Build your own Calliope mini fitness trainer
This challenge has been written by Amazon Future Engineer | Meet and Code feat. Calliope gGmbH and is part of the EU CODE WEEK CHALLENGES.
Target Audience
- Teachers
- Primary school (5-12)
- Lower secondary school (12-16)
Experience
- Beginner
Duration
- 20-30 minutes
Purpose
- To playfully get to know sequences, animations, repetitions and variables.
- To design a structure chart.
- To test and debug code .
- To optimize a program by trial and error, checking and adjusting usability.
Recommended Materials
- Calliope mini StarterBox (if available)
- Laptop or tablet with which you can visit https://makecode.calliope.cc or https://calliope.cc and YouTube to access to resources for the activity.
Description
Participants will develop a digitally controlled prototype that uses a colorful glowing LED to reproduce a preconceived 10-unit fitness exercise.
Instructions
- To get started, create a plan and determine the order of the exercise units. Using the schedule, program the RGB LED of the Calliope mini to display one of the 5 colors at the predefined pace. Then create a variable for the pace and program repetitions using loops.
- Remember, if you've implemented the program in a way that you like, you can also share it with us at info@calliope.cc - we're excited to see what you make of it! By the way, we're giving away 30 Calliope minis among the submissions!
- Share the QR code of your project on Instagram, add the hashtag #CodeWeekChallenge and mention @CodeWeekEU.
Share the link to your work in your Instagram Bio: tap the Edit Profile button on your Instagram and add the link to your work in the Website field. After that, create a new post, add a screenshot of your work, write “Link in Bio”, add the hashtag #CodeWeekChallenge and mention @CodeWeekEU.
You prefer to share your challenge(s) on Facebook? EU Code Week will pin a new Challenge post on their Facebook page . You then just need to comment on the post with the link to your work.
Winners will be selected and offered Code Week goodies every day during Code Week between 9 – 24 October and announced on our Instagram and Facebook channels, so don't forget to check your notifications regularly.
You prefer to share your challenge(s) on Facebook? EU Code Week will pin a new Challenge post on their Facebook page . You then just need to comment on the post with the link to your work.
Winners will be selected and offered Code Week goodies every day during Code Week between 9 – 24 October and announced on our Instagram and Facebook channels, so don't forget to check your notifications regularly.
Complete all the Challenges
Challenge completed? Print the bingo card and mark the little white bubble on the top left
Share your Challenge on social media and win some cool Code Week prizes
Just upload a picture with the completed row(s), column(s) or even better - the whole bingo - to Facebook, Instagram or Twitter
Make sure to use the #CodeWeekChallengesBingo
Make sure to use the #CodeWeekChallengesBingo
Example
While you’re sitting at your computer: you can get sporty too.
Create a fitness prototype with the Calliope mini which can also be tested in the simulator. The challenge is done in the MakeCode editor by programming a simple code sequence (see screenshot).
Choose 5 different colors and assign a fitness exercise to each of them, e.g. squat or jumping jacks. Then the colors can be lined up in any order and trained.
Create a fitness prototype with the Calliope mini which can also be tested in the simulator. The challenge is done in the MakeCode editor by programming a simple code sequence (see screenshot).
Choose 5 different colors and assign a fitness exercise to each of them, e.g. squat or jumping jacks. Then the colors can be lined up in any order and trained.

Click here to download this challenge as a word document.
Copyright notice ©
The EU Code Week website for schools is a service supported by the European Commission
Except where stated otherwise, content made available on this site is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) license
Licensing under Creative Commons licenses does not of itself affect the ownership of the copyright
Content from third party websites is subject to their own copyright restrictions; please refer to the site of origin for more information.
The EU Code Week website for schools is a service supported by the European Commission
Except where stated otherwise, content made available on this site is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) license
Licensing under Creative Commons licenses does not of itself affect the ownership of the copyright
Content from third party websites is subject to their own copyright restrictions; please refer to the site of origin for more information.