Parents around the world are responding to growing research showing that excessive screen time, especially for young children, may have negative cognitive effects. But what happens when a well-meaning parent wants to introduce their child to subjects intrinsically linked to screens, like computer programming? A new learning series from Japanese public broadcaster NHK called Texico aims to help solve that dilemma by using paper, plastic toys, and everyday objects to break down the core concepts and strategies essential to programming.
Each episode in the series runs about 11 minutes and focuses on key concepts including analysis, combination, abstraction, and simulation. The goal, NHK says, is to help children “learn the principles of programming without even touching a computer.”
‘If you think hard enough, you can see the underlying logic,’
In one episode, a toy train on a plastic track approaches a lowered rail crossing. Viewers are asked to visualize what will happen when the train makes contact with the barrier. In this case, both the train and the lowered rail continue moving forward.
The next segment complicates the scenario: the track now forms a circle, with the train, rail, and a wooden triangle block all positioned at different points. When the rail moves, so does the block. Viewers are asked to recall what happened in the previous example and apply that logic to the new configuration, essentially practicing the kind of mental simulation that underlies real programming work.
Another episode teaches foundational logic by asking viewers to tear a sheet of paper into nine pieces. A teacher then selects one piece and instructs the viewer to write a number from one to nine and place it face down. The viewer then writes the remaining numbers on the other pieces, also face down, so the teacher can’t see it. The teacher then somehow correctly guesses which piece holds which number.
But the trick isn’t magic. Instead, it has everything to do with the geometry of tearing paper. It’s revealed that the first piece the teacher selected was the center of the sheet. When paper is torn into nine equal pieces, the center piece is the only one without any straight edges. So when the teacher went to identify it, they simply looked for the piece that didn’t look like the others.
It’s a simple but elegant demonstration of the kind of pattern recognition that programmers rely on constantly.
“If you think hard enough, you can see the underlying logic,” a voice in the video says, followed by the slightly creepy musical mantra “Texico, Texico, Texico.”
The pull away from screens
Offline approaches to teaching computer concepts provide a way for newcomers of all ages interested in coding to get their feet wet without having to deal with distracting screens. For many, that’s a welcome reprieve. A recent YouGov poll found that more than half (57 percent) of adults in the United States spend at least five hours per day looking at screens. All that time starting into the digital glow has been shown to interfere with sleep and, in some cases, even contribute to anxiety and other mental health issues.
Screenless learning could also prove popular as parents and school districts push back against what many now see as an overreliance on screens. More than 35 states have enacted policies limiting smartphone use in classrooms. Districts in California and Oregon have recently gone further, adopting rules that restrict student use of laptops and tablets and prioritize pen and paper. Should that trend spread, it would mark a stark departure from the past two decades, during which “EdTech” was enthusiastically embraced and widely deployed in classrooms across the country.
“We are prioritizing developmentally appropriate learning during the most critical period for language, social, and cognitive development,” Jeanne Grazioli, a superintendent in a Southern Oregon schools district said after they moved to reduce screen time.
And while the debate over screens is far from settled, there is growing evidence that introducing concepts through analog methods pays dividends later on. In his recent book The Digital Delusion, neuroscientist and educator Dr. Jared Cooney Horvath points to research suggesting that students who learn to write by hand retain an advantage over those who move straight to typing, despite the fact handwriting has become increasingly less common in daily adult life.
”Many people believe that thinking happens entirely in the brain, as if we’re just gray matter hitching a rise inside a body,” Horvath writes. “But this misses something essential: we don’t merely have bodies—we are bodies. Learning doesn’t arise from the brain alone, it emerges from the rhythms, movements, and sensations of our entire physical selves.”
“Put simply, handwriting builds a foundation that typing cannot,” he adds.
Something similar may be at work when children learn programming basics through analog tools. And even if future research doesn’t bear that out conclusively, Texico offers something valuable on its own terms: a set of refreshing, screen-free puzzles that challenge young learners (and at least one adult tech writer) to flex their critical thinking skills.
