Hello, Turtle! Move and Turn
Day one of Python for Kids: meet the turtle, write real Python, and steer it around the screen — forward, back, and turning corners — all in your browser.
Python for Kids · Phase I
Summer coding for middle-schoolers — draw with Python and the turtle, right in the browser.
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Shapes and the Angle Rule
What do those turning numbers really mean? Learn the one simple rule that lets you draw a triangle, a pentagon, a hexagon — any shape you want.
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Pick Up the Pen and Add Color
Move without drawing, change colors and line thickness, and fill your shapes with bright color. Your drawings are about to come alive.
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Build-It Project: Draw a House
Your first real project! Put moves, turns, and colors together to build a house with a roof — then make it your own with a door, a window, and a sun.
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Loops: The Lazy Way to Draw
Why type the same lines over and over? Meet the loop — Python's way to repeat — and draw any shape in just two lines instead of a dozen.
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Spinning Loops into Patterns
Repeat a shape while turning a little each time and watch stars, bursts, and flower-like patterns appear. This is where code starts to feel like magic.
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Variables: Give Your Numbers Names
Store a number under a name and reuse it everywhere — change it once and your whole drawing updates. Then make a number grow inside a loop to draw a spiral.
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Build-It Project: A Spiral Masterpiece
Project day! Combine loops and a growing variable into a smooth, colorful spiral — then turn the knobs to make a one-of-a-kind piece of art.
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Functions: Teach the Turtle a New Trick
Give a drawing a name once, then use it again and again. Functions let you build your own commands — like teaching the turtle a brand-new trick.
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Functions That Take Inputs
Give your functions a knob to turn. With parameters, one function can draw big shapes, small shapes, and any color — and a loop can call it with a different value each time.
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A Splash of Randomness
Make the computer surprise you. With random colors, sizes, and positions, your art comes out different every time you press Run — the secret behind generative art.
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Making Choices with if
Teach the turtle to decide. With if and else, your program can choose between options — and combined with randomness, it can surprise you in bigger ways.
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Capstone: Your Own Generative Art
The big finish for Phase I. Combine functions, parameters, loops, randomness, and decisions into a one-of-a-kind generative artwork — then make it completely your own.