Code Like A Mighty Girl: 50 Toys & Books To Inspire Mighty Girl Coders

Robot Turtles: The Game for Little Programmers

The most backed board game in Kickstarter history is now available to all with this edition from ThinkFun! In Robot Turtles, kids learn basic coding concepts as they direct their adult "computer" to move a turtle through a maze. It's inspired by the Logo programming language, and includes concepts like debugging and functions. Plus, increasingly challenging obstacles ensure that a wide age range can learn — and have fun! — with this clever game.

Sphero indi At-Home Learning Kit

Teach kids to problem solve like an engineer as they design and build colorful, custom mazes for indi to navigate with this kit from Sphero! Kids can customize their indi vehicle with stickers, then use it to learn coding principles screen-free with the colored cards, or connect it to the Sphero Edu Jr. app to use the all-new, simplified drag-and-drop block coding system. Kids will love how this fun and intuitive coding toy allows them to explore through self-directed play!

Kids First Coding and Robotics Kit

In this kit from Thames & Kosmos, kids as young as four can learn coding principles and skills — no computer required! Kids will build a selection of different model robots, from a fire truck to a mouse to a peanut butter sandwich. Then, they'll lay down physical code cards, drive the robot over them to load the program with the bot's optical scanner, and put the robot on a map grid so it can execute their commands! 30 lessons in six clever stories progress in complexity, covering sequencing, loops, events, conditions, functions, and variables; when they're done, they can create their own robotics adventure!

Osmo Coding Starter Kit for iPad

Help your child learn the basics of coding with Osmo's hands-on kit! This unique learning system allows kids to combine tablet time with actual hand-held pieces, letting kids interact with three apps through tactile play to learn the basics of coding and to explore coding's creative side by using the same blocks to create rhythms, melodies, and harmonies. Everything you need to get started is included in this kit, including the Osmo base and reflector and 31 coding blocks. Please note: this kit is only compatible with iPads; if you have a Fire tablet, check out the Osmo Coding Starter Kit for Fire Tablets.

Botley 2.0 the Coding Robot & Activity Set

This clever little robot can help kids as young as five learn the basics of coding — and its advanced features allow Botley to grow along with them! Botley is ready to go right out of the box and can be coded for up to 150 steps. Using smart logic, Botley can detect and avoid objects in its path, while following looping commands or tackling obstacle courses. It also has 16 fun interactions that let kids transform Botley into a train, police car, ghost, and more! A Toy of the Year Finalist, Botley comes with a 78-piece activity set and is 100% screen-free with no phone or tablet required so it's perfect for fostering kids' natural curiosity, creativity and problem solving skills. Plus, for even more screen-free coding fun, check out the 40-piece Botley Action Challenge Accessory Set.

Kano Frozen 2 Coding Kit

Conjure your own ice magic with this Kano coding set inspired by Frozen! With this kit, kids will build their own Frozen-themed "ice" sensor, which they can use to control challenges and activities in the app. Make fractals, throw snowballs, conjure your own Ice Palace, and more! As kids play, they'll also learn the basics of programming, first with code blocks, and then with more complicated techniques like loops and variables. It's a fun and tactile way to get kids discovering the powers of coding. For Star Wars fans, Kano also makes a Star Wars: The Force Coding Kit.

Piper Computer Kit 2

Minecraft-crazy kids will love this kit that teaches them how to build their very own real computer! This kit from Piper includes a wooden computer case with a 9" LCD display with 1024x600 resolution and integrated speaker. As you follow the included directions, you'll set it up with a Raspberry Pi 3 Project Board with 1GB RAM and a 1.2Ghz Quad Core CPU, plus gadgets like buttons, switches, LED lights, motion sensors, and more. After the computer is built, use the included SD card full of Minecraft-inspired Story Mode levels and Piper Code projects to explore the full potential of your computer. It's a great way to get kids crafting with technology in real life rather than on a screen.

Unicornbot Building and Coding Kit

This enchanted unicorn kit has everything you need to create a buildable, codable UnicornBot! The 3D, 360° animated building instructions on the free JIMU app (compatible with devices using iOS 9.0 and up or Android 5.0 and up) will guide you through assembling the 440 parts, including smooth motion servos, a motor, and an RGB light-up horn. Then, you can use the easy-to-learn Blockly coding platform to teach your Unicornbot to move, pick-up objects, recognize colors, and more! It's a fantasy-inspired introduction to the basics of robotics and coding that kids will love. And if she's more of a dragon fan, check out JIMU's Firebot kit which lets you build and code a dragon!

