# Material for teaching basic programming concepts **URL:** \ **Category:** Educators' Lounge\ **Tags:** demo, educator\ **Created:** [September 15, 2023, 7:10pm UTC](https://forum.makecode.com/t/material-for-teaching-basic-programming-concepts/22487 "2023-09-15T19:10:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 1\ **Showing post:** 2
**Author:** ![KIKIvsIT](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/user_avatar/forum.makecode.com/kikivsit/32/10492_2.png) [@KIKIvsIT](https://forum.makecode.com/u/KIKIvsIT)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2023, 5:51pm UTC](https://forum.makecode.com/t/material-for-teaching-basic-programming-concepts/22487/2 "2023-09-18T17:51:38Z")
I think I get what you’re trying to do here. I’ve also been exploring some simplified options for early elementary. I’ve also faced the same issue that you’re facing with the grey variable. Unfortunately, there are a few things that I can’t get to show up in the toolbox, no matter how hard I try. Those include: - Pre-declared variables - Pre-filled If statements - Pre-filled conditionals What we can do is make it so that young’uns don’t need to access the sprite directly because all of the blocks make available to them already point to the predeclared sprite in question. Here’s an example of a tutorial that does that: > **[Microsoft MakeCode Arcade](https://arcade.makecode.com/#tutorial:/test/tutorials/makecode-jr-goal)** > > Develop your programming skills by quickly creating and modding retro arcade games with Blocks and JavaScript in the MakeCode editor --- _[View the full topic](https://forum.makecode.com/t/material-for-teaching-basic-programming-concepts/22487)._