We were delighted to welcome Eleanor Hutcheon, UHI STEM Outreach Co-ordinator, to the nursery recently. She delivered a series of engaging workshops for the pre-school children in the GP Room. The children developed important skills such as walking in a line with a partner and taking turns to hold doors open while walking through the school on the way to the GP Room.

‘I like going to the school.’

‘My turn to hold the door.’

‘I saw my sister.’

During the workshops, Eleanor introduced the children to Botley, a programmable toy robot. She explained that the children’s challenge was to help Botley move along a route by entering instructions using the arrow keys on a remote control. The children enjoyed working together while taking turns as they explored early computer coding skills.

‘Press the green arrow.’

‘Forwards two, then turn.’

‘Can I press the buttons now?’

‘Playing with Botley is fun.’

The children were eager to create their own routes for Botley to follow, which became more complex as their confidence grew. They also had fun programming Botley to perform different dance moves and sounds while representing certain objects.

‘I want Botley to be a police car.’

‘Let’s make him move like a dinosaur.’

‘A scary ghost.’

It was great to see the children so engaged while developing a range of skills such as positional language, spatial awareness and problem-solving while having fun.