At Home – Wonder Workshop

Dash into Holiday Joy: Easy Tips for Unboxing and Getting Started

Amy Wilson — Thu, 18 Dec 2025 20:54:00 +0000

Wrapping paper is flying, eyes are sparkling, and excited laughter fills the room as your child finally meets Dash! Christmas morning is all about magic, and with Dash you can skip the stressful setup so your child can dive right into their coding adventure.

We want to make it easy for you to focus on what matters most: being present for the moment your child’s imagination takes off.

Open and Play

Dash arrives fully assembled, charged, and ready to roll (literally), so no need to sneak in to charge Dash or search for screwdrivers or batteries.

Make sure Dash is on the floor when powering on—Dash loves to dance around! Giving plenty of space will allow for smoother play.

Free App Downloads

For an even easier morning, download any of the free Wonder Workshop apps in advance. Blockly is our core app with tons of puzzles inside for kids to solve that orient them to how to dive in with Dash.

With Wonder, kids create traceable paths of code, which help them see and understand what their robot will do.

The Path app is for younger kids who may not yet be ready for coding. In the app kids can draw a route on their mobile device with their finger and send Dash on journeys around the house

Pairing Dash with Your Device

Have a charged device (i.e. laptop or iPad) on hand to make pairing with Dash seamless. See list of compatible devices for more information.

Bonus points for signing up for a free Make Wonder account (optional, but worth it). It gives you a backstage pass to your child’s learning, letting you track their progress, access solutions, discover new activiites, and unlock future levels in Blockly puzzles.

Care and Keeping of Dash

Dash is ready to go right out of the box, but to keep the fun going, be sure to plug in between uses so that Dash will be fully charged and ready for the next adventure.

Download our expert tips for taking care of Dash and pop on this quick video —perfect for your kids to watch while you sip your morning coffee! These simple steps will keep Dash running smoothly as a learning companion for years to come.

How to Change Dash's Name

Give Dash a personal touch! Your child can make their robot truly unique by choosing a new name. Check out this quick video for easy steps to customize Dash’s name.

Bring Additional Cheer with this Activity Booklet

When kids are ready for a little downtime, this coloring and activity booklet does the trick. With a word search, maze, and coloring pages, they can spend a little time in Dash’s magic holiday world in a relaxed way.

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Follow for More

Head over to @wonderworkshop on Instagram and @wonderworkshopofficial on TikTok for more helpful tips and activity inspiration.

20+ Winter WONDER-ful Activities for Dash

Amy Wilson — Wed, 10 Dec 2025 23:33:46 +0000

Coding in a Winter Wonderland

There are many ways to reinforce physical coding and applied robotics during this holiday season. You can use these winter wonderland ideas as morning warm-ups or for Friday free time, or you can create rotation stations to tackle them all at once during a classroom celebration. Pick and choose your favorites, or try them all!

Computer Science Education Week

The month of December is ripe for classroom celebrations, beginning with Computer Science Education Week. We have tons of activities to choose from and a link to replay our student-facing webinar that aired Monday, December 8!

Activity Packet

Download this Activity Packet with holiday-themed coloring pages, word puzzles, and coding activities.

Winter WONDERland Activity Packets

Check out our printable Winter WONDERland packets, 50+ pages (yes, f-i-f-t-y pages) of offline and online activities.

Please note that some items referenced in these packets are no longer available for sale from Wonder Workshop—but Dash can do anything that Dot and Cue can!

Draw a Christmas Tree

For this activity, you can either use the Sketch Kit accessory with Dash or you can fashion your own harness for a magic marker and get drawing.

The downloadable PDF includes a Blockly Program Key that can serve as a shortcut to writing the required code. Enter the key to download the solution code and voila! You’re ready to draw.

Ski Along

Take a cue for @durritterin on Instagram and create a slalom course for Dash to navigate through. No snow needed – just add code!

Reindeer and Sleigh Ride

Dash through the holidays with MUP Church Coppell STEAM and Pinkerton CISD on Instagram! Their DIY sleigh and parade of Dash reindeer made for a Very Merry Pinkerton Night.

Launcher Accessory Ideas

Snowball fight! Draw some (masking tape) lines and take sides Use the ever-popular Launcher to toss snowballs of different materials — crumpled paper or foil, cotton balls, Ping Pong balls. Determine a point system based on hitting targets of different sizes and from various distances.

Did someone say football season? Use the Launcher to help Dash score field goals.

