Learn software, improve your coding skills, but how? Jumping into the coding world by learning a programming language may not be suitable for everyone. However, for non-professionals and especially children, it will be much more productive to start such an education in a fun way through a platform like Scratch. You can develop interactive projects through Scratch.
Scratch is a non-profit and therefore free service developed by the Scratch Foundation. Its main purpose is to develop basic problem-solving skills for children and adults of all ages and to enable them to take their first steps into the world of coding. There are some tips you should know before you start or use Scratch. You can have a lot more fun with these tips.
What is Scratch and ScratchJr?
Scratch is a platform where you can create interactive projects using ready-made templates and improve your basic coding skills. ScratchJr, on the other hand, is a side platform developed by the same team, but especially the visuals are designed for young children.
We can say that Scratch is for high school, university and adults of other ages. ScratchJr, on the other hand, is suitable for kids who are still in elementary school or younger. After doing a few exercises with ScratchJr, you can jump into Scratch and use your basic problem-solving skills to create unique interactive projects.
How to use Scratch and ScratchJr
From here, open the Scratch website and click the Create button. A project worksheet with a basic figure will appear. You can create your own interactive project by placing the basic instructions here in the right places. You can create a free Scratch account to save your project, share it with others and improve yourself.
The ScratchJr platform mostly consists of guide trainings for young children. Even if your child is really small, you can print the guide tutorials and turn them into big blocks and make a game cube from them. The important thing is that your child follows the basic instructions, creates interactive projects in line with his imagination and develops basic coding skills.
Tips to know when using Scratch:
- Try the scratch starter tutorials.
- Discover inspiring projects.
- Enhance existing projects.
- Participate in ScratchJr activities.
- Create unique characters with ScratchJr.
Try the scratch starter tutorials:
After opening the Scratch website, the first thing you need to do is open the Ideas page. If you are going to use Scratch for the first time, you can discover how the platform is used by participating in the initial training on this page. Even if you’re not using it for the first time, you can explore the limits of your imagination by participating in some inspiring activities handpicked by the Scratch editors here.
Discover inspiring projects:
Scratch is not only an educational platform, it is also a social space. When you open the Explore page, you can see interactive projects and animations created by other Scratch users. The projects you encounter on the Explore page are the most liked and followed projects on the Scratch platform. One day you can see your own projects here.
Enhance existing projects:
You will create a project on Scratch for the first time, you don’t have to come up with new ideas right away. Instead, type a term that interests you in the Scratch search bar and find some ready-made projects. When you open one of these projects and click the Remix button, the editing page will open. On this page, you can edit the project and further develop it to make it unique.
Participate in ScratchJr activities:
After opening the ScratchJr website from here, open the Teach page. You will come across some activities specially designed for young children. Unlock one of these activities that your child enjoys. After learning the simple instructions, you can now design your own projects as you wish.
Create unique characters with ScratchJr:
After opening the Learn page on the ScratchJr platform, proceed to the Image Editor Guide. Here you will find a guide that teaches you how to create unique ScratchJr characters. After learning the simple instructions, you can now start using unique characters that you have created in your projects instead of ready-made ones.
Scratch sample projects:
Halloween Cat Dress Up
POISON / BREAST / GACHA CLUB
Survive
CORONA WARS
Space Platformer
We answered the questions of what is Scratch and ScratchJr, how to use it, and we talked about some tips you need to know, where children and adults of all ages can make interactive projects and improve their coding skills. The earlier the training that develops such problem-solving skills of children, the more effective it will be.
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