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Move the Turtle (for iPad) Review

3.5
Good

The Bottom Line

The Move the Turtle iPad app teaches children coding basics using a friendly turtle. A slick interface, well-designed tutorials, and a fun reward system teach concepts that kids can use when learning other programming languages.

MSRP $2.99
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Pros

  • Fun for all ages.
  • Kids can write their own programs.
  • Slick interface.
  • Fun rewards system.
  • No ads or in-app purchases.

Cons

  • No sound or spoken instructions.
  • Cannot share programs.

Move the Turtle ($2.99) is an iPad app for teaching basic computer programming to young children. The listing in Apple's App Store recommends it for kids from nine to 12 years old, but based on feedback from our young testers and the developer's own website, kids as young as five can enjoy Move the Turtle. Of course, younger programmers may need some help from the parents to read all the text on each screen and to work through the puzzles.

I am not wild about gamifying everything, but in the case of Move the Turtle, it actually works. Kids find the game's goal—to move a turtle around the screen using programming instructions—a lot of fun. The fact that it feels more like a game than a learning exercise is one of the reasons the younger kids will enjoy the experience.

Move the Turtle game features a cute turtle icon—a nod to its original LOGO roots—in the game, and also uses the turtle as an avatar to display tips, instructions, and hints. And as in the LOGO programming language, when the turtle moves, it leaves behind a trail that draws various shapes and lines on the screen.

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For this review, I solicited help from a third-grader and a kindergartener. Unlike Daisy the Dinosaur, which bored the older tester within a few minutes, Move the Turtle kept both testers engaged and interested during the testing period. There are some limits on what kids can do, but it doesn't restrict what kind of programs kids can create the way Daisy does, which is a good thing

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Scratch

Note that there are no in-game narrations or audio prompts. All the instruction is displayed as bubbles and pop-up menus on the screen, which means kids who don't read well will need more adult supervision at the beginning. Once the child grasps basic programming concepts, he or she should be able to play alone.

The Turtle Interface
The game's interface is easy to understand. There are several modes, Play, Compose, and Projects. Play is the instructional mode and contains the step-by-step tutorial. Compose is a free-coding area where players can put commands together to create their own programs. Projects displays the pre-built programs that come with the game, as well as the programs you've created and saved.

In Play mode, the screen is divided into two panels, with the actual game board on the right and an instruction chalkboard on the left. The turtle is at the center of the board, and a blue diamond icon is located somewhere on the screen. The game's primary goal is to move the turtle to the diamond.

Kids learn how to build their programs using the command tiles on the chalkboard. Commands include Move, Turn, Pen, Color, Repeat, Sound, Position, and Conditions. You can reorder the commands and see how the program changes. Swiping the Move slider changes how far the turtle should move, and in what direction. Tapping on Play runs the program. If the code is wrong, you can see what's wrong and make necessary changes.

My testers had no problem learning how to use the interface, but the younger one needed some help figuring out how to perform certain tasks. Some in-depth help for kids who need it would be welcome.

Learning With the Turtle
The game is divided into three chapters, each containing nine levels and a series of tasks to help kids learn new concepts. Each level gets progressively harder, and the last chapters may be too difficult for very young players (especially since they won't be familiar with geometry), even with help from parents. There's no reason that kids can't make up their own programs outside of the chapters. There is a little bit of structure to guide the junior programmers, but it doesn't restrict anyone who wants to try out their own ideas. The game gives feedback after the program is complete, which helps kids learn how to do better. Parents without a programming background should still be able to follow along and help.

What's a game if there aren't any rewards? The app measures progress in number of stars won, diamonds collected, and trophies earned. Each task is scored on a scale of one to three stars, and trophies are awarded at the end of each level. Kids don't have to actually collect the blue diamond on the screen to complete a task, but it does improve their score if they manage to write the program that successfully makes the turtle hit the diamond.

Move the Turtle

Much like Hopscotch, Move the Turtle allows kids to save programs, which can then be invoked in different programs. (Write once, use it many times.) It sounds so simple, but reusability is  a really important programming concept, and I like how smoothly Move the Turtle teaches it. The game also comes with a library of prewritten procedures that kids can use to draw more complex shapes (such as flowers) and perform other tasks.

Unfortunately, I didn't see an easy way to share programs with anyone, nor a way to see what other players have built. My testers really enjoyed seeing what others built in Hopscotch and Scratch.

App Details
Move the Turtle is compatible for all Apple devices running iOS 4.2 or later. I tested on the iPad, but the app runs on the iPhone and the iPod touch, too. It also supports multiple profiles, which means several kids can use it without overwriting each other's progress and programs.

We've looked at iOS programming apps before, but Move the Turtle is the first for-pay title. I think $2.99 is reasonable, and Move the Turtle does not contain any ads, in-app purchases, or social media links. So the up-front $3 is a much better deal than Hopscotch's in-app purchases, and any app that doesn't push ads at kids gets thumbs up in my book.

Following the Turtle's Lead
There aren't a lot of tools or resources to help teach programming skills to the youngest kids, which makes Move the Turtle doubly appealing. It is easy enough to get young kids started, while keeping the material interesting for the older players, especially with the free-coding area. Once you learn the basics, you can apply those concepts to pretty much any language.

I think the jump from Move the Turtle to a real programming language will be easier than the move from Hopscotch, or Scratch. However, if parents don't have a lot of time to work with the early readers to solve the tasks, Daisy the Dinosaur may be a better fit.

While there are a few minor things holding it back, I highly recommend Move the Turtle for parents and teachers looking for a programming app which emphasizes puzzles, problem solving, and troubleshooting. And it's fun, too.

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About Fahmida Y. Rashid

Fahmida Y. Rashid

Fahmida Y. Rashid is a senior analyst for business at PCMag.com. She focuses on ways businesses can use technology to work efficiently and easily. She is paranoid about security and privacy, and considers security implications when evaluating business technology. She has written for eWEEK, Dark Reading, and SecurityWeek covering security, core Internet infrastructure, and open source. Follow me on Twitter: zdfyrashid

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Move the Turtle (for iPad)