Logic Puzzles

Write the Program

Giving directions to a friend who can't ask questions is hard: every turn has to be on the list. A robot is that friend. Plan the whole way first, because once it starts moving there is no fixing it.

Free sets by level, ages 4–10:

Write the Program, Level 2: two 6 × 6 grids with a robot, rocks and a picture, beside a row of empty boxes for arrows.Level 2: a page from the free set

Before starting

  • Know up, down, left and right
  • Count to 10 (Level 1), to about 15 at Levels 2 and 3
  • Level 3: know turn left and turn right

What you need

A tiled floor, or a grid drawn in chalk, to act it out (optional), and a pencil.

Free puzzles to print

Each set: a Learn sheet with a worked example, 10 puzzles from easiest to hardest, and the answers.

  • Level 1

    Ages 4–6 · Pre-K–K

    Write the Program, Level 1: two 4 × 4 grids with a robot, rocks and a picture, beside 4 boxes of arrows to circle.

    A 4 × 4 grid with 4 boxes, where each box prints four arrows to circle. Then 5 × 5 grids with 6, then 8 boxes, where rocks block the straight way. The hardest are 6 × 6 with 10 boxes, and the child draws the arrows.

    On the sheet: “Draw arrows in the boxes to take the robot to the picture.”

    Print Level 1 (Letter)Other paper size: A4

  • Level 2

    Ages 6–8 · Grades 1–2

    Write the Program, Level 2: two 6 × 6 grids with a robot, rocks and a picture, beside a row of empty boxes for arrows.

    Longer programs, apples to pick up on the way, then numbered arrows (→3 means three steps); the hardest have two apples and numbered arrows.

    On the sheet: “Draw arrows in the boxes to take the robot to the picture.”

    Print Level 2 (Letter)Other paper size: A4

  • Level 3

    Ages 8–10 · Grades 3–4

    Write the Program, Level 3: two path-shaped boards with a robot and a picture, a row of empty boxes, and the forward and turn cards to use.

    Turn cards (forward, turn left, turn right) instead of arrows, apples, forward numbers, and a tempting shortcut that skips an apple.

    On the sheet: “Draw arrows in the boxes to take the robot to the picture.”

    Print Level 3 (Letter)Other paper size: A4

How it works

A grid shows a robot, some rocks and a picture to reach. Below it is a row of empty boxes. The child writes a program, one arrow card per box, that takes the robot to the picture without hitting a rock. The number of boxes is the fewest cards that will work, so the child has to plan the shortest way.

How to play

  1. Find the robot and the picture. Trace a way between them with your finger, going around rocks.
  2. Count the boxes. Your program must use exactly that many cards.
  3. Fill the boxes in order, one card in each box.
  4. Run your program: move a finger along, card by card. Does the robot stop on the picture?

When it gets hard

  • Going the way that looks shortest and running into a rock.

    Hint: Trace the whole route with a finger before writing any arrows.

  • A route that works but uses more boxes than there are.

    Hint: Count the boxes first. Is there a way with fewer turns?

  • At Level 3, mixing up the robot's left with your left.

    Hint: Turn the page so the robot faces up, then decide left or right.

Tip for grown-ups: Act it out: one person reads the arrows aloud, the other walks the steps across the floor tiles.

Frequently asked questions

Is this coding?
It's the thinking behind coding: a plan written as steps, then run exactly as written. No screen is needed.
How do we check a program?
Run it card by card with a finger. A program is right if it fits the boxes and takes the robot to the picture without hitting a rock. From Level 2 it must also pick up every apple. The answer shown is one example. A longer program that also gets there is a good start: now look for a shorter one.

Questions about printing, levels, answers or membership: see all questions.

Write the Program, Level 2 Learn sheet with a worked example

Worked example

From the Level 2 Learn sheet

  1. Count the boxes. That is how many cards you need.
  2. Find a way past every apple to the picture. Plan with your finger.
  3. Draw one card in each box. Then follow your cards to check.

A question to ask: “Which way will you go first? Why not the other way?”

Free every Sunday A mixed bag of 20 new puzzles, all four levels. Get them by email

The thinking it works on

  • Putting steps in order

    Turns a route into a list of moves, then runs it with a finger.

    Bers and colleagues (2014) found that in three kindergarten classes, about three-quarters of the children put a robot's instructions in the right order in their first programming activity. Source

  • Planning ahead

    Sees the whole route around the rocks before writing the first arrow.

    Unterrainer and colleagues (2013) followed 4- and 5-year-olds for a year. Puzzles needing a few moves planned ahead were harder than ones needing none, and were solved more often with age. Source

  • Testing and fixing a plan

    Walks the finished program and fixes the box where it went wrong.

    In the same kindergarten study, Bers and colleagues (2014) scored four steps of fixing a program, from noticing the problem to trying a fix. Average scores sat between 'partly' and 'mostly'. Source

  • Direction and position words

    Uses up, down, left and right, then forward and turn.

    Pruden, Levine and Huttenlocher (2011) followed 52 families: toddlers who used more space words (such as big, tall and edge) did better on spatial puzzles at 4½. Source

  • Seeing it from the robot's side

    Imagines facing the robot's way before choosing a turn card.

    Roberts and Aman (1993) found that 6- and 8-year-olds who named left and right correctly from another person's turned position seemed to turn themselves in the mind. Source

  • Counting moves and grouping repeats

    Counts a straight run and writes one numbered card for it.

  • Resisting the tempting shortcut

    Notices a tempting shortcut that skips an apple and goes the right way.

    Gerstadt, Hong and Diamond (1994) found that children under 5 struggled to say 'day' to a moon card and 'night' to a sun card. Two plain rules were easy for them. Source

Where is this thinking used?

  • Instructions and recipes: Someone else follows the steps exactly as written.
  • Directions: Giving directions, or reading a map, one move at a time.
  • Programming: A computer or robot runs a list of steps without you.
  • Route planning: Errands or deliveries with stops in the right order.

For teachers

Curriculum areas
Common Core
Geometry: describing position with words like above, below, beside and next to (Kindergarten)Levels 2–3: No direct curricular match.
Computer science (CSTA)
Planning a program as an exact list of steps, and choosing the best of several routes (algorithms and programming, ages 5–11)

Math practices: see the box below.

Math practices this puzzle uses

  • Uses: MP1 Make sense of problems and persevere in solving them
  • Not used: MP2 Reason abstractly and quantitatively
  • Not used: MP3 Construct viable arguments and critique the reasoning of others
  • Not used: MP4 Model with mathematics
  • Not used: MP5 Use appropriate tools strategically
  • Uses: MP6 Attend to precision
  • Not used: MP7 Look for and make use of structure
  • Not used: MP8 Look for and express regularity in repeated reasoning

From the Common Core Standards for Mathematical Practice.

More Write the Program puzzles for members

Members get at least 5 more worksheets at each difficulty for every puzzle, 80 new puzzles every Sunday, and the whole archive. $39 a year or $25 for 6 months.

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Also known as: coding puzzles, unplugged coding, robot path puzzles.