The Quest Map
20 lessons, from print() to dictionaries and nested loops, each one
unlocked by the last. Ends with a text adventure engine the kid builds themselves.
Python for ages 7-13
Kids don't learn to code
by watching.
In PyQuest they type real Python, press Run, and the car moves. Get the distance wrong and it crashes into a building - which is the whole point. Every level is a guess, a run, and a fix.
Runs in any browser. Nothing to install. Kids sign in with a code from their teacher - never a password.
for i in range(3):
drive(200)
turn("left")Three lines. Three sides of a square. That's a loop earning its keep.
20PRIMM lessons
10arcade levels
4turtle art lessons
3build-it projects
20bugs & trials
The lesson loop
Predict. Run. Investigate. Modify. Make.
Every lesson runs the same five steps, in that order. Kids commit to a guess before the computer answers - which is what turns a shrug into a question. Wrong guesses cost nothing and are met with "let's find out".
-
1
Predict
Read the code, pick what it will print. No penalty for being wrong.
-
2
Run
The same code, unedited. The machine settles the argument, not the app.
-
3
Investigate
Click the line that does the work. No typing, no spelling - just point.
-
4
Modify
Change one thing in a working program and see what moves.
-
5
Make
Now write your own. Many right answers, checked on what it does.
What's inside
Five places to write Python
Night Arcade
Their code is the controller. Ten 3D levels - and the last two drop the training
wheels: write def pilot(track) and the game calls your function.
Art Studio
Real turtle graphics. Squares, polygons, spirals, then a blank canvas - and a gallery for the ones worth keeping.
Challenges
Ten bug hunts with one defect each, ten build-from-scratch trials, and a timed speed round drawn from a 54-question bank.
Projects
Text Adventure, Quiz Show, Dice Tournament - built a step at a time, with something to hand a parent at the end.
Why it sticks
Help that doesn't hand over the answer
Every task has a three-rung hint ladder: a nudge, then a real hint, then one worked line the kid still has to place. They take the smallest amount of help that unsticks them - and the teacher sees who needed which rung.
- Errors get translated. "bad input on line 2" becomes a detective checklist.
- Replays are free practice - XP only for new work or a personal best.
- A daily 3-question warm-up, drawn only from what they've already passed.
- Read-aloud on every task, for younger and ESL kids.
For teachers
You can see the room
You hold the class list. Add a student by name, PyQuest issues a six-character login code, and you hand them a printed card. Nobody signs themselves up - so the register in the app is the register in the room.
Who's in my class?
Add a name, get a code, print the cards. Lost card? Issue a new code in one click.
Where is everyone?
A student-by-lesson grid: finished, in progress, or stuck. Click a name for their attempts task by task.
Who needs help right now?
Anyone who has failed the same stage four times, and whether they've opened a hint yet. Walk straight to that desk.
What goes on the projector?
Class mode blows up any Predict question. Hands up, then reveal.
Safe by design
- Kids never create an account. Their teacher adds them; the card they're handed is the whole credential.
- No email, no password, no surname is ever collected from a child. Teachers sign in properly, with email and password.
- Nobody reads anyone else's code. Enforced by database policies, not just the UI - and a wrong login never reveals whether the name exists.
- Class progress exports to CSV - first names only.
Free. Takes a minute: make a class, add your students, print their cards.
Give a kid ten minutes and a keyboard.
Level one is print(). By level twelve they've built a guessing game.