Guide: How to Teach Coding to your Kids using MIT Scratch Language
Children learn differently than adults, so if we want to teach them to code, we have to use an approach suitable for their needsCoding courses for adults usually start by explaining building blocks such as data types, variables and functions, but this teaching method does not suit most children well Visual block languages offer a solution to this problem by introducing students to coding using visual building blocksBlocking languages (sometimes referred to as bubble languages) focus on logic rather than syntax, and learn coding through creative projects A handful of great apps that teach block languages, such as Scratch, Code.org, and Tynker, are available on the net (Scratch and Code.org are free, and Tynker comes at a friendly price). One of the best things about them is that you don’t necessarily have to be a programmer to get your kids started. In this article, we’ll take a closer look at Scratch, a visual block language developed by Google and the MIT Media Lab.
Get started
Scratches is a programming language created for educational purposes, in which you must do that click blocks together to create various projects such as animations, games and interactive stories. Scratch is mainly made for children and teenagers between 8 and 16 years old, but in some cases it can work for younger children and adult learners as well. Scratch is available in more than 40 languages, the latest version is Scratch 2 which runs in more recent web browsers on Windows, Mac and Linux machines. If you have problems with the system requirements, you can also use the earlier version, Scratch 1.4. You can use Scratch in 3 different ways Starting, click the Create menu in the top menu bar, and the Scratch editor will appear on your screen.
Make the design
Let’s get first add the design elements to our program. The workflow of real-life programming is basically the same, first we have to do that create the design elements, such as wallpapers, buttons, and navigation (this part is usually done by a designer), then we have to add functionality to them with code (this part is done by a programmer). Scratch offers two different types of design elements: backgrounds and Sprites The term “backdrop” stands for the background and the term “Sprite” stands for the characters (the default character is the cat you can see in the screenshot above). Their related settings are in the lower left corner, below the stage. There are four ways add a new background or Sprite on stage you can choose one from a predefined library, paint one, upload one from your computer or take a photo with your web camera Now let’s use the fastest solution and choose a wallpaper from the Backdrop library
Let’s also choose one or more Sprites from it Sprite library by clicking the small sprite icon next to the “New Sprite” label in the lower left corner of the screen.
If you want, you can edit the background as well as the sprites using a handy one photo editor that automatically appears after you add a new design element to the work area. Below you can see my screen right after adding the “Night City” background to my stage – if I wanted, I could change the look of the background using the image editor’s drawing tools.
In this article, I’ll be one simple animation about a girl scared by a ghost in a night city (I know…). I already have the background of the night city and now I need two Sprites: a girl and a ghost. I don’t need the default cat so I right click on it and delete it. I add the girl and the ghost from the Sprite library. Since the ghost is bigger than the girl and they look strange next to each other, I adjust the ghost size with the image editor.
Now I have all the design elements I need. Below you can see what my stage looks like now. In the next section we will discuss add functionality to the two Sprites (the girl and the ghost) using scratch pads
Add functionality
The Scratch blocks which can be found under the Scripts tab. There is one behind every block underlying code snippet Blocks are grouped into 10 categories (Motion, Appearance, Sound, Pen, Data, Events, Control, Detection, Operators, More blocks), each of them uses a different color, in this way are the block groups easy to distinguish
We will add functionality to each Sprite (we will animate them specifically), meaning each Sprite will have its own script (sequence of Scratch blocks). Note that we can also add a separate script to the backdrop, for example by changing the colors from day to night, but for the sake of simplicity, we will not change the background in this example. It may be helpful to plan on paper what your sprites will do. Here is the algorithm of our girl ghost example program. Girl’s algorithm: Mind’s algorithm: You can see that the girl’s algorithm is written from the girl’s perspective, and the mind’s algorithm is written from the mind’s perspective. While one character acts, the other have to wait, as we need synchronize the actions of the two characters Let’s start with the ghost script as it’s only 3 steps. Click on the ghost in the lower left corner and you can start dragging the blocks to the Script area. First, we need to get the user to start the program. We can do this simply by using the “When the green flag was clicked” block of the “Events” category. Then the ghost waits for 2 seconds while the girl thinks. We program this action with the “Wait 2 seconds” block that can be found in the “Check” category. Finally, the mind must approach the girl, which we can achieve with the “Go to Abby” block of the “Movement” category. “Abby” is the girl’s name, Scratch will automatically add the names of the other Sprites to the dropdown menu of this block.
This is what the ghost’s script looks like. By now you have definitely realized that Scratch works similar to LEGO, you have to join the blocks together. The girl’s script is a bit more complicated. Click on the girl’s sprite in the lower left corner, and you can start adding blocks related to the girl’s behavior. The girl’s script also begins with the “When the green flag was clicked” block. I’ll now show you what the girl’s script will look like in the end, so you can more easily follow the explanation.
After clicking the green flag, the girl thinks for 2 seconds (the program shows a thinking bubble for this period), this is the same 2 seconds while the ghost waits in the corner – programmed with the waiting block in the ghost ghost script. Then the girl has to wait for the ghost to touch her. This is done by one composite waiting blockYou can see from the screenshot above that this block has a inner diamond-shaped block you have to participate separately. You can only add diamond-shaped blocks to this waiting block. Remember Scratch is similar to LEGO, you have to pay attention to the shapes of the blocks. This feature prevents you from adding blocks that shouldn’t be there to avoid wrong coding logic. Meanwhile, the ghost touched the girl and the ghost’s script ended. Now we have to make her scream with a “Play sound” Sound block (I’ve added the female scream sound from the built-in sound library), and finally let her get away from the ghost through the Movement block “move 200 steps” You can take a look at it final project on its Scratch page. If you want to view the building blocks, click on the See inside button in the upper right corner.
Next steps
Our example of “Ghost in the City” is a very simple project. When your kids can safely create linear stories and animations, you can go to more complicated coding structures, like if then blocks (conditional statements) and repeat blocks (loops), both can be found in the “Check” category. If you have a more complicated example for a linear animation (still without conditional statements and loops) you can check out my other demo features a simple dialogue and uses 3 sprites (two friends and a birthday cake), each of which has its own script.
You can also inspire your kids by printing Scratch cards for them, that they can hold in their hands during programming. Scratch cards also have great project ideas on them. It’s also worth learning from others exploring existing projects, or participate in discussion forums If you want to understand Scratch better, there is one free Coursera course by the University of Edinburgh, which introduces beginners to Scratch programming in a very accessible, even enjoyable way. You can also take advantage of the Scratch Wiki, and Harvard University’s Department of Creative Computing some great resources for Scratch students.
How to Teach Coding to your Kids using MIT Scratch Language: benefits
Faq
Final note
I hope you like the guide How to Teach Coding to your Kids using MIT Scratch Language. In case if you have any query regards this article you may ask us. Also, please share your love by sharing this article with your friends. For our visitors: If you have any queries regards the How to Teach Coding to your Kids using MIT Scratch Language, then please ask us through the comment section below or directly contact us. Education: This guide or tutorial is just for educational purposes. Misinformation: If you want to correct any misinformation about the guide “How to Teach Coding to your Kids using MIT Scratch Language”, then kindly contact us. Want to add an alternate method: If anyone wants to add more methods to the guide How to Teach Coding to your Kids using MIT Scratch Language, then kindly contact us. Our Contact: Kindly use our contact page regards any help. You may also use our social and accounts by following us on Whatsapp, Facebook, and Twitter for your questions. We always love to help you. We answer your questions within 24-48 hours (Weekend off). Channel: If you want the latest software updates and discussion about any software in your pocket, then here is our Telegram channel.
