Real Programs — Playground

1

🍕 "Five friends want to order pizza. Nobody can agree on how much they each owe."

Pizza Party Splitter

Ask how many people are sharing and what the total bill is. Calculate each person's share — and figure out how many slices each person gets if the pizza has 8 slices.

Ask Variables Math Say

🧩 Blocks

🟢 Start

❓ Ask How many people? → people

❓ Ask Total bill ($)? → bill

📦 Set share = bill ÷ people

📦 Set slices = 8 ÷ people

💬 Say Each person pays $ share

💬 Say Each person gets slices slices

🔴 End

▶ Build this in Playground

📺 Output

Program running

How many people?

> 5

Total bill ($)?

> 42.50

Each person pays $8.50

Each person gets 1.6 slices

— Program finished —

What they learn: Variables store information. Division solves real sharing problems. The same formula works whether it's 2 people or 20.

2

🎮 "I want to buy a game that costs $60. I get $8 allowance a week. How long do I have to wait?"

Savings Goal Tracker

Enter a savings goal and weekly allowance. The program counts week by week, adding allowance each time, until the goal is reached — and tells you exactly how many weeks it'll take.

Ask Variables While Loop Counter

🧩 Blocks

🟢 Start

❓ Ask Savings goal ($)? → goal

❓ Ask Weekly allowance ($)? → allowance

📦 Set saved = 0

📦 Set weeks = 0

🔁 While saved < goal

➕ Change saved by allowance

➕ Change weeks by 1

💬 Say You'll reach your goal in weeks weeks!

💬 Say You'll have $saved saved

🔴 End

▶ Build this in Playground

📺 Output

Program running

Savings goal ($)?

> 60

Weekly allowance ($)?

> 8

[ week 1 ] saved: $8

[ week 2 ] saved: $16

[ week 3 ] saved: $24

[ week 4 ] saved: $32

[ week 5 ] saved: $40

[ week 6 ] saved: $48

[ week 7 ] saved: $56

[ week 8 ] saved: $64

You'll reach your goal in 8 weeks!

You'll have $64 saved

What they learn: While loops keep running until a condition is met — the same pattern used in real banking apps, shipping trackers, and game score systems.

3

🧠 "I want to make a quiz my little brother can play. It should keep score and tell him how he did at the end."

Quiz Show

A 3-question quiz with a running score. Each correct answer adds a point. At the end, the program gives a different message depending on how well you did.

Ask If / Else Score Counter Variables

🧩 Blocks

🟢 Start

📦 Set score = 0

💬 Say Welcome to the Quiz! 3 questions.

❓ Ask What is 8 × 7? → answer

🔀 If answer = 56

💬 Say ✅ Correct! +1

➕ Change score by 1

💬 Else: Say ❌ Nope — it was 56

❓ Ask Capital of France? → answer

🔀 If answer = Paris

💬 Say ✅ Correct! +1

➕ Change score by 1

💬 Else: Say ❌ Nope — it was Paris

❓ Ask How many sides on a hexagon? → answer

🔀 If answer = 6

💬 Say ✅ Correct! +1

➕ Change score by 1

💬 Else: Say ❌ Nope — it was 6

💬 Say Final score: score / 3

🔀 If score = 3

💬 Say 🏆 Perfect score! Genius!

🔀 If score ≥ 2

💬 Say 👍 Nice work! Almost there.

💬 Else: Say 📚 Keep studying!

🔴 End

▶ Build this in Playground

📺 Output

Program running

Welcome to the Quiz! 3 questions.

What is 8 × 7?

> 56

✅ Correct! +1

Capital of France?

> London

❌ Nope — it was Paris

How many sides on a hexagon?

> 6

✅ Correct! +1

Final score: 2 / 3

👍 Nice work! Almost there.

— Program finished —

What they learn: Conditionals branch the program based on a value. A score counter is the same logic used in every game ever made — Minecraft, FIFA, Wordle.

4

📐 "I have a times table test tomorrow. I want something that quizzes me on one table, over and over, until I get them all right."

Times Table Trainer

Pick which times table to practice. The program loops through 1×N to 12×N, asks the answer, marks right or wrong, and prints the full table at the end so you can see all the answers at once.

