Only Talking, Never Listening?

So far, our programs have been a bit bossy. They tell us things (“Hello!”, “Score is 100”), but they don’t listen to us. Imagine a friend who only talks about themselves and never asks “How are you?”. Annoying, right?

Let’s teach our computer manners.

The Listening Ear: input()

The command to make Python listen is input().

name = input("What is your name? ")
print("Hello", name)

What Happens Here?

1. input("..."): The computer prints the question and pauses. It waits. It blinks its cursor at you.
2. You type: “Elena” (and hit Enter).
3. name =: The computer catches what you typed and puts it in the name box.
4. print: It uses that name to say hello.

Visual Flow:
┌─────────────────────────────┐
│ Computer asks question      │
│ ↓                           │
│ You type answer             │
│ ↓                           │
│ Stored in variable box      │
│ ↓                           │
│ Computer uses it!           │
└─────────────────────────────┘

🚀 Try This NOW!

What will happen if you type YOUR name when this runs?

name = input("Enter your name: ")
print("Welcome,", name, "to the coding world!")

Run it and see!

The Robot Waiter

Let’s build a Robot Waiter. It needs to ask what you want to eat.

print("--- ROBOT CAFE ---")
food = input("What would you like to eat? ")
drink = input("And to drink? ")

print("Coming right up!")
print("Here is your", food, "and", drink)

If you run this:

--- ROBOT CAFE ---
What would you like to eat? Pizza
And to drink? Slime Juice
Coming right up!
Here is your Pizza and Slime Juice

🎮 Real-World Connection

This is how games ask for your username! When you first open Minecraft or Roblox, the game uses input() to ask “What’s your player name?” and saves it to show on the screen!

Important Rule: Inputs are Text

When you use input(), the computer treats everything as text (a “string”). Even numbers!

If you type 10 for an age, the computer keeps it as the word “10”, not the number 10. We’ll learn how to fix that in Lesson 4, but for now, remember: input() returns text.

age = input("How old are you? ")
print("Wow, you are", age, "years old!")
# If you typed 10, it's stored as "10" (text), not 10 (number)

Try It Yourself: Silly Story Generator

Make a “Silly Story” generator. Ask for:

1. An animal
2. A color
3. A funny noise

Then print a sentence like: “The [color] [animal] shouted [noise]!”

Solution:

animal = input("Enter an animal: ")
color = input("Enter a color: ")
noise = input("Enter a funny noise: ")

print("The", color, animal, "shouted", noise + "!")

Extra Challenge

Make it ask for THREE animals and create a story about them going on an adventure together!

Common Mistakes & Fixes

❌ Wrong: name = input(What is your name?)
Why it fails: Missing quotes around the question!

✅ Right: name = input("What is your name? ")
The question needs quotes

❌ Wrong: input("Enter your age: ")
         print(age)
Why it fails: You didn't save the input in a variable!

✅ Right: age = input("Enter your age: ")
         print(age)
Save it with = first!

❌ Wrong: name = Input("Name: ")
Why it fails: Capital I!

✅ Right: name = input("Name: ")
Must be lowercase input

🔍 Bug Hunter Betty Says:

“If you see a blank screen and blinking cursor, don’t panic! Your program is waiting for you to type something. Type your answer and press Enter!”

🎉 Achievement Unlocked: Conversation Starter! Wizard Level: Apprentice (3/10 complete)

📝 Today’s Spell Book (Quick Reference)

variable = input("question")  # Asks question, waits for answer
name = input("Your name? ")   # Saves answer in 'name' box
# Remember: input() always gives you TEXT!

💡 Parent/Teacher Tip

If your learner’s program seems “frozen” with a blinking cursor, they probably forgot to type their answer! Help them understand that input() pauses the program until they press Enter. This is a feature, not a bug!

In the next lesson, we’ll learn how to make our programs smart enough to make decisions!

This post is part of the Python Basics for Kids series, based on “Python for Kids from 8 to 88”.