Imagine if every child could design their own creative assistant that reflects how they think, what excites them, and how they want to learn. We’re bringing that vision to life through an AI-powered tool that puts creative control in kids’ hands. Whether they want a debugging assistant, a storytelling partner, or a discovery tool to find peers and projects, young people decide how their assistant helps them create. For nearly two decades, children have been using Scratch to create, connect, and grow. Scratch made coding creative. Now, it’s doing the same for AI.

We’re excited to announce the upcoming Creative Learning Assistant (CLA), a new, opt-in feature designed to support children as they learn and create with Scratch. The CLA offers help only when asked, guiding young creators through moments of curiosity and uncertainty while prioritizing their agency. Beyond assistance, it reimagines search and discovery as a dynamic, social, and reflective experience that surfaces surprising ideas, enables personalized exploration, and amplifies peer connection. With the CLA, every child can find the right inspiration at the right time for them.

Meet Scratch’s CLA

Scratchers create nearly half a million projects every day, and they need a wide range of support: some could use a little assistance to find out why their code isn’t working the way they want it to, while others are stuck imagining what to create. Three in four Scratchers never share a project, hampering their ability to find support and connections within the community. We’re envisioning a different path forward. With the help of a creative co-pilot, Scratchers will be supported through every stage of the creative learning spiral: Imagine → Create → Play → Share → Reflect. Unlike conventional AI tools that focus on efficiency or automation, the CLA is built to nurture curiosity, spark ideas, and deepen learning.

Research shows that when kids connect with peers in positive digital spaces, their sense of well-being soars. That’s why we’re designing our CLA to bring Scratchers together. Imagine a child who loves to dance, stuck wondering how others sync up their animations to music in Scratch. Our CLA can break her question down into manageable steps that guide her to learn from her peers in the community. It may start by recommending she check out a dance party animation made by a fellow Scratcher. Then, it could prompt her to open the project’s code and explore the scripts that help the characters move in time to the beat. Once she’s improved her timing, the CLA could congratulate her and suggest that she leave a comment to thank the Scratcher who taught her something new. What was previously a frustrating, solitary roadblock transforms into a guided, social, and reflective experience.

Committed to Our Values

We’re centering our work in AI around the 4 Cs: developing features that nurture curiosity, caring, collaboration, and creativity. As our founder Professor Mitchel Resnick has shared, these attributes are more critical now than ever:

“We need to expand opportunities for children to develop the most human of their abilities. That is, we need to help them develop as creative, curious, caring, and collaborative learners. These qualities have always been important, but they are more important now than ever before, given the technological and political disruptions confronting today’s societies.”

–Prof. Mitchel Resnick

Share Your Thoughts!

Scratch’s CLA is about deepening curiosity, supporting expression, and cultivating joyful, meaningful connections. This feature is still in development, and we look forward to sharing more with you soon. Want to get a sneak peek at the CLA? Join the virtual Scratch Conference on July 24th for a live AI demonstration with Scratch’s developers!

We’d love to hear your thoughts, questions, and suggestions. Visit our feedback form to share them with us, and be sure to attend the Scratch Conference to hear the answers to some of your questions live from the Scratch Team.

Coming Soon: Your Creative Learning Assistant was originally published in The Scratch Team Blog on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Get started with Animate a Name!

Animate a Name is one of Scratch’s most popular and beginner-friendly tutorials, perfect for familiarizing yourself with Scratch’s tools while making something personalized. Try animating the names of family members with some of their favorite things — think a “B” with a bouncing basketball or floating butterfly, or an acrostic poem with fun adjectives and descriptors. This tutorial is available inside the Scratch editor, so you can follow along while you code.

Celebrate furry friends with How to Make a Virtual Pet!

How to Make a Virtual Pet invites Scratchers to make a digital friend and imagine ways to take care of them. Have a pet at home? Try reimagining them in Scratch — how would they like to play? What are some of their favorite snacks? Could you brush them or give them a bubble bath? If your child’s imagination is running wild, think outside the box! Imagine a fantastical pet like a dragon, centaur, or dinosaur — with Scratch’s extensive sprite library, drawing tools, and photo upload tool, the sky’s the limit.

Code your story with How to Make a Story in Scratch!

Want a new way to relive all your vacation memories and summertime fun? Skip the vacation slideshows and try making a story in Scratch! This tutorial walks you through creating a character, setting a scene, and adding dialogue and animation. Recreate memorable trips, special gatherings, and beyond, or escape a rainy summer day by imagining an out-of-this-world family journey: road trip to space, anyone?

Don’t just play it, make it — with How to Animate an Adventure Game!

Does your child love playing video games? We believe one of the best ways to get kids excited about learning is to find activities that speak to their passions. With our How to Animate an Adventure Game tutorial, your child can create their own fun, interactive game with some of their favorite characters from Cartoon Network! Create a score counter, choose items for your character to collect, give them dialogue and movement, and more. Find this tutorial inside the Scratch editor!

