Change log
October 2025
After having spent much of the last two months working on updating the Halloween display for 2025, I'm back to working on the MakeCode Arcade materials.
There is now a new section on the website called Pide. This is a lightweight online Python IDE that can be used for basic Python coding exercises. The main advantage of Pide is that it is a zero install tool and supports importing and exporting of the "workspace". The tool is built entirely as a static page so no accounts are required and nothing is stored on any servers. It only uses the browsers local storage. I built this tool entirely (almost) using an AI tool. The tools was Kiro and I've been supremely impressed with the results (mostly). For now, I recommend most students continue to use Replit as it is a much more powerful platform but hopefully over time I can get Pide to a level that allows the majority of the early Python projects to be completed using it.
September 2025
I've been experimenting more and more with using AI in coding and have spent some time building a few games with the students at the Code Club. The results have been quite variable but has been fun. Why do I mention this here? Well one of the projects I've been working on is a simple Python IDE that runs entirely in the browser and uses local storage. I've tried several iterations of it now and am getting close to having a reasonably useful working version that can be used for many (sadly not all) of the Python materials. Watch this space for more news throughout October and November.
August 2025
The updated MakeCode Arcade materials for Chase, Catch and Slider have now been completed. Smash will shortly follow.
July 2025
I've started reworking the MakeCode Arcade materials, including adding a new project called Slider based on some of the work I did for the Escape room. Head over to the Progressing section to see the first drafts of the updated Chase, Catch, Smash and Slider projects. To make these materials easier to follow, I am introducing animated images.
I've added in a brief section containing an overview of some MakeCode Arcade devices I have and some I do not. This will be added to over time. Head over to the devices page to find out more.
I've added in a section on starting with Replit; including how to work within the 10 repository limit for free accounts. Head over to my Replit guide to get started.
June 2025
I'm working on new and improved MakeCode Arcade materials. This has included moving to animated pictures to help with the instructions. The first bunch of materials will be available in July 2025. These are very time consuming materials to produce so I expect it to take until autumn to convert the original PDF materials to the newer web based format.
May 2025
I've been working on Circuit Python Toolkit for Interactive Projects (CPTKIP) as a more flexible framework than pico-interactive. Head on over to improvement over cptkip to find out more.
April 2025
I've added in some of my old BBC micro:bit materials in the progressing section. Head on over to here for more information.
March 2025
Fancy building an Escape room? Head over to Building an escape room with MakeCode. The instructions will take you through the steps to build an escape room; a great group activity. I'm still adding lots of additional content to that part of the site so keep an eye on this recently changed section for updates.
January 2025
The original pathways Beginning, Progressing and Advancing have been reworked as Exploring, Progressing and Advancing as well as made more generic. This has also merged the physical computing materials with the non-physical computing materials.
December 2024
The PyGame Zero game Muncher had some modest re-working to reduce the amount of editing existing code in order to make the instructions simpler to follow. It also now has the code for each step provided at the start of the step if students get stuck. This is now considered final quality.
The PyGame Zero game Smash was put on the site along with a couple of sub-tasks. It is a complete project and considered final quality.
The site moved has to new hosting environment that supports HTTPS.
November 2024
The Python pathway has been extended significantly to add in an extra 8 modules based on Al Sweigart materials. Head over here for more details.
Added links to the updated Halloween 2024 project, including references to my CircuitPython framework pico-interactive. See Advancing for more details.