So far, we've been the robots ourselves, following instructions to make patterns and draw pictures. We learned that to get the right result, the sequencing and order of our code has to be perfect.

Today, we're going to meet a robot that lives on a screen. This robot can follow all the same commands we used to draw, and it will show us just how good it is at following our code.

Materials Needed:

• A Screen/Projector: To display the simple web application.

• Worksheets: Have the "Drawing Robot" worksheets for reference.

• Markers: To draw example shapes before moving to digital drawing.

Introduce the Paintbrush Path.

Pupils will direct the brush with clear commands  to try to recreate the target image shown on the left hand side grid.

Do a quick demo: point to the start, read one command at a time, and show how the brush draws a line after each move.

Then let the class suggest the next single command to build the picture step by step. This warm-up tunes their direction and sequencing skills for the rest of today’s lesson.

Tell the students you are going to code the digital robot to draw letters on the dot grid, just like they drew shapes with their markers.

Choose a simple letter (like L or T) and sketch it on the board using a 4×4 dot grid.

Click the arrow buttons in the order the robot must move to trace that letter.

As you click, the code will appear on the screen, building the sequence.

Once you are done, press the “Run” button. The digital robot will then draw the letter on the screen.

Give each student a worksheet. Tell them it's their turn to be the programmer.

Challenge them to write the code to draw a simple square and then a rectangle (There are more complex challenges for more advanced students below)

When they have completed the code, they can enter it into our online drawing robot to see if it works!

Tell pupils they’re going to write their own code to challenge a friend.

Put pupils in pairs. One is the Programmer, the other is the Robot.

Give each Programmer a small grid (4×4 or 3×3) and ask them to choose a simple shape or letter in their head – for example:
a 2×2 square, a little rectangle, an L, a T, or a short staircase.

The Programmer writes the arrow code only (➡️ ⬇️ ⬅️ ⬆️) starting from the top-left dot.
They do not draw the picture – just the code.

The Robot gets a blank grid. They follow the arrows carefully, drawing the path as they go.

When they finish, they guess the shape or letter they’ve drawn.

The Programmer then shows what they were aiming for. If it doesn’t match, they can debug together and fix the code.

Let them swap roles and repeat with a new shape.

If you like, finish by asking a few pairs to share a favourite “secret code” with the whole class and see if the class can guess the shape before you run it.