The Great Gingerbread Man Escape!

I remember in first grade, around Christmas time, we were in school and got to make gingerbreadmen cookies. Everyone was excited to taste our creations - but the unthinkable happened. We returned to the school kitchen, and I knew something was wrong when I didn't smell any freshly baked gingerbread. My worst fears were confirmed when we opened the oven. The gingerbread were gone. The official story was a breakout. A mass escape. Some of the other kids accused instructors or even the lunch lady. "Gingerbread mans can't walk!" Nate Hazel proclaimed.  Regardless of what happened, we had to find them. We started searching different areas of the school, but went home that day empty handed. It was looking bleak, but on the chalkboard the next day we had our first clue. The principal's office. There we found a note left by gingerbread men themselves laying out their plans. They were going to hide above the chalkboard in our own classroom until they could escape! We returned to our classroom and found them lining the top edge of the chalkboard. It was way above our line of sight at the time, so they may have even been there the whole time. I'll never know. I still wonder, even though this all happened in December of 1999.

And now it's 2015, and I started thinking: How can I put a new twist an such a memorable classic? I have to come clean - this idea wasn't entirely my own, but a collaboration with my boyfriend who recently started working with the Raspberry Pi device that I discussed in my previous post.  It was also inspired by some of the concepts of gamification that I've been learning about as well. What if we can update the classic game of 'find the gingerbread man' to include technology?

The core technology behind this idea is called Near Field Communication, or NFC. The basics behind it are really simple. An NFC tag is an extremely thin small computer chip, and whenever an NFC capable device gets within an inch or so, it triggers a script on the device that can be used to launch a website, start a phone call, or simply to display a message.

The idea is still a little rough, but it goes a little something like this:
The day begins with the children making their gingerbread men and bringing them to the kitchen only to return later to find an empty cooking tray! Luckily, Ms. Gonsalez saves the day when she tells the children we can build a machine (a Ginger-tracker? a Cookie-Detector?) that can be used to track down the gingerbread men, but she can't do it on her own.

This would then lead into the very basic Raspberry Pi creation lesson, where the children work together to build this very simple device. Again, it's not important that the children actually attempt any complex processes like coding, or putting components together, what is important in this part of the lesson is the sense of accomplishment at having built a tech device to solve their problem, and the exposure to the idea of coding, computer science, etc. in the simple fact that it exists, and that they learn it's something they are capable of doing if it interests them. The idea is to end up with a device that looks like computer components put together. It looks like something we built in a classroom - something like this:

Once we have the device put together (again, this will be a really easy thing to do. I watched my boyfriend build a tiny photo booth in under 3 hours.) the tracking will begin.

The rules will be very simple. Over the next couple of days as the children move throughout the school they will keep their eyes open for any traces of the gingerbread men. I originally imagine they'll find laminated pieces of the gingerbread men (an arm that fell off, or a button, etc.) but there might be a better way to do it.(What would gingerbread footprints look like?)

When students spot these pieces they report back to the class, and we make our way out with the new device in hand. And this is where the NFC comes into play.

The tag will be hidden inside whatever clue is found, so when the device is powered on and makes contact the the clue, text will appear on the screen. Maybe it will give an exact location, or a general direction, or something else entirely, but the point is that each clue will bring the students one step closer to finding out what happened to the gingerbread men.

Of course once all the clues are found the final step is locating the gingerbread men themselves. That will be the ultimate reward for the children for a job well done, and will hopefully leave the children feeling like they actually participated and succeeded in finding the gingerbread men through their own actions.

The exercise won't only reward them with a mouthful of cookie and a fun memory, or at least that's what I am hoping. If everything goes as imagined they will be left with their exposure to the idea of how computers work, the confidence that building a machine is within their reach, and some experience and familiarity with the idea that technology can be used to interact with the real world.

I think exposing children to these wonderful ideas early is like planting a seed that has the potential to grow into something wonderful. It was simple experiences like these that I valued through the years, and looking back I think they had a great effect on me over time. It's hard to put into words but the memory of the hunt that I described above was a lot of fun, and over 15 years later I can't think about it without smiling. I hope I can give my students experiences that are that memorable, or even more so.