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Lesson 4: First Look at Scratch

About 15-20 minutes -- Computer lesson

What You Will Learn

By the end of this lesson, you will be able to:

What Is Scratch?

Scratch is a free programming language made just for kids. Instead of typing words like professional programmers do, you use colorful blocks that snap together like puzzle pieces. You drag and drop these blocks to tell characters on the screen what to do.

Scratch was created by a team at MIT (a famous university) so that young people can learn to think creatively, reason carefully, and work together. Millions of kids around the world use Scratch to make games, stories, and animations.

Scratch: A free, block-based programming language for kids. Instead of typing code, you drag colorful blocks together to create programs. It works right in your web browser.

Talk About It

Ask your child: "Remember the Robot Game? In that game, you gave instructions using cards. Scratch is similar, but instead of cards, you use colorful blocks on a computer screen. Instead of a person acting as the robot, a character on the screen follows your blocks!"

Opening Scratch

Step-by-Step: Open Scratch

  1. Open a web browser (like Chrome, Firefox, Safari, or Edge).
  2. Go to scratch.mit.edu by typing it in the address bar at the top.
  3. Click the "Create" button at the top of the page. This opens the Scratch editor.
  4. You do not need to create an account to start. You can just click Create and begin right away!

Parent note: Creating a free account lets your child save their projects online. You can do this later if you want. For now, just exploring is fine.

The Scratch Screen

When you open the Scratch editor, you will see a screen with several important areas. Let us learn what each part is called.

Stage: The big white area on the right side of the screen. This is where your project comes to life. It is like a theater stage where your characters perform.

Sprite: A character or object on the stage. When you first open Scratch, you will see an orange cat. This cat is the default sprite. You can add more sprites or change them.

Blocks Palette: The area on the left side of the screen that shows all the different blocks you can use. Blocks are sorted by color into categories like Motion (blue), Looks (purple), and Sound (pink).

Coding Area (Scripts Area): The big empty space in the middle where you drag blocks to build your program. This is where you snap blocks together.

The Parts of Scratch -- Quick Guide

Part Where It Is What It Does
Stage Top right Where sprites perform and you see your project run
Sprite On the stage A character that follows your instructions
Blocks Palette Left side Shows all the blocks you can use
Coding Area Middle Where you drag and connect blocks
Green Flag / Red Stop Above the stage Green flag starts your program, red stop button stops it

Try It: Explore the Screen

Before building anything, spend a minute just looking around the Scratch editor.

  • Can you find the stage? What is on it right now?
  • Can you find the orange cat sprite?
  • Click on different categories in the Blocks Palette (Motion, Looks, Sound). Notice how the blocks change color for each category.
  • Can you find the green flag button above the stage?

Your First Block: Make the Cat Say Hello!

Now let us make the cat do something! We will start with the simplest thing: making the cat say "Hello!"

Step-by-Step: Make the Cat Say Hello

  1. In the Blocks Palette on the left, click on the "Looks" category. It is purple.
  2. Find the block that says "say Hello! for 2 seconds". It is a purple block with a speech bubble shape.
  3. Click on that block and drag it into the Coding Area (the big empty space in the middle).
  4. Let go of the mouse button to drop the block in the Coding Area.
  5. Click on the block in the Coding Area. Watch the stage!

The cat should show a speech bubble that says "Hello!" for 2 seconds. You just gave the cat an instruction, and it followed it!

Talk About It

Ask your child: "Remember the Robot Game? You gave the robot an instruction and the robot did it. What you just did is the same thing! You gave the cat sprite an instruction (the 'say' block) and the cat followed it."

Try It: Change the Message

You can change what the cat says! Click on the word "Hello!" inside the purple block and type something different. Try:

  • Your name ("Hi, I am Alex!")
  • A silly message ("I like pizza!")
  • A greeting ("Good morning!")

Click the block again to see your new message appear on the stage.

