Is there a LOGO interpreter that actually has a turtle?
- by Tim Post
This is not a repeat of the now infamous "How do I move the turtle in LOGO?"
Recently, I had the following conversation with my five year old daughter:
Daughter: Daddy, do you write
programs?
Me: Yes!
Daughter: Daddy, what's a program?
Me: A program is a set of instructions
that a computer follows.
Daughter: Daddy, can I write a program
too?
Me: Sure!
This got me scrambling to think of a very basic language that a five year old could get some satisfaction from mastering rather quickly. I'm ashamed to admit that the first thing that came to mind was this:
10 INPUT "Tell me a secret" A$
20 PRINT "Wow really? :" A$
30 GOTO 10
That isn't going to hold a five year old's attention for very long and it requires too much of a lecture. However, moving a turtle around and drawing neat pictures might just work.
Sadly, my search for a LOGO interpreter yielded noting but ad ridden sites, flight simulators and a whole bunch of other stuff that I really don't want.
I'm hoping to find a cross platform (Java / Python) LOGO interpreter (dare I call it simulator?) with the following features:
Can save / replay commands (stored programs)
Has an actual turtle
Sound effects are a plus
Have you stumbled across something like this, if so, can you provide a link? I hate to ask a 'shopping' sort of question, but it seemed much better than "Is LOGO appropriate for a five year old?"