For Loop Variables Ask If / Else Math

🧩 Blocks

🟢 Start

❓ Ask Which times table? (1-12) → n

📦 Set score = 0

💬 Say Let's practice the n times table!

🔢 For i from 1 to 12

📦 Set correct = n × i

❓ Ask n × i = ? → answer

🔀 If answer = correct

💬 Say ✅ Yes!

➕ Change score by 1

💬 Else: Say ❌ It was correct

💬 Say Score: score / 12

💬 Say --- Full Table ---

🔢 For i from 1 to 12

💬 Say n×i=n×i

🔴 End

▶ Build this in Playground

📺 Output

Program running

Which times table? (1-12)

> 7

Let's practice the 7 times table!

7 × 1 = ?

> 7

✅ Yes!

7 × 2 = ?

> 14

✅ Yes!

7 × 3 = ?

> 28

❌ It was 21

7 × 4 = ?

> 28

✅ Yes!

... (continues to 12) ...

Score: 10 / 12

--- Full Table ---

7×1=7 7×2=14 7×3=21 ...

7×10=70 7×11=77 7×12=84

What they learn: For loops count through a range automatically — the same pattern powers spreadsheet formulas, image filters, and search results.

5

🎲 "I want to build a guessing game I can play with my friends — the computer picks a number and we try to guess it in as few tries as possible."

Guess the Number

The program picks a secret number between 1 and 100. The player gets unlimited guesses. After each wrong guess it says "Too high" or "Too low." When they get it, it reveals how many guesses it took.

While Loop If / Else Ask Counter Variables

🧩 Blocks

🟢 Start

🔒 Const secret = 42

📦 Set guess = 0

📦 Set tries = 0

💬 Say I'm thinking of a number (1-100)...

🔁 While guess ≠ secret

❓ Ask Your guess: → guess

➕ Change tries by 1

🔀 If guess > secret

💬 Say 📉 Too high! Try lower.

🔀 Else If guess < secret

💬 Say 📈 Too low! Try higher.

💬 Say 🎉 You got it in tries guesses!

🔀 If tries ≤ 7

💬 Say 🏆 Incredible! Mathematically perfect.

💬 Else: Say 😄 Good game! Can you beat it?

🔴 End

▶ Build this in Playground

📺 Output

Program running

I'm thinking of a number (1-100)...

Your guess:

> 50

📉 Too high! Try lower.

Your guess:

> 25

📈 Too low! Try higher.

Your guess:

> 37

📈 Too low! Try higher.

Your guess:

> 43

📉 Too high! Try lower.

Your guess:

> 42

🎉 You got it in 5 guesses!

🏆 Incredible! Mathematically perfect.

What they learn: The optimal strategy (always guess the middle) is called binary search — the same algorithm used by Google, Spotify, and every sorted database on earth.

6

📊 "My teacher gives me 4 test scores every term. I always have to ask what my average is and whether I passed. I want a program that just tells me."

Report Card Calculator

Enter 4 test scores. The program calculates the average, assigns a letter grade, and tells you if you passed — with a specific message based on how well you did.

Ask Variables Math If / Else Chain

🧩 Blocks

🟢 Start

❓ Ask Test 1 score? → t1

❓ Ask Test 2 score? → t2

❓ Ask Test 3 score? → t3

❓ Ask Test 4 score? → t4

📦 Set avg = (t1 + t2 + t3 + t4) ÷ 4

💬 Say Your average: avg

🔀 If avg ≥ 90

💬 Say 🌟 Grade: A — Outstanding!

🔀 Else If avg ≥ 80

💬 Say 😊 Grade: B — Great job!

🔀 Else If avg ≥ 70

💬 Say 👍 Grade: C — You passed.

🔀 Else If avg ≥ 60

💬 Say 😬 Grade: D — Just barely.

💬 Else: Say 😰 Grade: F — Let's study together.

🔴 End

▶ Build this in Playground

📺 Output

Program running

Test 1 score?

> 88

Test 2 score?

> 92

Test 3 score?

> 76

Test 4 score?

> 85

Your average: 85.25

😊 Grade: B — Great job!

— Program finished —

What they learn: Chained if/else is how programs make decisions with more than two outcomes — the same logic behind credit scores, medical diagnoses, and recommendation engines.