Get everyone in on the fun with Face Sensing!

In Scratch Lab, we’re testing experimental new Scratch blocks and gathering feedback from the community before we incorporate them into Scratch. Want to become a beta tester and create Snapchat-style image filters? Try our Face Sensing tutorial! With Face Sensing blocks, you can create hats, glasses, moustaches, and more silly accoutrements that “snap” to different parts of your face using a specialized AI technology (don’t worry — your data stays safe and secure on your local device). Once you’ve made your project, invite the whole family to check it out! Face Sensing projects are inherently interactive and shareable, making them a great way to invite friends and family into your child’s coding adventures.

Ready to jump into your Summer of Scratch? We can’t wait to see what you create. Check out our Ideas page and the Scratch Team YouTube channel for even more tutorials and how-to guides. And stop by the Scratch Store to find stylish gear for all your summer fun — from Scratch Cat frisbees to tees, tanks, and BBQ aprons!

Sources:
https://www.brookings.edu/articles/summer-learning-loss-what-is-it-and-what-can-we-do-about-it/

Start Your Summer of Scratch with 5 Family-Friendly Tutorials! was originally published in The Scratch Team Blog on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

“What We Say Really Holds Weight”

For Lisa, helping students understand what they’re capable of is personal. Childhood teachers told Lisa she wasn’t “math-brained.” Some even categorized her and her classmates into two groups: “my geniuses” and “the rest.” As she furthered her education and achieved her second Master’s Degree in Educational Technology, she realized that she was skilled at math, but her teachers had written her off because she wasn’t solving problems their way. This didactic approach left Lisa with a lasting impression of herself that was completely unfounded.

“Having that [experience] has led me into being a teacher not just of my students, but of other educators,” she says. “That is part of my passion, too — to uplift the voices of educators and help them uplift their students’ voices. What we say really holds weight … We could hear all the positive feedback in the world, but we always hold onto the negative things that were said to us.”

Now, students are the stars in Lisa’s classroom: from helping to choose tools like Scratch to weighing in on lesson plans, their feedback guides Lisa every step of the way. She believes that empowering students to take ownership of their learning has made all the difference in building their confidence and skills.

Motocross & Minecraft: Embracing Student Passions

Lisa celebrates the fact that students come to her classroom with knowledge not just from school, but from athletics, hobbies, and life experiences. Their interests inspire her to create unique lesson plans that make an impact on their learning for years to come.

Several years ago, Minecraft fever was sweeping Lisa’s classroom. A student’s mother asked Lisa to tell her child that playing Minecraft every day wouldn’t get him into college. Lisa suggested a different approach.

“I love for my students to see … all that they could be, all that their skills could lead them to. And just let them hear the human experience that no one had a straight shot from ‘I have this dream’ to ‘I got there.’ I like them to hear success, and define success on their own terms,” she says.

She invited her uncle, an architect, to talk to students about designing buildings. To bring the guest lecture to life, students explored the blueprints for their own school and discussed the design decisions the architects made. Then, Lisa channeled the class’s enthusiasm into a lesson plan: create a school in Minecraft or Scratch, using design parameters like extreme weather, transportation limitations, or drought conditions. For the Minecraft-loving student, the project was transformative. He’s since joined STEM afterschool clubs and hopes to attend a STEM high school, specializing in architecture and “making a difference with what he builds.”

Lisa’s classroom is full of stories like this. Last year, she taught a young motocross champion. The student thrived in competitions but struggled with her coursework, rushing through problems and struggling to understand the utility of academics. Lisa used Scratch to help the student see that she wasn’t “just an athlete”: she was a talented engineer with a strong grasp of mechanical concepts. Once she discovered what those skills could help her create, everything started to click.

“What I found with her is once she loved [coding], she’d get very focused and zero in,” says Lisa. “Well, that [focus] started to transfer into her academics. In her own words, she says, ‘I think I’m slowing down more. It’s like I’m debugging all of my work.’”

Now, that student is excelling in her sport and in the classroom. She started her own code club in middle school and is a leader in her peer group. Successes like these remind Lisa of why she loves using Scratch to bring subjects to life.

“[Scratch] is not just a Friday afternoon, ‘Go play for a few minutes.’ These are the skills that are going to build your students. They will transfer. I promise you,” she says. “Make it part of the curriculum. Integrate it into what you’re teaching across. And you’re going to see the reading come out. You’re going to see those writing skills improve. You’re going to see the math skills, the perseverance to have that productive struggle. This is a natural way of building confidence, of working through it. … It’s just so impactful for these kids, year after year. I’m such a believer in Scratch and letting their brains lead the classroom.”

