Scratch is an interactive coding language that was originated in 2007 by MIT Media Lab. It consists of a vibrant block drag-and-drop interface. This makes it the most uncomplicated and easy programming language to learn, among others. Scratch coding language is designed as an educational tool for kids to create projects such as interactive stories, games, music, visual art, and animations. Both adults and kids can conveniently use it to create different scratch projects. However, for kids between 5 to 7 years of age Scratch, an alternate platform, is available, which is simpler to learn at a young age. Scratch is designed in such a way that person belonging to any age group having proper knowledge of computer science can learn coding with Scratch language.  

Step-by-step Scratch tutorial for kids 

In this scratch tutorial, step-by-step guidance about a project for kids, i.e.” Your flying cat”, will be provided. 

Step 1: Select your characters and background

In a blank scratch project, you have multiple options to select your background and characters. For this, you have to click on the two circles in the bottom right corner of the screen. One circle has an image icon which is for background selection, and the other circle has a cat icon which is for character selection. 

For your project, you will select “Blue sky 2 “as your background and “Flying cat” as your character from the menu. Based on your imagination, you can select the combinations that attract you.   

Step 2: Generate a welcome message and drag the cat with the arrow key

When the scratch game begins, the cat should exhibit a welcome message. To start the game, the “when green flag clicked” block is used, which indicates the start of the game. This green flag block is present in the Control section. Next, in the Looks section “say” block is used to make the block display “ say I am flying for 2 seconds”. These messages and their time duration can be customized as per your choice. 

Now you want your cat to move up, down, right and left. From the Events, you need to select the “ when key pressed” block. One of these blocks is needed, and the drop-down option is altered to “left arrow”. Now here, a Motion block “move x” is required. In this block, the number should be changed to -10 for the left movement of the cat. After this, for the rightward motion, another “when key pressed” block is selected where the drop-down option is changed to “right arrow”. Here in the Motion block “move x,” the number should be 10.

To get the vertical movement “when key pressed,” block with drop-down option changed to “up arrow” is used. A motion block with “change y by 10” is needed. The last direction left is downward. For this, a “when key pressed” block with the “down arrow” option is needed, and a motion block with “change y by -10” is used. 

Step: 3 Select an object to be collected and move the object 

Now you need to select another character as your object. For this, you have to go to the previous cat icon circle in the bottom right corner. This time you will select a balloon. The balloon has to be moved in a random direction, and the cat will run after it.

 The code for the balloon is created, and again “when green flag clicked” block is selected for the balloon’s action at the start of the video game. Next, in the Control section, select the “forever” block of code in order to keep the ballon in motion until the game is over. The blocks of code under the “forever” block are in continuous motion unless it is stopped manually. Then select a Motion block within which “go to random position” has to be selected. After this, a second Motion block is selected under which “change x” is opted. Here the number should be changed to 250. 

Now under the Control section, select the “repeat” block and add 32 numbers. This number can be anything of your choice. Inside the “repeat” block Motion block with “change x” is needed, and change the number to -15. 

With the above scratch coding, the balloon will move randomly, and the cat will be controlled to chase the balloon. In this way, you can develop your own coding games and Scratch projects. Many popular games, like flappy bird, snake game, etc., are developed by the scratch website. 

Advantages of Scratch Programming

• Scratch programming helps kids to think out of the box and be innovative. It entertains the kids along with learning. Thus, studying becomes a fun game for them.  
• The scratch interface is visually attractive, and this makes it interesting for your kids to learn computer programming.
• Scratch a block-based coding helps your kids to develop problem-solving behaviour as while learning to code, they come across several difficult situations. 
• Scratch coding, when compared to other coding languages like Python, Javascript, or HTML, is the easiest language for kids. Your kids don’t need to refer to any complicated books or tutorials to learn the fundamentals of scratch coding.
• It gives your child a taste of computer programming and helps them learn basic coding concepts. Later with time, children may develop an interest in programming and select their career as a programmer or coder.
• It can help your kids to develop their own game controllers if they are interested in hardware. Many organizations develop hardware tools that function with the scratch account to create animations and different interesting projects.
• It can be easily accessed with the help of an internet connection. In this way, you can make your child a part of the scratch community from the comfort of their home.  

Conclusion 

In this way, scratch, developed by MIT media lab, is a valuable coding language. It helps your kid to learn programming from a young age in an enjoyable manner. Thus, they get a new option for their career in the field of game development industry by becoming a scratcher. There are many scratch coding classes offered by an online community that can help your child learn scratch coding from their own comfort zone.