Ice Skate the Night Away

Code one or two Dash robots for a solo or paired ice skating routine worthy of a gold medal.

Bulldoze the Snow

Dash is ready to clear the snow from the streets all winter long! Use the bulldozer accessory if you have one, or even better, take a page from these second graders and build your own out of recycled materials or Lego bricks attached to the building block connectors.

Count Down to the New Year

Ring in the New Year with a balloon parade! Check out @insidethegiftedclassroom on Instagram for more festive cross-curricular connections with Dash.

Cozy Hats

Feeling crafty? Knit one, purl two to make Dash a cozy winter hat. Robots get cold too, you know!

Binary Ornaments

With some simple colored beads and a pipe cleaner, you can introduce the binary alphabet! Have students code their names or a winter-related spelling word. Use this ASCII Binary Alphabet PDF to get started. Then loop the pipe cleaner to make an ornament or bend it to form a candy cane!

Winter Pageant

Hold a holiday pageant (see video), where participants dress up in their best winter outfits and answer pageant questions. Ask students to first program their robots with one noun response, an -ing verb response, and a location response. Then surprise the contestants with questions like:

What is your favorite piece of winter attire?
Which winter sport do you excel at?
Where would you like to travel once spring comes?

The Dash and Dot Show

Visit our archives for this holiday episode of the Dash & Dot Show. Find more episodes in our YouTube playlist.

Edible Constructs

And who doesn’t like a yummy snack? Riff off of this clever robot snack by using milk bottles to make a snowman, a red Hershey’s kiss as a Santa’s hat, or pretzels as reindeer antlers!

Want Even More?

You’ll find our 2023 Winter WONDER-ful Activities blog post here.

What other holiday ideas can you come up with?

Can you create your own version of the poem, “The Night Before Christmas”? Have Dash recite your original poem about coding and robots in an A, B, C, B rhyme scheme.
Can Dash use the Launcher to help Santa deliver gifts down a chimney? Create chimneys (think tall boxes!) of different heights and widths.
Can Dash turn into Rudolph and tow a sleigh carrying Dot?
Can Dash tell the story of Hanukkah candles, complete with recordings and blinking eye patterns?
Can you wrap Dash in a dreidel outfit and let it spin?
What mischief can Dash and Elf on a Shelf get into? https://twitter.com/Roosloan/status/806126796441845760

Share your winter WONDER-land ideas with us and tag us @WonderWorkshop on social.

Happy Birthday to Dash

Amy Wilson — Fri, 05 Sep 2025 02:56:18 +0000

Dash’s birthday is just around the corner and we’re celebrating with a Robot Party Activity Packet and an activity-card printable!

These resources are great for use at home or at school. They include tons of ideas programming Dash in collaborative (and celebratory) groups. You’ll find challenges as well as your favorite games, like Red Rover, Red Rover and Hot Potato all reimagined to employ coding and Dash robots.

Download these resources and plan your robot birthday party today!

Download this Free Printable with Task Cards: Students can code Dash to deliver presents, launch confetti, and even perform a birthday dance—all while boosting their coding and creativity skills. There’s also a template for creating a birthday hat for Dash!

The History of Dash

Back in the Spring of 2013, Wonder Workshop’s founders were on a mission to create a learn-to-code robot that would appeal to all elementary school students. In an early prototype, they hid the wheels of Dash to make it feel less like a car and more like a friendly robot.

The color was also key in making the robots approachable to all kids. While Blue is a primary color, did you know there are 76 shades and over 300 hues of blue?

In September 2013, the first true prototype of Dash was built. That’s why we celebrate Dash’s birthday on September 13!

With prototype in hand, Wonder Workshop embarked on our first production run in January of 2014. We had to source materials, parts, and find the right partner to help us bring our vision to life.

Dash is Seein’ Stars

Amy Wilson — Fri, 04 Jul 2025 15:41:53 +0000

It's a Star-Spangled Sketch Party”

Happy 4th of July!

Ready to bring some extra sparkle to your Independence Day celebrations? In this challenge, Dash the robot uses the Sketch Kit acccessory to draw a five-pointed star—just like the ones on the American flag!

Teachers and parents can use this fun activity to introduce students (or kids at home) to basic geometry, angles, and coding loops. As Dash grooves across the page, your learners will see math and creativity come together in one star-tastic display of STEM magic.