What’s Next: Mythflix and Beyond

One of Lisa’s newest projects, “Mythflix,” was inspired by the many lesson plans before it that centered student agency, technology, and passion. Lisa invited students to create their own Netflix-inspired TV series reimagining classic Greek myths. As they plotted and animated their episodes in Scratch, they improved their literacy skills, learned to work with AI tools, and gained a deeper appreciation for the source material. While Lisa challenged them to make one episode, she says that every single student has made multiple, with some endeavoring to finish an entire series. The project also encouraged healthy collaboration between students, breaking down social and gender divides — peers who used to butt heads were voicing each other’s characters and swapping Scratch tips and tricks.

“Those labels? None of that exists,” says Lisa. “I could walk around and show you every [Mythflix] project and I could ask you, ‘Who’s my EL learner? Who’s gifted? Who’s my struggling reader or struggling with math?’ You wouldn’t know, because children will when they know they can.”

The energy around Mythflix was contagious — Lisa’s students are now teaching students in other classrooms to make their own animated series. Like Lisa, they’re energized by sharing their knowledge and empowering others to create. She’s been told that her students leave her class as “mini-mes,” spreading her motto everywhere they go: “Yes, you can!”

Next year, Lisa is building a computer science induction program to mentor new teachers and help them integrate computer science into their classrooms. She’s excited for the opportunity to expose more educators to the transformative power of programs like Scratch.

Her best advice for new Scratch teachers? “When it comes to coding and to CS, to STEM and project-based learning, failure is the fun part because we’re so used to ‘right or wrong’ in education. [Students] get to learn, OK, where are my mistakes? Let me grow from there. We have to show it’s OK to not know … Don’t be afraid to just try. Start small and then just let them go. They’re going to invent a whole new world that you’re not even seeing yet, but they’ll bring you there and you’ll be right along with them. You just have to loosen the reins and have fun with what you’re doing.”

Beyond Labels: Empowering Students Through Creative Coding was originally published in The Scratch Team Blog on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

With more than 140 million users around the world, Scratch has grown into a global platform where young people express themselves, explore ideas, and build community through creative coding. With this extraordinary scale comes both opportunity and responsibility. As stewards of this digital space, the Scratch Foundation is deeply committed to ensuring that the platform remains a place where creativity can flourish safely. For nearly two decades, we’ve grounded our work in the steadfast belief that children deserve tools that center their passions and curiosities, and are also trustworthy and safe for young people to use. We are carrying forward this legacy into our integration of AI in Scratch — centering young people’s agency, safeguarding their experiences, and upholding the values that have always made Scratch a space where kids can create what they imagine.

As we begin to explore how we might use AI as a creative tool we’ve developed a set of “Guiding Stars” and “Lines in the Sand.” Our goal is to ensure that our use of AI is not just ethical and responsible, but also true to our creative learning principles. We’re excited to find new ways to use AI to help kids create and learn, but we are proceeding with care, so that anything we add to Scratch aligns with the values that have always been exemplified within the platform.

Guiding Stars

Our “Guiding Stars” shape the design of AI features:

• Creativity: Empower kids’ self-expression
• Agency: Keep power and choice in kids’ hands
• Equity: Make it free, fair, inclusive, and accessible
• Community: Emphasize human connection and collaboration

We aim to lead the way in introducing generative AI tools for kids that amplify their creativity rather than replacing it. By centering young people’s decisions in how they engage with AI, we put kids in control every step of the way. Our AI features will be free for kids everywhere. We’ll use best practices to mitigate bias and meet accessibility standards. And most importantly, people will stay at the heart of Scratch: kids, educators, parents, and beyond. Our use of AI will embrace human creativity, imagination, and connection, enabling young people to solve problems, design projects, and create new possibilities.

Lines in the Sand

Our “Lines in the Sand” are boundaries we set for the responsible use of AI in Scratch:

• Safe: Prevent harmful content
• Ethical: Protect children’s data
• Transparent: Share information about how it works
• Human-Centered: Never undermine human agency or relationships

While AI is changing rapidly, our values are not. By anchoring our work in these values, we are being intentional about the ways in which we will use AI responsibly. We’re developing our own strategies for guaranteeing that the tools we provide are safe and age-appropriate. And we’re rigorously and ethically protecting the data with which our users entrust us. As we iteratively develop and refine new tools, we’re integrating feedback and ideas from young people and educators. We’ll be transparent about the design and technology choices we make, and why we make them. And we’ll always keep the needs of people, especially kids, at the heart of our process.

Stay Tuned

But what are we actually working on? Look for a sneak peek at our Creative AI project in an upcoming post, where we’ll share a behind-the-scenes look at an AI tool that offers support for ideation, coding, debugging, reflection, and more.

Acknowledgements

This post was written with input from Scratch Foundation staff and others including (alphabetically): Kevin Bedeau, Will Dickerson, Andy Forest, Tif Gagnon, Margaret Honey, Maria Janelli, Becky Pfund, Mitch Resnick, Eric Rosenbaum, Kaylen Sanders and Annie Whitehouse.

