How Robot Walk teaches kids to plan every step before pressing go

What Robot Path is for

Tomorrow Kid’s Robot Walk world is Logic Lab’s foundational Robot Path puzzle (robot_path). Kids tap instruction blocks into a plan, press ▶, and watch the robot act it out—one step at a time. A wall bump stops on the failed block (the debugging lesson). Stars come from slots used vs the optimum plan.

Parent tip: say “plan every step before pressing go” once before they play. The habit is thinking ahead—sequencing before execution—not racing to tap ▶ with an empty plan.

Where it lives

1. Confirm the child’s age band reaches 7+ so Logic Lab (and Robot Walk) appear on Home
2. Open Logic Lab and tap the Robot Walk world (subtitle: “Tell the robot where to go, one step at a time”; kid chip: Plan the steps)
3. Tap instruction blocks into the plan slots, then press ▶ and watch the robot run
4. Stars score from how many slots you used vs the optimum; hints escalate after failed runs; the level never locks

Robot Walk is also one of the two date-seeded Today’s puzzle types (alongside Pixel Painter). For the Home daily card, see the Today’s puzzle guide. For the broader Logic Lab overview, see the Logic Lab ages 7+ guide. This article owns the Robot Path / Robot Walk deep-dive only.

Plan → ▶ run → bump or win

Play runs in RobotPathGameView:

| Step | What kids do | | --- | --- | | Build the plan | Tap instruction blocks into the plan slots (order is the program) | | Press ▶ | The robot acts out each block in sequence | | Wall bump | A bump stops on the failed block so kids see exactly which step broke | | Stars | Scored from slots used vs optimum; hints escalate after failed runs | | Practice bridge | Worlds with practice keep a calmer path open; levels never lock out |

Finish copy celebrates a “Perfect plan!” or gently asks “try fewer blocks?” when a shorter route exists. Stars still feed the familiar Sticker Book economy. Wearable looks from Robot Workshop can show on this same robot—skins are separate from path planning.

Why planning before go matters (no typed code)

Robot Path is sequencing without a keyboard: build the whole plan, then watch it run. Parents can name that habit—“thinking ahead”—without saying “algorithm” or “program.” Kids discover it when a wall bump highlights the bad block, or when fewer slots earn more stars.

That is distinct from:

• Where Will It Stop? (predict_end) — read a locked plan and tap the finish square instead of writing steps; see the Where Will It Stop? / Read the plan guide
• Again & Again (robot_repeat) — same canvas with scarce slots and an orange repeat bracket; see the Again & Again / Repeat blocks guide
• If this, then that (robot_if) / Make it shorter (shorten_plan) — later robot modes with branches or compression; not this article’s scope
• Pass & Play Bug Hunt — two-player plan fixing; see the Pass & Play guide
• Robot Workshop — unlockable skins, not path planning; see the Robot Workshop guide
• Today’s puzzle — one shared Home board per day that sometimes is Robot Walk; see the Today’s puzzle guide
• Pixel Painter — pictures ↔ numbers; see the Pixel Painter guide
• Yes or No? — Flow Chart facts → yes/no arrows; see the Flow Chart guide

A calm way to introduce it at home

1. Confirm age band 7+ and open Logic Lab together.
2. Open Robot Walk, build a short plan of a few blocks, and narrate “first this, then that—then go.”
3. Press ▶ together; if a wall bump stops them, point at the highlighted block and ask what to change.
4. Let them finish one board—celebrate the stars even if the plan used extra slots.
5. On a later session, ask “could fewer blocks still reach the goal?” and stop after one run.

What to try next

Keep Robot Walk as the first “plan the steps” world when Logic Lab opens (7+). When writing plans feels easy, try Where Will It Stop? for reading a locked plan, or Again & Again for the repeat-block lesson on the same canvas. Use Today’s puzzle when you want the same board as a shared Home ritual, Pass & Play for a Bug Hunt handoff, and Pixel Painter for pictures ↔ numbers. Ready to try it? Open Tomorrow Kid → Logic Lab → Robot Walk.