The Star-Drawing Challenge

Objective:
Program Dash to draw a 5-pointed star using the Sketch Kit.
Key Geometry Concept:
- A five-pointed star has exterior “turn” angles of 144°.
- Dash will move forward to draw each line segment, then turn 144° before drawing the next.
The Magic Number:
- Exterior angle per point = 144°
- Total rotations = 5 × 144° = 720° (two full spins!)
Step-by-Step Sequence:
1. Attach a marker to Dash using the Sketch Kit.
2. Place Dash at your starting point on the paper.
3. In your coding environment, set up a loop that repeats 5 times:
  - Move forward to draw one line of the star.
  - Turn right (or left) 144° (One challenge is that the angles available for programming Dash jump in increments of 15˚, so you’ve got 135˚ or 150˚ available. We chose to use 150˚ and you can see that the last point doesn’t come to a perfect vertex. Talk to your kids about the effect of the imprecision on the final outcome).
4. Run the program and watch Dash trace out a crisp, perfect star!

5. Extensions & Discussion:

- Angle Exploration: What happens if you change the turn angle? Try 72° or 108° and compare the shapes.
- Scaling Up: Adjust the forward distance in your loop to draw a larger or smaller star.
- Creative Twist: After the star, have Dash draw “Sparkler” patterns by adding short zig-zag lines at each point.

6. Why This Matters:

Geometry in Action: Kids see how angles add up and how loops make repetitive drawing simple.
Coding Confidence: A clear, repeatable pattern boosts understanding of loops and sequences.
Holiday Fun: Blending 4th of July spirit with STEM keeps learners engaged and inspired!

If you have a full Make Wonder subscription, you can test the code with the virtual Dash and virtual Sketch Kit! Explore Make Wonder today!

Beyond the Ball: Learn to Launch Lemons, Pom Poms, and Other Creative Cargo

Amy Wilson — Fri, 27 Jun 2025 18:48:56 +0000

Ready to turn coding into a hands-on launching adventure? Here are three fun “projectile labs” that blend screen-time logic with real-world physics.

In Citrus Splash, learners code single-shot launches of plastic lemons into targets of varying size and distance; Pom-Pom Precision challenges them to sequence launches and pauses for silent soft-ball tosses; and in Cork Flight Lab, it’s all about dialing in power settings and measuring how far corks fly.

Each activity—whether launching lemons, pom-poms, or corks—follows the same easy pattern:

Write a one-shot launch program.
Observe where the object lands
Then jump back in to tweak things and try again.

Along the way, kids discover cause-and-effect, practice hypothesis-testing (“If I turn power up, it’ll go farther!”), and learn to treat “misses” as clues for their next code adjustment.

Let’s dive into these three launcher labs, where every shot is a mini science experiment and every line of code launches a lesson in problem-solving!

Pro Tip: Cover the launcher basket with aluminum foil to create a sturdy suface for whatever object it is you’re launching.

1. Citrus Splash: Plastic Lemons into the Pitcher

Setup:
- Cover the Launcher basket with aluminum foil, to create a stable pocket.
- Slide a small plastic lemon (available here on Amazon) onto Dash’s Launcher. Place a wide bucket at 2–3 feet away, then swap in a narrow pitcher or tall cup for higher difficulty.
Challenge Scaling:
- Easy: Wide bucket at ~2 ft away
- Medium: Narrow pitcher at ~3 ft
- Hard: Shot glass or small vase at ~4 ft
Coding Focus:
1. One-Shot Program: Write a simple program that does exactly one launch—set your power (10%-100%), then hit “Run.”
2. Tweak & Try Again: Watch where the lemon lands, then go back into the same program, change the power and run it anew.
3. Observe & Learn: After each shot, talk through how a little more or less power changed the result.

2. Pom-Pom Precision: Silent Soft Shots

Setup: Load a 1-inch craft pom-pom (available on Amazon here) into the Launcher. Arrange three different containers—things like plastic cups, paper bowls, or a shoebox hole—for a “target parade.”
Challenge Scaling:
- Easy: Big bins at ~1 ft
- Medium: Plastic cups at staggered distances (~2 ft, 3 ft, 4 ft)
- Hard: Shoebox with a hole cut in the top of it (like cornhole!)
Coding Focus:
1. Single Launch Sequence: Create a program that fires the launcher once, then includes a brief “wait” (so you can place the next pom pom in the basket and have a partner change the container where it will land).
2. Adjust & Repeat: Run it, see if the pom-pom lands, then go back and tweak power or wait time to make the sequence work.
3. Step-by-Step Logic: Talk through each block: “Launch → wait → launch → wait” and why the pause matters when you’re switching targets and placing pom poms.