Introducing: Creative AI at Scratch was originally published in The Scratch Team Blog on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Every year, there are hundreds of Scratch Day events happening in classrooms, clubs, libraries, community centers, and beyond worldwide. In 2024, there were over 800 Scratch Days! Scratch Days bring kids, educators, families, and communities together to celebrate creative coding. With Scratch’s how-to guides, videos, organizer toolkits, and more, anyone can host a Scratch Day event that’s perfect for their community.

Scratch Day 101

What began as a birthday celebration for Scratch has become a global network of events where people gather to celebrate ScratchJr and Scratch, the free creative coding platform and online community for kids. Scratch Days bring together young people from the Scratch and ScratchJr communities to share projects, learn from each other, and welcome newcomers.

There’s no “right way” to host a Scratch Day: your event can be big or small, in-person or virtual, in school or in a community center. Brainstorm Scratch and computer-science-themed activities that engage your audience like arts and crafts, Scratch challenges, photo booths, a Scratch arcade, or something totally new! Your event doesn’t need to be costly — for example, you can repurpose materials you already have, encourage your community to bring their own devices, and decorate with student-made art. Like the Scratch platform, Scratch Days are intentionally flexible to fit the needs and interests of your learners and local community.

The Scratch Team has created some resources to help you imagine engaging activities and get the word out about your own Scratch Day:

😸 Scratch Day Organizer Planning Toolkit (newly updated for 2025!)
This multimedia toolkit has everything you need to get started for Scratch Day — find ideas for agendas and activities, get inspiration from Scratch Day events held around the world, discover facilitation tips, and access free downloads of promotional materials, posters, and more.

😸 Scratch Day Media Kit (newly updated for 2025!)
Get the word out to your community with our Media Kit. Find Scratch Day-themed illustrations, images, and logos to create compelling handouts, social media posts, and more.

💡 Scratch Team Tip: Local outlets like newspapers, parent and family blogs, Facebook community groups, and beyond publish event calendars. Many of these outlets will allow you to submit your event to their calendar for free. This is a great way to reach out to community members who aren’t already in your network without a budget-breaking advertising campaign.

😸 Scratch Day Map
Want to let the world know how they can join your Scratch Day celebration, and add your event to our global network? Submit your event to the Scratch Day Map!

Scenes from Scratch Days Around the US

In 2024, the Scratch Foundation partnered with several organizations from our Scratch Education Collaborative program to support their Scratch Day celebrations. Serving a diverse range of communities across the United States, these organizations hosted Scratch Days that were the perfect fit for their participants. Hear from some of our pilot participants to see how different approaches to Scratch Day events can yield amazing results!

💡 Scratch Team Tip: Scratch Days can be impactful and engaging no matter how much you spend. But if your plans are outpacing your budget, try reaching out to local businesses who provide community support; like banks, grocery stores, or restaurants; to sponsor your event.

Maine Indian Education — Indian Island, Maine

Maine Indian Education serves Native communities in Maine. Their two events, hosted at Sipayik Elementary School and Indian Island School, engaged students in grades PreK-8 and community members of the Passamaquoddy Tribe in Sipayik and the Penobscot Tribe in Indian Island. Sipayik School’s main goal was to showcase and celebrate student work to inspire the next generation of Scratchers, while Indian Island’s main goal was to build momentum for more technology-based learning.

“[Scratch Day was] an incredible ‘blending’ opportunity that highlighted the creativeness and adaptability of Passamaquoddy language and culture.” — Technology/After School Program Coordinator

In Sipayik, students were challenged to incorporate the Passamaquoddy language and culture into their Scratch projects, and modeled this by using the language in Scratch Day booths. Students projected their work on large screens and led Scratch tutorials for the community throughout the day.

In Indian Island, the team created a variety of Scratch-Cat-themed stations to bring the event together: participants explored Scratch’s Makey Makey and micro:bit extensions, tried a “Scratch Cat Build Battle,” crafted in a “Create Anything from Scratch Booth,” explored an obstacle course, and beyond!

Both schools benefited from the help of students: young leaders were present in every stage of the event, from leading coding demonstrations to event planning. They even made a promotional animation for their event using Scratch (above)! MIE’s best advice: “Don’t be afraid to utilize your students! They were so excited to plan, help set up, decorate, AND they were so proud to help organize and run their very own booths!”

Center for Cyber Education | MissST — Mississippi

The Center for Cyber Education works to incorporate Computer Science curricula into Mississippi classrooms. Their event aimed to expose kids and families to computer science and its possibilities for their futures through hands-on activities. They prioritized parents learning alongside their kids to amazing results, using family-friendly venues like the Children’s Museum to attract more parents and kids.

