Learning Computational Thinking through Robots, Kudus Elementary Students Encouraged to Move Actively

KUDUS, KOMPAS.com - Creative Robotics stood out as a key competition at the 2026 Computational Thinking Festival for elementary school students in Kudus Regency, Central Java.

The students were challenged to build creative robots as solutions to physical literacy issues within their schools, using an approach that was both simple and meaningful.

They were encouraged to apply computational thinking to solve straightforward problems related to physical literacy through the use of robots.

One example is the "Si Gebyar" robot equipped with an IR sensor, showcased by SD Unggulan Muslimat NU Kudus at the Djarum Badminton Sports Hall in Jati District, Kudus Regency, on Sunday (9/20/2026).

The supervising teacher from SD Unggulan Muslimat NU Kudus, Retno Tri Widyaningrum, explained that the sensor enables the robot to continuously move and stop when it encounters obstacles.

“When the robot stops, it will guide the students to perform a certain movement,” Retno said during an interview at the venue on Sunday afternoon.

She gave examples: if the robot stops and its hand points upward, the team of five students must mimic an airplane pose to practice balance so the robot will start moving again.

“If its hand points downward, the students should crouch; if the hand points forward, they should clap,” she added.

Besides movements, the robot also instructs students through symbolic sensors that detect sound and light signals.

“For example, if the sound sensor detects a sustained sound and the LED light turns blue, the robot can throw a ball. Then the children follow by throwing the ball into a basket,” she explained.

Retno added that the robot was developed over the course of a week through collaboration between teachers and students.

The event, initiated by Djarum Foundation, also featured other competitions divided into unplugged and plugged categories.

Unplugged contests included:

• Young Programmers’ Navigation Jump
• Computational Sports
• Agile Track of Sticks and Leaves
• Zig-zag Coin Sorting
• Jump and Toss Block Coding
• Balance Turtle Block

Plugged competitions included:

• Scratch Animation
• Scratch Storytelling
• Bebras Junior Challenges
• Bebras Alert Challenges
• Creative Robotics

The presence of the 2026 Computational Thinking Festival for SD/MI students, integrated with physical literacy, serves as a platform to stimulate students’ capabilities while encouraging them to be physically active.