Scratch is the block-based coding language made by the Lifelong Kindergarten group at the MIT Media Lab. You build a program by dragging blocks together instead of typing, so nothing is ever misspelt and nothing crashes — which leaves a child free to think about the idea rather than the punctuation.
Scratch is completely free, and always has been. There is nothing to buy, no subscription, and no paid version with more features. Anyone telling you otherwise is selling something MIT gives away.
From here on, the projects have the structure of actual games: a state, a loop, clones and data.
Full Scratch. Start saving your work properly and giving projects real names.
A ball bounces, a paddle follows the mouse, the score rises and the game ends when you miss.
Build it → Project 27 blocksThe program asks questions from a list, checks the answers, and gives a mark at the end.
Build it → Project 35 blocksHundreds of raindrops fall, each its own object, from a single sprite.
Build it → Project 46 blocksA character runs, jumps, falls and lands on platforms.
Build it →Star Blocks, this site's own language, runs inside the page with nothing to download — and teaches the same ideas.
Ask GuruAcharya Samayeshwar