3. Cork Flight Lab: Tweak, Launch & Record

Setup: Collect wine corks or craft-store cork cylinders. Create a straight track marked on the floor with tape, and place a target at the end.
Challenge Scaling:
- Easy: Short track with unobstructed target
- Medium: Longer track with obstacles – like soft blocks – in the way.
- Hard: Place dash on an angled incline for an arc trajectory—predict where the cork will land!
Coding Focus:
1. Launch & Label: Write one program that launches a cork at your chosen power. Label it “Cork Test.”
2. Manual Iteration: Run “Cork Test,” measure distance, then reopen your program and change the power blocks % before you run it again.
3. Record Results: After each run, jot down “Power = 40% → 1 ft” on a piece of paper—then compare each percentage and the distance the object traveled.

We hope that you find that activities like these will help keep young minds sharp all summer.

You can set up these three quick labs—Citrus Splash, Pom-Pom Precision, and Cork Flight Lab—anywhere from the backyard to the living room and with code tweak, kids will practice problem-solving and dodge the dreaded summer slide.

Here’s to a summer of fun experiments, flying objects, and endless “aha!” moments!

Dash Goes on a Road Trip

Amy Wilson — Fri, 20 Jun 2025 14:34:06 +0000

Teachers and families, meet Dash’s next adventure: the Road Trip packet! This collection of 3 challenge cards, takes kids on a road trip so they can practice coding, computational thinking and creativity with Dash.

These challenge cards are geared toward more advanced coders, teaching them how to use Variables to define distances. Less advanced coders can use blocks that simply define the value rather than use a Variable to define the value.

In addition to using the cards themselves, parents or teachers could extend the activities in the following ways:

Family Coding Night: Turn the packet into a living road trip—set up “pit stops” in different rooms, each with a new Dash challenge.
Real-World Math Practice: On your next car ride, compare your family’s mileage or travel time to the estimates students made, fostering real-life number sense.
Creative Storytelling: Encourage kids to write and illustrate their own “Dash Road Trip” comic strip or travel story, then program Dash to act out key scenes.
Screen-Free Extension: Ask your child to do “Roadside Attraction Research” to investigate real landmarks; use a a writing prompt that requires kids to practice persuasive language skills while they write an argument about why they should visit a specific attraction.

Dash Summer Fun Coloring Book

Amy Wilson — Fri, 13 Jun 2025 12:27:18 +0000

Bring Summer Adventures to Life with Dash:
A Free Coloring Book for Your Classroom!

At Wonder Workshop, we know that summer is full of inspiration—and sometimes, you just need a fun, low-prep activity to keep students engaged in between projects or after they’ve wrapped up their work. That’s why we created our free Dash Summer Fun Coloring Book! This printable resource features everyone’s favorite coding robot, Dash, enjoying classic summertime fun: making s’mores around a campfire, building sandcastles at the beach, visiting the zoo, exploring an aquarium with friends, and more.

These charming, black-and-white scenes are ready to spark joy and creativity in your classroom. Whether you keep them at your early finisher station or print a few for a calm-down corner, they’re an easy way to bring a little whimsy and wonder to your day.

5 Ways to Use the Coloring Book in Your Classroom

Early Finisher Activity: Offer a page to students who complete their work ahead of others.
Indoor Recess Fun: Use the coloring book as a go-to option on rainy days when students stay inside.
Creative Writing Prompts: Ask students to write a short story or comic strip inspired by the scene they color.
Classroom Decor: Turn colored pages into a summer-themed display wall featuring student creativity.
Mindful Transitions: Use coloring time as a calming activity between more structured lessons.

Ideas for At-Home Fun

Parents can use the Dash Summer Coloring Book to keep young minds entertained during downtime—on road trips, at restaurants, or as part of a screen-free afternoon. It’s also a great conversation starter about summer plans or favorite animals, helping to build language and connection between parents and children.

Beyond Crayons: 3 Ways to Color with a Twist

Watercolor Wash: Print on thicker paper and use watercolors to create dreamy summer scenes.
Sticker Collage: Invite students to add stickers, washi tape, or paper cutouts to embellish their pages.
Digital Coloring: Upload the pages to a tablet or computer and let students color digitally using drawing apps.