“Please have this event again-we LOVED it and I’d love to bring little sisters next time! Thank y’all!” — Local student

On their Family Night, they put a unique twist on Scratch’s Animate a Name tutorial: students taught their parents the basics of block coding to create a “family banner.” This role reversal is a great way to empower young leaders while encouraging parents to lean into learning. They also engaged families with a Makey-Makey playground, Scratch race, robot playground, light-up animals, and even more interactive activities.

The Center for Cyber Education used Scratch Day to increase connections with local schools, enabling them to further their mission to embed more Computer Science curricula into classrooms. Their best advice? Plan for accommodations for diverse learners, understand your electronic needs, make room for last-minute schedule changes ahead of time — and most importantly, “it always takes more volunteers than you think it does!”

Imagine, Create, Share!

With the Scratch Team’s tools, inspiration from others, and your imagination, you can create a Scratch Day event that is perfect for your community this year. Be sure to submit your event to the Scratch Day map and share your celebration with us on social media!

@scratch on X | @scratchteam on Instagram | @scratchteam on Facebook | @Scratch Foundation on LinkedIn

How to Host Your Own Scratch Day: New for 2025! was originally published in The Scratch Team Blog on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

This is the third and final blog post in a series of three blog posts about the Scratch Foundation’s children’s well-being research. You can read the first one here, and the second one here.

How Scratch is Fueling Children’s Creativity, Relationships, and Well-being

In today’s digital landscape, where play and learning increasingly intersect, Scratch is a hub of creativity, collaboration, and growth for tens of millions of children worldwide. The Scratch Foundation’s recent research study, supported by The LEGO Foundation through the Responsible Innovation in Technology for Children (RITEC) initiative, delves into the impact of engagement in digital spaces on children’s well-being.

The RITEC Study: Unpacking Children’s Digital Well-being

Launched in January 2024, the study explores two key questions: How can we identify, measure, and design to support children’s engagement with Scratch? And how do key well-being indicators — relationships, competence, autonomy, and creativity — vary across different demographics such as country, gender, and age?

Utilizing a mixed-methods approach that includes statistical analyses, thematic coding, and interviews with members of Scratch’s Youth Advisory Board, the study shows how Scratch is more than just a coding platform — it is a thriving ecosystem where young people develop critical life skills and foster meaningful connections.

Scratchers as Creators and Collaborators

One of the standout findings of the study is the identification of three primary user profiles that illustrate the diverse ways children engage with Scratch:

• Social Creators: These Scratchers thrive on interaction, and engaging in studio collaborations. They are most likely to comment and love projects, and form connections within the community. Younger Scratchers (ages 10–14), males and non-binary users, are more prevalent in this group, especially boys in Japan. Other countries where social creation is more prevalent are Australia, Canada, the United States and the United Kingdom.
• Code Creators: Driven by skill development and technical experimentation, these users focus on producing original content and exploring advanced coding techniques. Older Scratchers are more likely to be a part of this group. Their presence transcends gender, showcasing a universal interest across genders in creative problem-solving.
• Remix Creators: These Scratchers remix, create and share projects frequently, as well as post their projects in studios. Younger Scratchers are more prevalent in this group and as they get older, their presence decreases. These users are more inclined to use others’ projects as templates and build off of the community’s ideas and code. There are more users who belong to this profile in the United States, the United Kingdom and Bulgaria, and this group is relevant to all genders.

What Are Kids Creating?

Children are leveraging Scratch to produce a wide range of creative projects. The study identified four major themes:

• Games: engaging, interactive experiences that often involve collaboration and feedback from peers
• Art and Animation: a visual playground where children express their artistic talents
• Educational Projects: tutorials and school projects crafted by kids, for kids
• Identity and Personalization: projects that reflect personal interests, values, and self-expression

Notably, the study found that girls and non-binary users tend to favor projects centered on identity and self-expression, while boys are more inclined toward game development and remixing.

Fostering Emotional and Social Growth

Scratch serves as more than a digital canvas; it’s a social hub that nurtures emotional and social well-being. The study found that:

86% of Scratchers enjoy connecting with others on the platform.

81% feel empowered to share their ideas freely.

87% experience joy while using Scratch.

Through in-depth interviews, researchers learned that many Scratchers find motivation and a sense of belonging in the online community. A prime example is the Girls Who Don’t Fit In studio, one of Scratch’s largest and most active studios, which offers a safe and inspiring space for users to express their unique identities and support one another.

Why This Matters for the Future of Digital Play

The RITEC study underscores the importance of designing digital environments that prioritize children’s well-being. Scratch’s ability to foster creativity, and autonomy, build transcultural relationships among kids, and teach them STEM competencies provides valuable insights into how digital platforms can serve as empowering spaces for young learners. These findings highlight Scratch as a model for future digital tools aimed at fostering holistic child development.