Artie Max the Coding, Drawing Robot

Bring the arts into STEM with this clever drawing robot from Educational Insights! As kids follow the built-in tutorials and easy to understand learning guide, they'll learn five different coding languages: Blockly, Snap!, JavaScript, Python, and C++. Startup is simple so kids will be experimenting with programming minutes after taking Artie out of the box, and before long they'll be making all sorts of colorful designs (and learning coding principles along the way.) Setup is easy so kids can connect their device to Artie in minutes, and parents can feel confident knowing that Artie's password-protected WiFi never connects to the internet. For younger kids, check out the Artie 3000, which provides a simpler introduction to coding for ages 7 to 12.

Makey Makey: The Original Invention Kit for Everyone

Turn the whole world into a keyboard! Makey Makey is an invention kit for the 21st century. Use your wildest imagination and turn everyday objects into touch sensitive pads — turning bananas into piano keys, or a drawing on a piece of paper into a joystick! You could even make a keyboard out of alphabet soup. Because the computer treats Makey Makey as a regular input device, you can use it with any program or webpage. It's a simple invention kit for beginners or experts doing art, engineering, and everything in between!

PYXEL: A Coder's Best Friend Coding Robot

Enjoy the fun of an interactive pet — and learn more about coding — with PYXEL from Educational Insights! This cute little robot comes with sound sensors so it can react to noises, a touch sense so it knows when you pet it, and a proximity sensor so it knows when something is in front of it. Kids can connect PYXEL to their device through a separate password-protected WiFi, so no internet connection is required. They'll quickly learn to use the Blockly coding language to program PYXEL's expressions and actions. Then, as they become more comfortable with coding logic, they can move on to programming with Python. With built-in tutorials and plenty of how-to videos, it's an engaging way to get kids experimenting with technology!

Raspberry Pi 4 Starter Kit

Raspberry Pi is a clever kit that allows you to build your own computer! Assemble a credit-card sized computer, then use an included 32GB MicroSD card to load one of the operating systems that work with Raspberry Pi. Then, connect to a monitor and input device and get experimenting with programming! A vibrant online community will give you lots of ideas of what you can do with your very own Raspberry Pi. This kit includes the Raspberry Pi 4 Model B processor with 4GB of RAM, a premium high-gloss case with integrated fan mount, and much more.

Snap Circuits Mechanical Coding Robot

Learn the principals of mechanical engineering and coding with this robotics kit from Elenco's best-selling Snap Circuits! This mission-based robot kit gets kids building their Mech 5 robot, then putting instructions on a mechanical coding wheel in the middle. Use the right coding buttons and the robot can move forward or backward, rotate, throw, lift, kick, draw, and more! With over 220 parts, and no screens needed, it's a fun, hands-on way to learn more about programming.

Geeek Club Smart Nano Bots Kit

Discover the amazing world of engineering and robotics with this kit that lets you build 7 teeny robots from Geeek Club! Inside the set you'll find 70 parts, including tools like a rotary tool and a soldering iron, plus over 250 electronic components and easy-to-follow directions that are perfect for both beginners and experienced robot assemblers. The circuit-board robots you'll put together seek out light, so you can experiment with how they move by putting light sources in different places! It's a fun, hands-on way to learn more about robotics and how it can shape our world.

Ada: My First Ada Lovelace (Little People, Big Dreams)

Young Ada Lovelace had a phenomenal talent for math — and as the child of a noble household, she had plenty of time to study. As a young adult, she met the inventor Charles Babbage, who had created an early mechanical computer. Lovelace's work with Babbage not only helped him develop his machine; it also predicted today's computer age, making her the world's first computer programmer! This board book adaptation of Ada Lovelace (Little People, Big Dreams) is perfect for introducing Lovelace's story to the littlest readers.

How to Code a Sandcastle

Pearl has spent all summer trying to build the perfect sandcastle (with the help of her robot friend Pascal) and today is their last chance! So Pearl decides to use coding principles to break the job down into manageable steps. There are a few bumps along the way — including a lesson in why you have to be very specific in your code, and a quick adjustment to the changing tides — but with the help of code, they'll have the best beach day ever! This funny story from computer science nonprofit Girls Who Code introduces ideas like sequences, loops, and logic in a way that's sure to get kids experimenting on their own.

