Scratch Tutorial: Step-by-Step Guide for Beginners [2024] (2024)

Scratch is a user-friendly programming language designed for kids and beginners. This scratch tutorial will show you why Scratch is a great choice for young learners who want to start coding by creating simple games.

Whether you want to tell interactive stories, create games, or learn the basics of animation, Scratch provides a versatile platform for expressing creativity and solving problems. Through this tutorial, you’ll learn Scratch and understand why it’s the perfect language to start with

What is Scratch?

Scratch is a visual programming language and an online community where children can program and share interactive media such as stories, games, and animations with people from all over the world. Scratch is a simple, block-based programming language designed for beginners. It uses colorful, drag-and-drop blocks to create games, animations, and stories, making coding visual and fun.

Ideal for learning basic programming concepts, Scratch encourages creativity and sharing projects with a global community. The Scratch online community is a significant aspect, where children can share their creations, receive feedback, and collaborate with others globally. This community-driven environment encourages communication and learning from peers.

As a project of the Lifelong Kindergarten Group at the MIT Media Lab, Scratch is designed primarily for ages 8 to 16, but is used by people of all ages.

Download scratch 3.0- https://scratch.mit.edu/download

Getting Started with Scratch

To start coding in Scratch, you don’t need to install and set up a complex softwares. Scratch provides an online platform that serves as an interactive and user-friendly environment where you can create, code, and share your projects. This environment is equipped with various tools and features that make programming simpler, more engaging, and highly visual.

Step 1: Create a Scratch Account

Visit the Scratch website and sign up for a free account. This allows you to save projects, share them, and participate in the Scratch community.

To Create Scratch Account, follow the article – How to Create Your Scratch Account

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Step 2: Understanding the Basics

Familiarize yourself with the Scratch interface. Key areas include:

• Stage: Stage is like a big, blank canvas where all the action happens. It’s the main background for your projects. You can draw or place characters, called “sprites,” on the stage.
• Sprite List: A Sprite List is like a group or collection of sprites that you can use together in your projects. Think of it as a way to organize and manage multiple characters or objects in your game or animation.
• Block Palette: Contains the coding blocks categorized by function.
• Coding Area: Where you drag and drop blocks to build your script.
• Events: Events in Scratch are like triggers that make things happen in your animations or games. They help you control when and how different parts of your project work together.
  • Flag Click Event
  • Keyboard Events
  • Mouse Events
  • When Green Flag Clicked
  • Broadcasting and Receiving Messages
• Basic Scripting:
  • Motion and Looks:
    • Moving and changing the appearance of sprites.
  • Sound and Music:
    • Adding sounds and music to projects.
  • Variables:
    • Introduction to variables and their use.
• Control Flow:
  • Loops:
    • Using loops to repeat actions.
  • Conditional Statements:
    • Introduction to if-statements and other conditionals.

For complete understanding of basics, refer to the article – Basics of Scratch Programming

Scratch Programming for Beginners: Create Your First Project

Here is an complete beginner friendly Scratch project tutorial with our First Scratch project:

Creating a Pac-Man game in Scratch can be a fun and educational project. Here’s a step-by-step guide to build a basic version of the game:

Step 1: Set Up Your Scratch Project

• Create a New Project: Log in to Scratch and start a new project. Click Here

• Delete the Cat Sprite: Scratch starts with a default cat sprite. You can delete it by right-clicking on it and selecting ‘delete’.
• Now we will start creating our Pacman project.

Step 2: Create the Pac-Man Sprite

• Create Sprites: We need to make characters like Pacman, dots, and ghosts. To do this, click on the blue cat icon at the bottom-right corner.
• Choose Shape and Color: In this cat icon, you can pick different shapes and colors to create your characters. Make them look however you like.

Here are the different designed characters:

Step 3: Variable to keep score and lives

• Open Variable Blocks: First, go to the place where you can work with numbers and create things. It’s called “Variable Blocks.”
• Make a Score Variable: Create a new thing called “score.” This will help us keep track of the score in our game.
• Create a Lives Variable: Make another thing called “lives.” This will help us keep track of how many lives our character has.

Step 4: Make the Pacman move and change direction

• Get Ready to Code: It’s time to make Pacman move when we press the arrow keys. First, click on the Pacman character.
• Start with Flag Clicked: Find the “When Flag Clicked” block from the Event Blocks and drag it out. This block tells Pacman what to do when we start the game.
• Repeat Forever: Get the “Forever” block from the Control Blocks and put it under the “When Flag Clicked” block. This means Pacman will keep doing something as long as the game is running.
• Check Arrow Keys: Add four “If” blocks under the “Forever” block. These “If” blocks will check if we’re pressing different arrow keys.
• Set Conditions: Inside each “If” block, use the “Key __ Pressed?” block to check if an arrow key is pressed.
• Specify Directions and Steps: Fill in the blanks with directions and steps. For all of them, Pacman should move 5 steps. The directions are: 0 (up), 180 (down), 90 (right), and -90 (left).

