Harry Potter Wand Kano Coding Kit Review

Learning to code can now be a magical experience. Kano sent us their new Harry Potter Wand Coding Kit in exchange for review. It’s a super cool introduction to coding for kids. Read on to hear about our experience and check out what you can do. I get commissions for purchases made through the affiliate links in this post.

My oldest son, Aiden, turns 9 in a few weeks. He has requested a Harry Potter themed birthday party. He was also Harry Potter for Halloween. Needless to say when I saw the Harry Potter Coding Wand, I knew we had to try it out.

Aiden has been coding with Scratch for a few months now. We reviewed the Kano Pixel Kit and Motion Sensor Kit in September. The Harry Potter Kano Coding Kit uses the same drag and drop block coding as the regular Kano App, which is similar to Scratch.

The Harry Potter Kano Coding Kit currently retails for $99.99.

Buy the coding wand:

Assemble the Coding Wand

The coding kit comes with a step-by step guide to show you how to assemble your wand. It requires 2 AAA batteries. They are included in the kit (and so is an extra set).

You also get an assortment of Harry Potter themed stickers and a poster that shows you the wand motions for different spells.

Play with the Coding Wand

Download the Kano app on your tablet or computer. It works with iOS, Android, Mac, and PC.

There are a handful of pre-coded projects to get you started. You can be a wizard with a flick of your wrist. Click on Play at the top of your screen to explore the different games.

Complete Challenges to Learn to Code

The Challenge section of the app is the Marauder’s Map. Navigate different locations on the map to select challenges. Completing challenges opens up new challenges and new locations.

Some of the challenges teach you how to code by walking you through the steps.

Other challenges are puzzles. You are given a variety of coding blocks to use and you must solve a given puzzle. For example, the challenge below says: “Using the code blocks provided, shoot random coloured celebratory fireworks into the sky.”

Some of these challenges have more code blocks than you need. You must choose the correct ones. Once you solve the puzzle, you’ll get a message telling you, “Well done! You solved the puzzle.”

The app responds to the motion of the coding wand kind of like a mouse. Move your wand around to cause something to happen. It totally depends on what you programmed it to do.

You can also perform spells and charms with the coding wand. Hold the button down and move the wand. Your wand motion will be painted on the screen. You can code this wand motion to do something in your program.

In the program below, use the Wingardium Leviosa charm to lift the feather.

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Your wand motions have to be close enough to the actual motion for the app to recognize it as correct. As your wand motion is painted on the screen, a small picture of what the app thinks you did appears on the screen.

Share Projects with Others

Just like with other Kano products and with Scratch, you can remix projects and share them with others. Remix means to take a project someone else has made and turn it into your own. You can make no changes or make lots of changes.

Your profile has all of the projects you have made. Your avatar is a cute little wizard that you can customize. Choose it’s hair, clothes, and accessories. You earn more artifacts as you complete challenges.

Check out projects other people have created in the Kano World section. James and Oliver Phelps (Fred and George Weasley) have both created projects for you to try out.

More Coding Activities for Kids

Looking for screen-free ways to introduce kids to coding?

Try a simple robot clean up game.
Or play a screen-free coding activity for preschoolers inspired by the book, Are You My Mother? by P.D. Eastman.

Check out all of our coding blog post here. They include all of the coding toys we have reviewed.

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