. I wasn’t keen to teach her anything specifically but rather offer her the option to explore what coding or algorithmic thinking tasted like (similarly when you would give your child a sheet of paper, brush, and paint to play with). I evaluated some computer game options but I wished to find screen-free, unplugged alternatives, especially since she has not been used to interact with a computer or screen at all.

A screenless coding activity for kids 3+

There are many interesting screenless coding robots out there too, but I was imagining building something from the materials we had at home instead of purchasing a separate toy. Then I stumbled upon the ideas of coding a Lego maze and the coding card game which gave me the idea for inventing the xylophone maze.

Help papa find her daughter

You’ll build a Lego Duplo maze, place papa and her daughter at the far ends, and help papa find her daughter by following the instructions played on the xylophone.

The game is for a minimum of 2 players, can be played from quite an early age (2-3), and can be tweaked to make it challenging for older kids, even adults, too.

All you need is a xylophone (glockenspiel, or similar instrument) with colored bars, a bunch of Duplo blocks, a board and two figures. The colors of the Duplo blocks need to match the colors of the xylophone bars.

Play the glockenspiel to move the Lego figure
Play the instrument to move the Lego figure

Instructions

The difficulty can be easily adjusted to the needs and interests of the players. Here are some ideas: