Review by Mieke VanderBorght, Common Sense Education | Updated June 2015
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Hopscotch For Schools: Learn to code, make cool things, have fun.

Get it now
  • Download from App Store

Programming blocks give good balance of freedom vs. constraint

Subjects & skills
Subjects
N/A
Skills
  • Creativity
  • Character & SEL
  • Critical Thinking
Grades This grade range is a recommendation by Common Sense Education and not the developer/publisher.
4–9
Great for:
Common Sense says (See details)
Teachers say (1 Review)
Price:  $9.99
Platforms:  iPad

Take a look inside

6 images
Create a silly username and start creating, publishing projects, and collecting favorites.
Project templates offer inspiration and an intro how-to video.
Drag and drop pre-packaged programming blocks make programming easy while still allowing for limitless possibilities.
Share and browse projects on the Hopscotch community board.
One example of what kids can make: earn money by setting your lemonade price just right for the day's weather.
Lesson plans introduce programming and easily tie together multiple underlying learning principles.

Pros: Simple drag-and-drop coding blocks offer a powerful learning experience.

Cons: So many options and relatively little guidance may leave some kids feeling overwhelmed.

Bottom Line: With a pinch of patience and a lot of passion, this introduction to computer science and its underlying principles is highly accessible.

How Can I Teach with This Tool?

The Hopscotch website features seven highly flexible lesson plans that help demonstrate how computer programming principles can be relevant and easily incorporated into a broader curriculum. Teachers can take advantage of the developer's suggestions and adapt the lesson plans to fit their classroom's needs. Lessons focus on learning code and also on exploring underlying concepts that are easily applicable to other areas such as math, science, and even literature. Some specific themes that teachers can explore are logical and critical thinking, algorithms, problem-solving, symbolic understanding, clarity, or perseverance.

Look at the Hopscotch community board with kids to explore what others have made and get inspiration. Show them how to examine the code of any project they find. Create a private "crew" so kids can share and collaborate with their classmates. Encourage them to learn from one another through sharing and remixing. 

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Standards:

Kids explore computer science as they drag and drop blocks of code to create mini-programs. They can browse through posted projects or templates for ideas of what's possible, or watch how-to videos that show how to make a drawing program, design a website, create a game, and more. Once they're ready, kids will get down to business choosing rules that make characters move and draw, and that determine looks and sounds. They'll experiment with computer programming concepts like abstraction, value, flow, sequencing, loops, variables, functions, and conditional logic.

Kids can share their projects with a private teacher-created community (one of the perks of the school edition) or with the Hopscotch community at large. Kids can also "remix," or view and change the code for any posted project. Look also for seven great lesson plans included with the app. 

Programming can be difficult, sophisticated work requiring precision, planning, logic, trial and error, and lots and lots of patience. Hopscotch School Edition makes programming accessible for kids without dumbing down the underlying process. All programming options are packaged in neat drag-and-drop blocks, or they can be adjusted with simple scales. In practice, this means kids focus on higher-order critical-thinking themes like cause and effect, actions, and constructing logical sequences rather than getting lost in the details of learning a complicated programming language.

Besides some essential demonstration videos, there's very little direction in navigating the app's features or in creating projects. Kids will need time and patience to explore and learn before they can fully take advantage of the app's capabilities. More explicit guidance would help this app appeal to more kids. Overall, though, Hopscotch is an accessible entrée into the world of computer science, and it can easily serve as a platform for broader learning themes such as critical and logical thinking, planning, and more. 

Overall Rating
Engagement Is the product stimulating, entertaining, and engrossing? Will kids want to return?

Creating mini-programs is appealing, rewarding, and versatile enough to draw in most kids -- at least for a while. Depending on individual interest level, play can get downright addictive, while other kids will find it ho-hum.

Pedagogy Is learning content seamlessly baked-in, and do kids build conceptual understanding? Is the product adaptable and empowering? Will skills transfer?

The accessible pre-written programming language lets kids explore the theory and logic behind programming without getting lost in the minute details. Kids get a good sense of semantics and structure through experimentation. 

Support Does the product take into account learners of varying abilities, skill levels, and learning styles? Does it address both struggling and advanced students?

Tutorial videos give a basic introduction to a variety of things kids can do. Kids can keep saved projects private, or share their own and remix others' projects in private class groups or in the community at large. 

Common Sense Reviewer
Mieke VanderBorght Researcher
About our ratings and privacy evaluation.

Key Standards Supported

Engineering Design

  • 3-5-ETS1-1

    Define a simple design problem reflecting a need or a want that includes specified criteria for success and constraints on materials, time, or cost.

  • 3-5-ETS1-2

    Generate and compare multiple possible solutions to a problem based on how well each is likely to meet the criteria and constraints of the problem.

  • 3-5-ETS1-3

    Plan and carry out fair tests in which variables are controlled and failure points are considered to identify aspects of a model or prototype that can be improved.

  • MS-ETS1-1

    Define the criteria and constraints of a design problem with sufficient precision to ensure a successful solution, taking into account relevant scientific principles and potential impacts on people and the natural environment that may limit possible solutions.

  • MS-ETS1-2

    Evaluate competing design solutions using a systematic process to determine how well they meet the criteria and constraints of the problem.

  • MS-ETS1-3

    Analyze data from tests to determine similarities and differences among several design solutions to identify the best characteristics of each that can be combined into a new solution to better meet the criteria for success.

  • MS-ETS1-4

    Develop a model to generate data for iterative testing and modification of a proposed object, tool, or process such that an optimal design can be achieved.

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Teacher Reviews

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Featured review by
James D. , Other
Other
Fantastic way to introduce students to coding and computational thinking
Scratch has more in the way of a community with a huge range of projects that people save and share, but Hopscotch is more than adequate for those working only with iPads (because Scratch does not run on an iPad). There are tutorials for anyone (teacher or student) who wants to learn independently. Most importantly, the app does a very good job of introducing the elements of coding/design and computational thinking WHEN PAIRED WITH GOOD INSTRUCTION. Without the instruction, it's still good, but not as good.
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