What’s more magical than unicorns? Kids doing something on their own. Independently. Quietly. That includes learning. And art. Sounds like magic, right? I’ve whipped up a super fun Color by Coding Unicorn Coloring Page for you! It’s the latest in my series of color by coding worksheets for kids which use ASCII binary and decimal codes as the key to the colors. It’s your basic color by coding made even more cool!
What is Coding?
There’s a lot of talk today about coding being the language of the future. But what exactly is it and why is it important? Coding makes it possible for us to tell computers how to do stuff, like run our phone, play a video game, and make a website. Any app you use on your phone or computer is possible because of code.
Computers speak the languages of zeroes and ones, essentially on and off signals to computer parts called transistors. These zeroes and ones have been translated into codes called the ASCII Binary code where every letter, number and character has an 8 digit combination of zeroes and ones. ASCII is the most common format for text files for computers and the internet. It stands for American Standard Code for Information Interchange and uses numbers to represent letters and special characters. The binary version uses only zeros and ones in a 8 bit (or digit) pattern.
But it would take FOREVER to do anything if we had to anything in just zeroes and ones, so computers use other languages now, that are all based upon binary. But for today’s activity, we’re going to design with where it all started, binary.
Color by Coding Unicorn Coloring Page Supplies Needed
You don’t need much for this learning activity. And that makes it a perfect budget time filler in class or at home.
- Unicorn Color by Coding printable
- Paper
- Printer
- Art supplies like markers, crayons, or colored pencils
- Ruler (optional, but a ruler can help kids grab the right code on the ASCII code list)
How to Color by Code
If the kids have ever done a color by number page, they’re half way there to figuring this out. Except they have to decipher which color goes with each number. And the way they will do it is with computer code called ASCII. Depending upon their ability levels, kids will find the codes in either the Binary or Decimal columns on the ASCII sheet and figure out which letter corresponds to the code. Then enter that letter on the color code sheet until they’ve spelled out the colors. Then they can color away!
What’s Inside This Color by Coding Unicorn Coloring Page Printable?
I’ve included everything you need to have a magical independent STEM learning session in class or at home. The download includes:
- Unicorn tree by number coloring page
- Answer key
- ASCII binary and decimal decipher the color code page
- ASCII code sheet
- Teacher guide
- What’s the STEAM Behind It? background learning page
More Magical Hands-On STEAM Activities for Kids
Want to add some more magic to your play and learn sessions? Try these fun STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art, and math) activities for kids.
Check out our full list of unicorn-themed learning projects!! Who knew learning could be this fun…
Color Changing Unicorn Noodles
Have you seen unicorn noodles? They’re totally magical! It’s a little bit of science that makes them change color. Click over for the recipe.
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