Printable guide · ages 9–10

Logic with Piko

Start with a rule, test it on every example, then use clues in order. Each lesson has four short explanations, three tasks and a final task. Every task has one correct answer that can be checked.

Materials: The screen is enough. Optional: paper, a pencil, and a 3 by 3 table drawn on paper for the clue lessons.

Open the lessons

What to notice

Notice whether the child tests a rule on every example, writes x after each step, and says which clue decided an answer.

Ask “How do you know?” or “What changed when we swapped the steps?” Praise the reason, not only the answer.

Lesson 1

Find the rule

Goal: Names the one rule that fits every example in a set.

Test a rule against every example, not only the first one. The child should name the example that breaks a wrong rule.

Starting point: Write 3, 6 and 9 on paper and find one feature they all share.
A helpful phrase: “Does this rule also fit 12? Why?”
A common mix-up: A rule that fits some examples but breaks one is wrong. Breaking one example is enough.
Notice the transfer: On another day, ask the child to write three numbers that follow a rule of their own, then test it.

Show: The rule is “remainder 2 when divided by 3”. Touch the numbers that follow it.

Lesson 2

Both rules at once

Goal: Finds the items that satisfy two rules at the same time.

Check each rule on its own, then ask whether both are true at once. “Or” is satisfied by one rule; “both” needs two.

Starting point: Write the numbers from 1 to 10 on paper and mark the even ones.
A helpful phrase: “Is this number bigger than 6? Does it also follow the first rule?”
A common mix-up: “Ya da” means one rule is enough. “Hem … hem …” means both are needed.
Notice the transfer: Ask the child to choose two rules of their own, then name one number that follows both.

Show: Touch the numbers that are both odd and less than 10.

Lesson 3

Eliminate in a table

Goal: Uses an elimination table and clues to find one pairing.

Each cross must come from a clue. Ask the child which clue put it there.

Starting point: Draw a 3 by 3 table on paper with three friends and three pets.
A helpful phrase: “Which box does this clue cross out?”
A common mix-up: “Selin has no cat” crosses out the cat box in Selin’s row. It does not say who has the cat.
Notice the transfer: Ask the child to write three new clues for a new table, then check that only one answer fits.

Show: Deniz has the parrot, and Ali has no hamster. Put the pets in order: Deniz’s, then Ali’s, then Zeynep’s.

Lesson 4

Order of steps

Goal: Predicts the result of a list of steps and shows that the order changes it.

Ask the child to write x after each step before giving the final answer. Changing the order changes the result.

Starting point: Write “x = 3” on paper and apply the steps one by one.
A helpful phrase: “Which step comes first? What is the value after the first step?”
A common mix-up: The same steps in a different order can give a different answer. Do not assume the order does not matter.
Notice the transfer: Ask the child to swap two steps and say how the result changes.

Show: Start with x = 1. Order the three steps so that the final x is 8.

Lesson 5

Repeat the steps

Goal: Expands a repeat command into the full list of steps it stands for.

Have the child say the steps out loud before writing them. Each repeat must be counted, and the order inside it is kept.

Starting point: Put two paper arrows, right and down, on the table and repeat them twice.
A helpful phrase: “How many arrows did you put down? In what order?”
A common mix-up: “Repeat 2 times: right, down” does not mean “right, right, down, down”. The pair stays together.
Notice the transfer: Ask the child to write a repeat command for a path they choose, then expand it.

Show: “Repeat 2 times: down, right” means four steps. Start at the top-left square and touch each square the robot visits, in order.

Lesson 6

If this, then that

Goal: Applies an if–else rule to decide which branch a program takes.

Read the condition as a yes-or-no question first, then choose the branch. Boundary values are where mistakes happen.

Starting point: Ask “Is x less than 5?” and answer it together for x = 7.
A helpful phrase: “If this condition is true, which step runs? If it is false?”
A common mix-up: 5 is not “less than 5”. Boundary values are the most common mix-up.
Notice the transfer: Ask the child to write their own condition with two branches, then test it on three numbers.

Show: Same kind of program: if x is bigger than 15, subtract 7; otherwise, add 3. Touch the starting values that take the “subtract 7” branch.

Lesson 7

Find the bug

Goal: Finds the single faulty step in a short program and checks the fix.

Change one step, run the program again, and watch where the robot goes. The child should find the bug by tracing, not by guessing.

Starting point: Trace the program on paper and mark where the robot stops after each step.
A helpful phrase: “Did this step move the robot closer to the goal, or away from it?”
A common mix-up: Passing the goal in the middle of a program is not a bug. What matters is where the program ends.
Notice the transfer: Ask the child to write a short program with one bug, then swap it with someone and find the bug.

Show: Program: 1) down 2) down 3) right 4) left. The robot stops on the bottom-left square, but the goal is the bottom-middle square. Which line is the bug?

Lesson 8

One answer, with reasons

Goal: Solves a four-clue puzzle with one answer and says which clue decided it.

Ask the child to justify each answer with a clue. One answer alone is not enough: the child should say which clue ruled out which place.

Starting point: Write the four names on cards and read the clues together, one by one.
A helpful phrase: “Which clue places someone for certain? Which place can no one else take?”
A common mix-up: “Selin finished before Ece” does not tell who is first on its own. At least one more clue is needed.
Notice the transfer: Ask the child to write a new four-clue puzzle with one answer, then explain the answer in one sentence.

Show: Four children race. Which single clue names the winner by itself?

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