Ada Byron Lovelace and the Thinking Machine

Thanks to her mathematically talented mother, Anne Isabella Byron, young Ada had the opportunity to develop her remarkable intelligence. Years later, when she met Charles Babbage, the inventor of the first mechanical computer, he named her the Enchantress of Numbers for her astounding mathematical skills. Little did either of them know that, when she designed an algorithm for Babbage’s Analytical Engine, she would be making history — by writing the world’s first computer program! With vivid artwork and intriguing anecdotes about Lovelace's genius, this picture book biography pays homage to a little-known but deeply influential figure in computing history. Ada's story is also told in two more picture books, Ada's Ideas and Ada Lovelace, Poet of Science.

You Should Meet: Women Who Launched The Computer Age

Meet the women who programmed the first all-electronic computer and built the technological language kids today can't live without in this fascinating, nonfiction Level 3 Ready-to-Read book! In 1946, six brilliant young women programmed the first all-electronic, programmable computer, the ENIAC, part of a secret World War II project. They learned to program without any programming languages or tools, and by the time they were finished, the ENIAC could run a complicated calculus equation in seconds. But when the ENIAC was presented to the press and public, the women were never introduced or given credit for their work. Learn all about what they did and how their invention still matters today in this story of six amazing young women everyone should meet!

Gutsy Girls Go For Science: Programmers

In our computer age, it's astonishing the things you can do with programming! In this book from the Gutsy Girls Go For Science series, you'll meet female programmers Ada Lovelace, Grace Hopper, the ENIAC women, Dorothy Vaughan, and Margaret Hamilton. Then, through hands-on projects like learning about variables and designing a web page, you'll learn more about how the programmers of today are helping automate, connect, and enhance our world! It's sure to leave her eager to sit down at the keyboard and really get to know the ins and outs of how her computer works.

Emmy in the Key of Code

12-year-old Emmy feels like she doesn't fit in with her musician parents — while she loves music, she's no gifted performer. And thanks to a move to a new school, she doesn't feel like she fits in there, either. When she joins the computer club, though, she discovers she's a natural at coding, and she even makes a friend, Abigail. But things feel like they're falling apart when their computer teacher tells them she's seriously ill, and Abigail turns out to be keeping a secret. Fortunately, Emmy realizes that, just like in an orchestra, you need all sorts of notes to make the world beautiful. Written in a combination of verse and Javascript, this innovative novel is a celebration of finding your fit in unexpected places, and it's sure to pique an interest in coding among young readers.

Women in Science

50 Fearless Pioneers Who Changed the World

This charmingly illustrated and educational book highlights the contributions of fifty notable women to the fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics from the ancient to the modern world. Full of striking, singular art, this fascinating collection profiles well-known figures like primatologist Jane Goodall, as well as lesser-known pioneers such as Katherine Johnson, the African-American physicist and mathematician who calculated the trajectory of the 1969 Apollo 11 mission to the moon. Women in Science celebrates the achievements of the intrepid women who have paved the way for the next generation of female engineers, biologists, mathematicians, doctors, astronauts, physicists, and more!

Code Girls Young Readers Edition

The True Story of the American Women Who Secretly Broke Codes in WWII

In the midst of World War II, over ten thousand American women were secretly recruited as codebreakers while men were fighting in Europe and the Pacific. These women decoded critical information that saved countless lives — and even helped bring the war to an end. However, because their work was classified, nobody, not even their own families, knew how much they had contributed to their country. Liza Mundy conducted interviews with surviving code girls and pored through recently declassified information in order to create the best-selling adult title Code Girls: The Untold Story of the American Women Code Breakers of World War II. This young readers edition brings this riveting story of courage, service, and scientific accomplishment to middle grade readers.

Code Like a Girl: Rad Tech Projects and Practical Tips

When you don't know how coding work, it seems like magic — but when you learn how to use it, you'll discover that you can use coding skills to make your vision come to life! In this inspiring book, girls will learn how programming can be used in creative, expressive ways, and explore a variety of different projects, from making a digital fortune-teller with the Python programming language, to creating light-up bracelets, and even building your own computer! With an encouraging tone and an empowering message, this book will help her see herself as a coder — and put code to work to change the world.

Girl Code: Gaming, Going Viral, and Getting It Done

When Andrea “Andy” Gonzales and Sophie Houser met at Girls Who Code summer camp, their idea — a video game tackling menstrual taboos called Tampon Run — turned into a viral sensation. Andy and Sophie were covered by CNN, Buzzfeed, Teen Vogue, and many more, and they also got an inside peek at big start-ups and tech companies. In this unique book, Andy and Sophie, now college students, talk about what they've learned about the tech industry and how coding can open incredible new doors for everyone — as well as about the power of finding your voice. Including a selection of real-life tech projects girls can try, this book is perfect for budding coders!