In SX Microcontrollers, SX/B Compiler and SX-Key Tool, James Newton wrote:

Not everyone (anyone?) will agree with this, but...

Rather than teach kids to ape a machine, I would like to see kids be allowed to program machines.  So, I love the keyboard record / play idea. 

I had an idea some time ago for a little toy car that is programmable. There would be a brain button which, when pushed, would cause the car to say "Learning!". Then presses on any of the forward, back, left, right, stop buttons would cause that action to be said, but no movement would occur until the go button is pressed. Then the sequence that was programmed would be acted out by the car.

The next level version has sensors in the bumpers. When learning, a press on the front right bumper would cause it to say "When my front right bumper is hit, " and then the following commands, up to the go, would be executed only when that bumper was pressed. Bumper combinations could be managed as distinct events. E.g. "When both of my front bumpers are hit at the same time," "Back" "Turn Left" "Forward" "Go!"

In one mode, the car would describe what it was doing, in another, it would just do it.

Other possibilities include range sensors, detection of the light from a supplied pointer or just increased or decreased light levels.

I think young (including very young) and old could have a lot of fun with that toy.

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