Move & Turn

The idea

Think of your sprite like a wind-up toy facing a direction - 'move steps' walks it straight ahead from wherever it's currently pointing, and 'turn degrees' spins it in place to face a new direction, the same way you'd turn a toy car before letting it drive forward.

What it actually is

The Motion blocks (the blue ones) move your sprite around the Stage. 'move 10 steps' slides the sprite forward in whichever direction it's currently facing, and 'turn right/left 15 degrees' spins it in place. Snapping several motion blocks in a row makes a sprite walk a whole path, one step at a time.

How you write it

move (10) steps
turn ↻ (15) degrees

A worked example

move 10 steps
turn ↻ 15 degrees
move 10 steps

The sprite slides forward 10 steps, spins 15 degrees to the right, then slides forward another 10 steps - now in the new direction it's facing. Motion blocks always move the sprite relative to the way it's currently pointing, not a fixed direction on screen.

Mistakes children actually make

Mistake 1: expecting 'move 10 steps' to always go the same screen direction - it actually always goes forward from wherever the sprite is currently FACING, so turning first changes where the next move block goes. Mistake 2: typing a huge number like 1000 steps and being confused when the sprite disappears - it walked straight off the edge of the Stage.

Then they try it

In the app this lesson continues with the animated explanation, spoken aloud, and then the practice: Snap together at least one move block and one turn block so your sprite slides and spins. The editor runs your child’s real code and checks the result, with their coding buddy reacting to what they wrote.