Make the Cat Move!

Saying "Hello!" is fun, but let us make the cat move too. We will use blocks from the Motion category.

Step-by-Step: Make the Cat Move

  1. In the Blocks Palette, click on the "Motion" category. It is blue.
  2. Find the block that says "move 10 steps".
  3. Drag it into the Coding Area.
  4. Click on the block. Watch the cat on the stage -- it moves a little bit to the right!
  5. Click the block again. It moves a little more!
  6. Try changing the number 10 to a bigger number, like 50 or 100. Click the block and see what happens.

Step-by-Step: Combine Say and Move

Now let us snap blocks together to make a sequence -- just like we learned about in Lessons 1 and 2!

  1. Make sure you have the "say Hello! for 2 seconds" block in the Coding Area.
  2. Drag a "move 10 steps" block from the Motion category.
  3. Move it close to the bottom of the "say" block. You will see a white line appear. This means the blocks are ready to snap together.
  4. Let go! The blocks should snap together like puzzle pieces.
  5. Now click on the top block. Watch what happens: the cat says "Hello!" first, then moves!

This is a sequence! The cat follows the instructions in order, from top to bottom. First the "say" block runs, then the "move" block runs. Just like the algorithms you wrote on paper!

Try It: Build a Longer Sequence

Can you make the cat do three or four things in a row? Try snapping these blocks together from top to bottom:

  1. "say Hello! for 2 seconds" (from Looks)
  2. "move 50 steps" (from Motion)
  3. "say I can move! for 2 seconds" (from Looks)
  4. "move 50 steps" (from Motion)

Click the top block to run the whole sequence. The cat says hello, walks, says another thing, then walks again!

Using the Green Flag

So far, you have been clicking on blocks to run them. But there is a better way! The green flag button above the stage is the official "start" button for Scratch projects.

Step-by-Step: Start with the Green Flag

  1. In the Blocks Palette, click on the "Events" category. It is yellow.
  2. Find the block that says "when green flag clicked". It has a curved top (like a hat).
  3. Drag it into the Coding Area and snap it to the top of your block stack.
  4. Now click the green flag button above the stage (it looks like a small green flag).
  5. Your whole sequence runs! The cat follows all the instructions from top to bottom.

The "when green flag clicked" block tells Scratch: "Start running these instructions when someone clicks the green flag." This is how real Scratch projects begin!

Connecting the Dots

Think about everything you have learned so far:

  • In Lesson 1, you learned that computers follow instructions.
  • In Lesson 2, you learned that instructions need to be specific and in the right order.
  • In Lesson 3, you practiced giving step-by-step instructions in the Robot Game.
  • Now in Lesson 4, you are giving those same kinds of instructions using Scratch blocks!

The blocks are just a different way of writing instructions. The idea is exactly the same.

Check Your Understanding

1. What is the "stage" in Scratch?

Answer: The stage is the big area on the right side of the screen where sprites perform. It is like a theater stage where your project comes to life.

2. What is a sprite?

Answer: A sprite is a character or object on the stage. The orange cat is the default sprite that appears when you first open Scratch. You can add more sprites or change them.

3. When you snap blocks together, what order does Scratch run them in?

Answer: Scratch runs blocks from top to bottom, one at a time. This is a sequence -- the same concept you learned in the earlier lessons!

4. What does the "when green flag clicked" block do?

Answer: It tells Scratch to start running the blocks below it when someone clicks the green flag button above the stage. It is like saying "begin here" for your program.

Key Takeaways

You Did It!

You have finished all four lessons in Module 1! You now know what computers do, how to give good instructions, and how to use Scratch. Time to practice and take the quiz.

Practice Activities

Try 6 fun activities that mix screen-free challenges with Scratch projects.

Practice Activities

Module Quiz

Test what you have learned with 8 fun questions!

Take the Quiz

Module Home

Go back to see everything in Module 1.

Module 1 Home