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Python for Loops and range() for Kids

A for loop runs the same instruction several times, so a child writes one line instead of twenty.

  • 15 exercises
  • 5 lessons
  • Ages 10+
  • PRO
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For parents & teachers

What this topic covers

The appeal of a loop is immediate — one instruction, repeated — and children take to it quickly. The difficulty is not the loop, it is range(). range(5) produces five numbers starting at 0 and never reaches 5, which is surprising to everyone the first time and is the source of nearly every off-by-one error a beginner writes.

This topic gives range() a segment of its own rather than mentioning it in passing. Children predict what a range will produce before running it, and see the difference between how many times a loop runs and what the numbers inside it actually are.

The last idea is accumulation: carrying a value forward from one pass to the next to build up a total. It combines loops with the variable-updating from the previous topic, and it is the first genuinely powerful thing a child can write here.

Built around a real misconception

The mistake this topic is built to fix

Common mistake

A child expects range(5) to count 1, 2, 3, 4, 5.

Why the topic is built around it

It produces 0, 1, 2, 3, 4 — five numbers, but not the five expected. Off-by-one errors from this are so common that the topic devotes a whole segment to predicting range output before writing any loop that depends on it.

loops.pyPython 3
for i in range(3):    print("Roar", i)
OutputRoar 0 Roar 1 Roar 2

Explain · Ask · Guided · Practice

The lessons, in order

Each lesson explains one idea in short steps, checks it landed with a question, walks through a guided first try, then leaves the child to practise on their own.

  1. Lesson 1: Doing something many times

    for and range() — one instruction, run again and again.

    • Explain
    • Ask
    • Guided 1 level
    • Practice 2 levels

  2. Lesson 2: What range() actually counts

    range(n) gives n numbers starting at 0 — and never reaches n itself.

    • Explain
    • Ask
    • Guided 1 level
    • Practice 2 levels

  3. Lesson 3: Building up a total

    Carrying a value forward, loop pass after loop pass.

    • Explain
    • Ask
    • Guided 1 level
    • Practice 2 levels

  4. Lesson 4: The Dragon Patrol

    Topic challenge

    Loops, counting, and decisions — all working together, pass after pass.

    • Explain
    • Ask
    • Guided 1 level
    • Challenge 2 levels

  5. Lesson 5: Loops inside loops

    A loop inside a loop, for checking every cell of a grid — and the order that surprises everyone.

    • Explain
    • Ask
    • Guided 1 level
    • Practice 2 levels

Lessons unlock in order within a topic, so nothing arrives before the idea it depends on. This topic is part of PRO — $49.99 unlocks it along with everything else.

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