These sample programs are just to illustrate capabilities of IR transmitting and receiving. There are lots of other applications you can come up with. As we mentioned you can use the capacitive touch capabilities to trigger the sending of other IR signals. You could use the IR receiver to do more than just blink the NeoPixels. Perhaps playback a sound sample using the onboard speaker. Use 2 Circuit Playground Express boards to talk to one another perhaps transmit secret codes or identify friend or foe. Kids will come up with lots of creative uses for these features. The possibilities are limited only by your imagination.