Candy Cane Coding

December is the month that kicks off with Computer Science Week. This month a lot of schools are taking one week to focus on coding activities. I wanted to focus on an unplugged activity that introduced students to the binary language of computers. Many schools do binary bracelets and coded messages, but being holiday time, I wanted to be a bit festive and do some Binary Candy Cane Coding!

For my students, we learned that 'binary' is the language of computers. Everything is computed in 1's and 0's. Every letter, number and symbol is assigned a binary code. Using the table, they created a candy cane with their initials coded in different colored beads. It was a great way to engage the kids.