Hello, Scratch! 🐱
Learn to create your own games, animations, and stories — no experience needed. If you can snap LEGO bricks together, you can code!
Section 1
What is Scratch? 🤔
Made by MIT
Scratch was created by clever people at MIT (a famous university in the USA). It is completely free and used by millions of kids all over the world!
Block-based coding
Instead of typing complicated words, you snap colourful blocks together — just like puzzle pieces!
Works in a browser
No installation needed. Open scratch.mit.edu and start creating right away.
No typos!
Because you drag and drop blocks, you can never spell a command wrong. Great for beginners!
Share with the world
When your project is ready, you can publish it online so friends and family can play it.
Section 2
The Scratch Screen 🖥️
Block Palette
Stage (your project plays here)
Sprites
Block Palette
A menu of all the colourful command blocks, sorted by category. Drag blocks from here into the coding area.
Stage
The big area where your project comes to life. It is 480 steps wide and 360 steps tall. The centre is position (0, 0).
Sprites
Characters and objects in your project. Each Sprite has its own code. The default Sprite is Scratch Cat! 🐱
Coding Area
The middle area where you drag and connect blocks to build your script (your set of instructions).
Section 3
Block Categories 🧱
Motion
Move your Sprite around the Stage. Change position, speed, and direction.
Looks
Change how your Sprite appears — show speech bubbles, switch costumes, change size.
Sound
Play sounds and music in your project. Record your own voice too!
Events
Start your code when something happens — like clicking the green flag or pressing a key.
Control
Make decisions and repeat actions using loops and if/then blocks.
Sensing
Detect what is happening — touching another Sprite, mouse position, keyboard input.
Section 4
Key Programming Ideas 💡
Sequence
Blocks run one after another, from top to bottom — just like following a recipe. Step 1, then step 2, then step 3.
Like: reading a recipe 📖Loops
Repeat a set of blocks many times without copying them. Use "repeat 10" or "forever" blocks.
Like: spinning a merry-go-round 🎡Conditionals (If/Then)
Make decisions! The blocks inside only run IF a condition is true — for example, "if touching edge, then bounce."
Like: an umbrella on a rainy day ☂️Variables
A box that stores information your project can remember and change — like a Score that goes up by 1 each time you collect a star.
Like: a scoreboard 🏆Debugging
Finding and fixing mistakes in your code. The name comes from real bugs that used to get stuck in old computers! Every coder debugs — it's totally normal.
Like: solving a puzzle 🔍🚀 Your First Project
Ready to create? Try this fun starter project — make Scratch Cat say "Hello!" and do a little dance when you press the Space key!