That’s it! Now Pacman will move when you press the arrow keys in different directions.

Step 5: Make your Pacman eat

• Make Pacman Eat: We want Pacman to change how he looks when he’s moving and eating. Let’s code it!
• Find the “When Flag Clicked” block in the Event blocks and drag it out. This block tells Pacman what to do when the game starts.
• Now, add three “Switch costume to ____” blocks from the Look blocks inside the “Forever” block. These blocks make Pacman change how he looks.
• In between each of these three costume blocks, put a “Wait 0.2 Seconds” block from the Control blocks. This little pause makes the costume change happen at a nice pace.

Step 6: Start drawing the Maze

• Make Walls Thicker: To make the walls thicker, go to the bottom of the screen and click on the backdrop. Then, draw thicker lines or rectangles.
• Create a Path for Pac-Man: Use the paintbrush tool to erase or remove some lines from the rectangles you drew. This will create a path for Pac-Man to move through to reach the endpoint.

• Use if-blocks to make more defined path for the packman.
• Press the keys on the keyboard, position him in the middle and pull the block out of the middle.

Step 7: Make the Ghost Face move

• Put the ghost in the maze and see if the pathways you’ve made are good enough for the ghost to get out of the maze without any problems.

Step 11: Test and Debug

• Keep playing the game several times to figure out all the different changes you can make to it.
• Also, try adding more images and characters to the game, like the flags at the beginning and end.

Step 12: Share Your Game

Share on Scratch: If you’re happy with your game, share it with the Scratch community.

Now you’ve learned how to create a fun Pac-Man project and turn it into a game. This free Scratch tutorial taught you important coding ideas like how to control things, make them move, and use variables. The core purpose of Scratch Tutorial is to introduce the fundamentals of programming in a way that is both accessible and entertaining.

Explore more such tutorials here :-

• Python for kids
• Coding for kids

Scratch Tutorial – FAQs

Is Scratch programming easy?

Scratch is a visual programming language designed specifically for beginners, particularly children. It uses drag-and-drop blocks to create scripts, making it easy to learn and understand the basics of programming. Scratch’s intuitive interface and user-friendly features make it an excellent tool for introducing kids to the world of coding.

How do you explain Scratch to a child?

There are many resources available to help kids learn Scratch programming, including:

• Official Scratch website:The Scratch website offers a variety of tutorials,projects,and resources for beginners.
• Online courses:Several online platforms offer Scratch programming courses for kids,such as Codecademy,Tynker,and ScratchJr.
• Books and tutorials:Numerous books and tutorials are available to teach Scratch programming to kids,providing step-by-step instructions and hands-on exercises.
• Scratch clubs and workshops:Many local libraries,community centers,and after-school programs offer Scratch clubs and workshops where kids can learn together and receive guidance from experienced instructors.

How to become an coder before 15?

Becoming a coder before 15 is definitely achievable with dedication and perseverance. Here are some tips to get started:

• Start early:The earlier you start learning,the more comfortable you’ll become with coding concepts and techniques.
• Choose a beginner-friendly programming language:Scratch,Python,and JavaScript are excellent choices for beginners due to their simplicity and user-friendly nature.
• Practice regularly:Consistent practice is crucial for developing coding skills.Set aside time each day or week to practice coding and work on projects.
• Seek help when needed:Don’t hesitate to seek help from parents,teachers,or online resources when you encounter challenges or need clarification.
• Join online communities:Participate in online coding communities and forums to interact with other coders,ask questions,and learn from their experiences.

Is Scratch a free website?

Yes, Scratch is a completely free website and offline editor. Anyone can create an account and start coding without any cost. Scratch is supported by the Scratch Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to providing free educational resources for kids.

How to learn Scratch step by step?

Here’s a step-by-step approach to learning Scratch:

1. Explore Scratch:Head to Scratch’s website and check out the interface. You can browse existing projects for inspiration.
2. Get Coding:Start a new project and familiarize yourself with the layout. The coding blocks are on the left, the stage is in the center, and the sprite list is on the right.
3. Build Your Characters:Add sprites (characters) from the library or create your own. You can customize their appearance with costumes.
4. Code with Blocks:Scratch uses drag-and-drop coding blocks. Explore the different categories (motion, looks, sound, etc.) and start with simple commands like moving your sprite.
5. Make it Interactive:Add events like “when green flag clicked” to trigger your code. Use loops and conditional statements to make your program more interactive.
6. Experiment and Share:Don’t be afraid to experiment and try new things.