Drape Published by Mark Overmars Age Group: Age 4 to 8, Age 8 and Up Type: Computer Toolbox License: Free

DRAPE teaches children basic aspects of programming. It has some resemblance to Logo but Drape is completely visually oriented, so that kids don't need to be able to read. As in Logo, programs in Drape create a drawing. A detailed User Manual is included.

A program consists of a number of commands. There are commands that draw lines and shapes, commands that move to a particular position, commands that set properties, like color, line width and size, and control commands, e.g. to repeat commands, to call procedures, and to test for mouse buttons.

Each command is represented by a little picture. A program is a sequence of these pictures. Create a program by dragging pictures to the appropriate place in the sequence. Correct errors by dragging pictures to the wastebasket. Sample programs are provided, including a flying bird and a game of Mastermind.

It is very simple to create a program (like this simple Pikachu drawing) one command at a time. Run the program at each step and correct if necessary. The visible cursor makes it obvious how direction needs to be changed. This is a very simple way to get kids started in programming!

Download Details

Requires:
Windows 95/98/NT4.0+

Filename: drape2.0.zip

Filesize: 360 K

Download Sites:

Netherlands : http://www.cs.ruu.nl/