Next Steps: Evolving Scratch for Greater Impact

Based on the research findings, the Scratch Foundation is exploring several opportunities to further enhance the platform, including:

• expanding community features to strengthen collaboration and mentorship;
• developing content tailored to underrepresented user groups to foster greater inclusivity;
• and introducing real-time feedback tools to better understand and support the evolving needs of Scratchers.

As Scratch continues to evolve, its mission remains clear: to help kids everywhere create what they imagine, and to provide a vibrant, supportive community where they can share their creations.

The insights from the RITEC study reaffirm that platforms like Scratch play a crucial role in shaping the future of digital play — a future where creativity, connection, and well-being are at the forefront.

Exploring Engagement and Well-being in the Scratch Community: Part 3 was originally published in The Scratch Team Blog on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Just like our far-reaching global community, the Youth Advisory Board represents an array of perspectives: the 50 members are aged 8–17, representing 14 countries on 5 continents. They have big dreams for the future — some hope to explore STEM fields, like video game development or software engineering, while others hope to act, write, or start their own businesses. As Youth Advisory Board members, they playtest and co-design new Scratch tools and features, lead and mentor Scratchers in community events, and collaborate with Scratch Team members, leaving a lasting impact on the Scratch community. In 2024, Youth Advisory Board members shared insights through nearly 300 survey responses, 49 individual meetings or focus groups, and more than 2,700 comments in an online collaborative space. Their contributions helped shape the Scratch Foundation’s mission statement, Scratch platform updates, and beyond.

We asked some of these young leaders to share their thoughts on leadership in Scratch, the Youth Advisory Board, and more.

What has your experience been like in the Youth Advisory Board?

My journey in this program has been exciting and full of transformation. Participating in events like Scratchtober and the Hour of Code 2024 was indeed the best part I ever faced. Working with my awesome teammates collaboratively, despite my disliking teamwork, has been incredibly rewarding. The biggest surprise I never expected was customizing Scratch with our own ideas and seeing them come to life.
–ZendraGames, Sri Lanka

My favorite part is that I’ve been able to share my own thoughts and feedback about Scratch with the Scratch Team and fellow Scratchers, and I feel like I’m heard. But I’ve also enjoyed meeting other amazing Scratchers who I never would’ve met otherwise.
–astrabufforpington, United States

The experience has been super cool. I have been able to help the Scratch Team with handling the community with events like Scratchtober, and I’ve been able to help shape the next version of Scratch. My favorite part of my time here has been sharing feedback on new features coming to Scratch soon.
–p-p-p-p-p-p-p-p-p-p-, United States

What would you tell someone who is new to Scratch and doesn’t know where to start?

Have fun! Try not to limit yourself. If you’re struggling for ideas then try checking out the latest Scratch Design Studio! There are many folks there willing to help you out and many ideas you can take inspiration from! If you’re curious [about] places you can make friends then the Scratch Welcoming Committee is a good place to start! Not only can you make friends, but there are also some projects you can view to help get you started too! If you’re unsure on how to code certain things, there are some tutorials and activity guides in the ‘Ideas’ tab. Whatever you decide to do, just have fun! Scratch is a place all about being creative, testing your limits, improving skills and having fun! No matter what you do, so long as you’re having fun, you’re doing it right!
–Kunimaocode, United Kingdom

Scratch is a dynamic tool and you can quite literally make any of your dreams come true. NEVER assume that Scratch is only for certain types of projects or there are a ton of limitations on what you can do. If you like a hobby, or always had an idea for something you wanted to create someday such as a TV show, game, or even a story, Scratch can make it happen. We have over a billion projects taking creativity to the max and you are more than welcome to explore, explore, explore. Two of my Scratch projects were even proposals for an app that was a finalist at Invention Convention US Nationals — the sky is the limit!
–Goldensun_silverdrop, United States

Just explore! There are so many possibilities on Scratch and although there are tutorials and example projects, you’ll get the most out of it by exploring other projects and your ideas. By exploring you’ll end up creating something that no one has thought of before!
–cherryowl, Australia

What does it mean to be a leader in the Scratch community?

Being a leader on Scratch means being kind, taking time to answer questions and give advice, and being an example to the rest of the community. It’s not about how many followers you have, it’s about the impact you make on other people.
–MeyseyH, United Kingdom

Being a leader in the Scratch community means being someone who helps out and inspires others. It’s about sharing ideas, offering advice when someone’s stuck, and showing that everyone can create something amazing.
–HTEoriginal, United Arab Emirates

All Scratchers are leaders. Leadership can take form in acts of kindness, like offering feedback and advice to new scratchers; acts of mentorship, like helping others with tutorials; and even acts of inspiration, like sharing ideas, projects and studios with everyone. In fact, leadership is integral to the very essence of Scratch — a community where kids lead each other.
–Xamuil2, Hong Kong

What is one lesson you’ve learned from Scratch?

