The Treasure Trail is back, and the maps are bigger. Year 2 coders trace longer arrow programs in their heads, then plan their own routes around rocks on 5-by-5 and 6-by-6 grids — and any route that reaches the treasure counts.
What your child will learn
- Trace a program of up to five arrows and say where the robot stops
- Plan a route around obstacles before building it
- Build a program one arrow at a time and test it
- Know that there can be more than one correct program
Plan before you build
On a big map it pays to trace the route with a finger first. Count the squares across and the squares up or down, then check for rocks in the way. If a rock blocks the path, go around it — the route gets longer, but it still works.
Run, look, fix
Real programmers rarely get it right first time. Press Run, watch where the robot goes wrong, change that one arrow and try again. That loop — run, look, fix — is how all programs get written.
Example questions
Here are a few questions like the ones in the first quest. Can you solve them?
1. The robot follows the arrows. Which letter does it stop on?
- A
- B
- C
- D
Show answer
Answer: A. Move one square for each arrow: ← ↑ → →. The robot stops on A.
2. The robot follows the arrows. Which letter does it stop on?
- A
- B
- C
- D
Show answer
Answer: A. Move one square for each arrow: ↓ → ↓. The robot stops on A.
3. The robot follows the arrows. Which letter does it stop on?
- A
- B
- C
- D
Show answer
Answer: C. Move one square for each arrow: ↓ ↓ ↓ ↓. The robot stops on C.
Tips for grown-ups
- Draw a grid in chalk outside and give each other arrow programs to walk.
- Hide a toy and write arrow instructions to find it.
- Challenge each other to find a second, different route to the same square.