There are 99 challenges to complete, and by the time they reach the end kids will have learnt some pretty advanced coding concepts; fundamentals that can then be applied to other programming languages as they move on through school. It runs from two AAA batteries, which thanks to the use of Bluetooth LE should last six hours or so of continuous use. It might sound like a cliché, but the challenges actually do make learning fun, and your would-be code wizards should come away with a decent grasp of the principles of computing. While the backgrounds and sprites are a cut above what you’d get in Scratch, they’re still a bit old-school and basic.

Kano Harry Potter Coding Kit – Build a wand. Learn to code

A few months back, Kano launched a DIY touchscreen computer kit to help anyone — but especially kids — learn to code. I’ve been working through it with my daughter, and while she has a bit of experience with Scratch and Sphero’s stuff behind her, she’s really taken to this, the Hogwarts theme and the challenge structure pulling her from one task to the next – and she’s actually taking things in and learning. Before kicking things off for real, you’re invited to test the wand and practice your swishing by tracing a bunch of colors across the screen. Kano helpfully bundles in a poster to help you master these, though the in-app help is pretty good as well. Kano provides a really neat set of instruction that takes you through the components of the wand and explaining what they do.

Trying to explain what coding is to a six-year-old is a largely futile endeavor — in my experience, at least. Once built the wand is a slender object roughly 35cm long with a single button inlaid in the handle portion, alongside a single LED. According to Kano, you should get around six hours of continuous usage from the wand before you have to switch batteries. In some ways, there has been this divide preserved by the tech community of 'we make the stuff and we decide and define for you it will be'.

Microsoft Apps

My son, who is not yet 5 years old had fun practicing the wand motions and was even able to understand the basics of block coding. The Kano Harry Potter Coding Wand is an electronic wand that is equipped to detect the movements and gestures you make with the wand. Indeed, it transpires that the wand has no “off” button — it merely goes into standby mode, where it is capable of staying for 200-300 hours. The block-based coding language and the app’s various challenges are designed to make the most of the wand’s motion controls, so that kids can build and tinker with activities where the wand becomes the main controller. See the code behind any creation, and tweak it to make it your own, in a safe and friendly environment.

And as your kids complete each challenge, they level up and are rewarded with gear – cosmetic items they can use to customise their avatar, including clothes, accessories, creatures and props. In today's world, the programmers and the computer scientists who work at Facebook and Google are the contemporary wizards. After turning on the app, you will start by tackling some of the 70+ challenges on the Kano coding app. If you’re looking to encourage your kids to learn about programming, the Harry Potter Kano Coding Kit comes highly recommended.

Harry Potter Coding Wand by Ka - Apps on Google Play

Inside the wand sits a slimline module incorporating the button and the LED along with a nine-axis accelerometer and gyroscope (for motion) and a magnetometer (for direction), allowing the app to sense the wand’s position and angle relative to your tablet or PC, and register any movements you make. You can also adjust the colour of the LED for different events, though it’s a slight shame that a) the LED isn’t on the tip and b) there’s no built-in rumble motor. At times you have to get used to Kano’s idiosyncrasies – collision detection, for example, isn’t handled by a logic instruction but by an event – but there’s nothing major and nothing kids won’t quickly get used, and you can do some really cool and interesting stuff. Bring your kit to life, make lights flash, use motion sensors, move, wave, and play while learning to code.But it goes one step further in that the wand combines: a gyroscope which determines the wand's orientation; an accelerometer which measures the wand's movement; and a magnetometer which measures magnetic forces. Then with Kano’s easy to use app you go through more than 70 different challenges set in places such as Hogwarts, Diagon Alley and the Forbidden Forest. At the time of writing, we’ve yet to make it all the way to the end of the challenges — such is the nature of working with a six-year-old. Others can be used to trigger instructions if the wand is flicked up, left, right or down – or just moved slowly in any of those directions.