Spark More Creative Play and Learning

Each coloring page is more than just a fun image—it can launch rich, imaginative play. After coloring Dash building a sandcastle, students might design their own “sandcastle coding challenge” in class. The aquarium scene could lead to a research project about ocean animals. These illustrations invite students to dream up new adventures for Dash, bridging creativity and curiosity in a way that lasts far beyond the page.

Download the Dash Summer Coloring Book now and let the coloring (and imagining!) begin!

Post photos of student work and we might repost it!

Dash Goes to the Zoo

Amy Wilson — Fri, 06 Jun 2025 15:48:50 +0000

In this Free Resource Friday blog post, we take you and your students on an adventure at the zoo where code makes every creature come alive!

With Dash by their side, your students will explore animal science, language arts, and block-based programming all in one wild adventure.

From researching animal behaviors for a Robot Petting Zoo to charting an A-to-Z safari that Dash can navigate, these free Make Wonder lessons turn your classroom floor into a cross-curricular playground.

The post comes complete with ready-to-print PDFs, craft ideas, and a dash of STEM magic.

Ready to unleash some wonder? Sign up for the free tier of Make Wonder, grab the lesson plans, and let Dash lead the way through your very own alphabet zoo.

Did you know that the free version of the Make Wonder platform features a cross-curricular lesson library with dozens of lessons that span grades K-8? These lessons tackle topics across the curriculum while also bolstering coding skills.

In this lesson, Robot Petting Zoo, students resarch animal behaviors and then program Dash to imitate those behaviors. Below are two sample downloadable PDF’s included in the lesson plan.

You’ll need to be logged into Make Wonder to load the lesson plan, but the free tier is free, so sign up today!

In this lesson, students will program Dash the Zookeeper to take visitors through the ABC Animal Zoo in alphabetical order. (Note: Since this lesson is aimed at very young students whose attention spans are short, it’s recommended that you complete this project over a series of days, as indicated in the full plan.)

In the lesson, students will fill in an Alphabet Grid using their Alphabet Zoo Trail Planners. Each group has a different part of the alphabet. After the class tapes all of the Alphabet Grids together, you’ll have an Alphabet Zoo Trail for Dash to follow through our zoo.

In groups, students will create animals to match each letter in the alphabet. They will use craft materials to create the animal and/or they will describe features of the animal within the square.

They could also dress up Dash to resemble one of their chosen animals!

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Brittney Harris (@elementary_in_idaho)

You could also create an animal race like Hilltop Country Day School in Sparta Township, NJ did!

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Hilltop Country Day School (@hilltopcds)

Instructions for Building the Elephant Hat

Ever wondered how we built that elephant hat for Dash? From the deep, cold storage archives, we bring you the full instructions!

Make It A Summer of Wonder

Amy Wilson — Thu, 15 May 2025 12:34:00 +0000

Summer is just about here, but that’s no reason for the STEM learning to come to a halt.

These activity packets are designed to engage students in critical and creative thinking, all summer long, even if they don’t own a Dash robot. That’s why we’ve included offline activities and summer reading recommendations in addition to the programming activities with Dash.

And remember, if you have a full subscription to Make Wonder that is still active, your students can use your teacher code to access the Virtual Dash available to them in Blockly (web or iOS) all summer long!

Click to download and share these Activity Packets with your students today!

Dash the Mother’s Day Messenger

Amy Wilson — Tue, 06 May 2025 23:20:21 +0000

We found this Mother’s Day activity in the archives. Create your own variation to deliver a gift and a message to anyone you love. Enjoy.

What You'll Need

Dash

Building Brick Connectors

Set up Time

15 minutes

Supplies

LEGO® bricks (optional)
Flowers, candy, a homemade card, or any other Mother’s Day gift (optional)

Mission:

Use Dash to deliver a special message to your mother or a mother you know. Dash can also deliver a Mother’s Day gift, like a homemade card or a flower!

Setup:

Come up with a sweet Mother’s Day message.
You may want to decorate your robot messenger or even send a gift with the message. We decided to use the Building Block Extensions to make a LEGO® flower vase. You can also use the Tow Hook to pull a carriage with the gift inside.
Using the sound recording feature in Path or Go, record your message. You can record up to five short messages.
Deliver your message and enjoy the reaction!

Play Options

Go App

Suggested for Ages: 5+

In Go, you can record your messages before controlling Dash.
After recording your messages, you can control Dash directly to deliver the message.

Here’s a video that explains how to record your voice in the Go app so that Dash can play the recording.

Path App