A lesson I’ve learned from Scratch is to never give up! This is especially true for girls like me, who would rather delete all their work than have the wrong code. After my years on Scratch, FAIL, in my dictionary now means “First Attempt in Learning.” Creating an ideal project takes trial and error! I’ve learned to enjoy the journey of making a project more than the outcome.
–Joy-Zen, United States

Scratch is where I built my coding foundation. I didn’t think much of it at first, but then one of my projects blew up, and [the] feedback was overwhelmingly positive. I think Scratch has taught me that there are many good people in the world, and that kids are actually really friendly and kind.
–IronDude12, United States

One lesson I have learned from Scratch is to avoid thinking an idea isn’t worth creating. I had many experiences in the past where I thought my ideas were not worth creating into a project, or that I should wait until I improve my skills to share anything. However, when I did create and share projects, I often found that there were people who appreciated them; regardless, I had created something new and improved my skills. It’s important to remember that learning to code, draw, or use any other creative tool is a journey with no endpoint.
–Thecoder114, United Arab Emirates

Moving forward, the Scratch Foundation plans to expand the Youth Advisory Board program, focusing on inclusivity, empowering underrepresented groups, and bridging online and offline participation. Stay tuned to our blog and social channels to learn more about the Youth Advisory Board’s lasting impact.

Meet the Kids Making Scratch a Better Place! was originally published in The Scratch Team Blog on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

This is the second in a series of three blog posts about the Scratch Foundation’s children’s well-being research. You can read the first post here.

The Scratch Foundation’s Research Team has made substantial progress on the LEGO-supported Responsible Innovation in Technology for Children (RITEC) research study that kicked off in January of 2024. The study, which uses both quantitative and qualitative methodologies, focuses on two primary research questions. The first question explores how we can identify, measure, and ultimately design to support children’s engagement with Scratch. The second question examines platform and other data to identify relationships between four key indicators of well-being — relationships, competence, autonomy, and creativity — and how the presence of these indicators varies across countries, genders, and ages.

Children in every country worldwide have created more than a billion Scratch projects and over 130 million Scratch accounts. With such a huge volume of data to analyze, we were careful to develop an approach that covered the span of Scratchers’ experiences in a manageable data set. In this blog post, we’re sharing the details of our research approach in the hopes that future researchers can learn about assessing large amounts of qualitative data from our methodology and curious readers can discover how we were able to analyze the behaviors of a community as far-reaching as Scratch.

Our methodological approach uses multiple data sources, including:

• Scratch platform data from 29 countries, which include all the countries used in the previous RITEC research studies conducted by UNICEF Innocenti in partnership with University of Sheffield, New York University, the City University of New York, and the Queensland University of Technology, and countries that were part of the top 20 highest new user counts on Scratch in 2024 (RITEC, 2024). The countries in the study include Albania, Australia, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, the Czech Republic, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Iraq, Italy, Japan, Jordan, Mexico, Pakistan, Poland, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Spain, Taiwan, Tanzania, Thailand, Tunisia, Ukraine, the United Kingdom, the United States, and Uruguay.
• Quantitative platform data from Scratch projects (46 variables), Scratch studios (19 variables), and Scratch users (44 variables). A random sample of 1,000 projects created in Scratch was pulled from each of the 29 countries, totaling 29,000 projects. The data was cleaned, removing outliers and any missing values in the gender, country, or age variables, and further reduced by selecting only projects created by Scratchers ages 8–16. This resulted in a total sample size of 17,842 projects. In addition, user-specific data included another data set of 27,146 users from the same 29 countries.
• Real-time data from micro feedback prompts placed in the Scratch interface that invite Scratchers to tell us how they feel when they make projects or participate in the online community.
• Qualitative data from project titles and instructions, and data from RITEC-themed studios created specifically for this study. In addition to project titles and instructions, we also collected comment data and descriptions of users’ “About Me” and “What I’m Working On” sections of their user profiles. Lastly, qualitative data also includes interviews with young Scratchers all over the world who are members of the Scratch Youth Advisory Board.

Our methodological approach includes multiple types of analyses, reflecting the robust amount of information available for this study. The goals of the research are to observe trends in Scratch behavioral data, analyze responses to attitudinal micro feedback prompts, conduct logistic regressions to measure predictive relationships between Scratch user behaviors and demographic indicators like gender and country of origin, and to create Scratch user profiles that demonstrate the occurrence of well-being indicators in different countries, by gender, and by age.

Our quantitative analyses involve running descriptive statistics including means, medians, and ranges for all data points; frequencies of demographic indicators including age, gender, and country; and visualizing frequencies of user behaviors such as sharing, commenting, and remixing in order to better understand trends in behaviors by age, country, and gender. We also conduct logistic regressions to estimate the likelihood of Scratchers sharing and creating art-based projects and code-based projects, and whether these behaviors differ based on gender, age, or country.

