By Daddy Ryan
Family Score Tracker
Updates when activities award points.
Rain pattered the kitchen window while our laptops blinked awake, cocoa warming our hands and curiosity warming our hearts.
“Today,” I told the girls, “we’re going to teach a tiny bunny how to follow instructions—step by step—just like we plan a day, solve a puzzle, or follow God’s Word.”
Ariel asked if the bunny could do a victory dance.
Alice said, “Only if he says my favorite verse first.”
Challenge accepted.
What Is Coding? (And Why a Bunny?)
Coding might look like computer magic, but it’s really just clear thinking and step-by-step planning. A program is simply a list of instructions that a computer—or in our case, a little white bunny—can follow.
In our Bunny Bot Builder game, kids guide a bunny across a playful 10×10 grid map. Each instruction—move forward, turn left, hop over an obstacle, repeat an action, or even speak a Bible verse—is a piece of code. Just like following a recipe or a treasure map, order matters!
When Bunny bumps into a wall or misses a heart, that’s not failure—it’s debugging time. Debugging means becoming a code detective: finding what went wrong, figuring out why, and making a change. This is how programmers learn and improve, and it’s how kids can develop patience and problem-solving skills.
Psalm 119:105 reminds us, “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.” A good program works the same way—it gives us clear steps to follow toward a goal.
Want to see more kid-friendly coding in action? Try these free resources:
Tynker’s Free Lessons — interactive puzzles that teach coding basics
Code.org Hour of Code — fun themed activities for beginners
Scratch by MIT — drag-and-drop coding to create games and animations
Build Your Bunny Bot Program
Add commands, then press Run. Try Beginner, Intermediate, or Challenge. Include a Say Verse!
Commands
Use arrows to reorder steps. Trash to remove.
Your Program
Debugging Like Detectives
When Bunny bonks into a wall or hops right past a heart, we don’t groan—we celebrate. That “oops” moment is the program’s way of telling us what to fix. Just like detectives follow clues, programmers follow bugs.
Debugging starts by finding the exact step where things went wrong. We circle that moment, change just one instruction, and test again. This rhythm—observe → adjust → retry—isn’t just for computers. It builds grit, patience, and creative problem-solving in everyday life.
At our kitchen table, we make it a team game:
- Coder 1 writes the first version.
- Coder 2 improves the plan (maybe faster, maybe smarter).
- Coder 3 tries to beat the step count and collect more hearts.
The goal isn’t just “it worked.” The joy is “we learned.” Every run is a chance to think more clearly, explain our reasoning, and cheer for each other’s improvements.
Want more ways to practice debugging? Try these free activities:
Blockly Games Puzzle — drag, drop, and fix coding blocks to solve a challenge
Debug It! on Scratch — fix real beginner-friendly programs
Hour of Code: Dance Party — change the code until the dance works just right
Pick a Verse for “Say Verse”
Tap spin to get a verse idea. Copy and paste it into Bunny Bot.
My First Code — Certificate
Build Your Own Bunny Map
Tap a tool, then tap the grid to place walls or hearts. Copy JSON to share.
I’m really impressed with your noble blog and breadth of knowledge! I find myself learning along the way as well. Very neat! 😉
Good! That is so great to hear and makes me happy. Now…. I have to convince the 9 year old and 5 year old to feel the same 8 ) I will figure it out!
They don’t know what they’re missing out on. I’m sure you will win them over. 😁
Fantástico y original 💛💯
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