Scratch users’ behavioral data is also being used to construct user profiles that describe archetypes of Scratchers by categorizing individuals into groups. For example, if we have Scratchers who create and remix many projects, but don’t participate in social activities in the community, then they will be categorized as “creators”. The data may also show a group of Scratchers who engage in a lot of social behavior (loving and favoriting projects, or commenting on them), but not in project creation. That would be another category (perhaps called “social butterflies”).

Our qualitative analysis approach is a bit different for platform data, which includes searching for themes in project titles, instructions, comments, and “About Me” and “What I’m Working On” sections. For this data, we employ generative artificial intelligence (AI) to assist us in identifying and tallying themes. Prompts are first tested with small subsamples and manually coded for themes to ensure that results are comparable between human coders and AI. Once tests confirm that themes found using manual iterative coding are similar to those found using AI, entire datasets are uploaded to ChatGPT, which generates themes, quantifies their frequencies, and visualizes the results.

We are currently working on collecting micro feedback data across the 29 countries and conducting interviews with Scratchers to complete our data collection. Once this data collection is complete, the next steps will be to thematically code interview data using manual iterative coding, assess micro feedback prompt responses for trends by country, gender, and age, and conduct analyses to describe Scratch user profiles using platform data. We will share findings from the study in the third and final blog post in this RITEC series.

References

Responsible Innovation in Technology for Children (RITEC). (2024). UNICEF Office of Research — Innocenti, Florence. Retrieved from https://www.unicef.org/innocenti/reports/responsible-innovation-technology-children

Exploring Engagement and Well-being in the Scratch Community: Part 2 was originally published in The Scratch Team Blog on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

1. Lesson Plan: Activity Swap

For students that have a grasp of the Scratch basics, Activity Swap is the perfect icebreaker. In this lesson, students use Scratch to share something they are passionate about and then “swap projects” with each other to remix and try out different ideas. Students are invited to create a Scratch project that includes a craft, idea, tutorial, or activity that can serve as inspiration for others. Then, they’ll “swap” with peers to try the activity or expand upon what was shared — for instance, a peer could follow along with a drawing tutorial and share the results, or fold an origami shape based on project instructions. This is a great way for students to get to know each other and share their skills.

Download the lesson plan

Tip: This activity can also work any time learners are in a creative slump or looking for inspiration.

2. Video Series: Make Your Own Asset Pack

An asset pack is a collection of assets (sprites, sounds, backdrops, or costumes) related to a specific theme, project type, cultural event, geographical region, or idea. In our video series, created in collaboration with STEAM for Vietnam, you can learn how to help students create their own asset packs, which they can share with their classmates to explore and remix into their own projects. Students can learn more about each other’s cultures (a holiday asset pack could include traditional garments for a dress-up game, or special food and decorations for celebrations, for example); discover what their classmates are passionate about; and learn how remixing can be an exciting way to collaborate with others.

Check out the video series

3. Lesson Plan: Bring Yourself Into Scratch

Scratch can be an exciting, low-pressure way for students to express themselves. In the Bring Yourself Into Scratch lesson, students are invited to explore multiple pathways to share their identity, voice, and creativity through development of a unique asset (a “sprite” in Scratch) that is meaningful to them. Our worksheets and step-by-step guide walk them through brainstorming, creating, reflecting, and sharing with their peers.

Download the lesson plan
Download printable coding cards

4. Tutorial: How to Make an “About Me” Project in Scratch

Looking for a quick alternative to the Bring Yourself Into Scratch lesson plan? This activity is perfect for Scratch beginners and experts alike, encouraging students to share likes, dislikes, favorite foods, and more with art, text, and whatever they can imagine. At just 8 minutes long, this tutorial is the perfect introduction to a classroom warm-up activity.

Check out the tutorial

5. Tutorial: How to Make a Story in Scratch

Want to give students a new way to share what they’ve been up to this summer, or to tell a story about themselves or their families? The How to Make a Story in Scratch tutorial walks students through creating characters, dialogue, and scenes inside a Scratch project, so they can create a narrative project they’re proud to share with their classmates.

Check out the tutorial

5 Back-to-School Icebreaker Activities with Scratch! was originally published in The Scratch Team Blog on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Have you ever cooked a recipe, made a craft, or imagined a story with your child? The act of creating together can build powerful bonds, help you and your child learn more about one another, and instill a sense of pride when you accomplish goals as a team. Toronto father Darrin Henein is the Director of Design at Shopify and a game designer. When his son began asking him questions about game development, Darrin was enthusiastic about creating together with his family, but knew that starting his children out with classic text-based code was a recipe for frustration. With a little prototyping help from Scratch, the Heneins launched Starchasers: a mobile game that is truly a family affair.

Game On!

Darrin has spent most of his career as a designer in software companies. Motivated by curiosity — he wanted to know how the software he was designing worked — he learned more about engineering and programming as he progressed in the industry. As a longtime gamer (he grew up playing Super Nintendo, which he says “built an appreciation for an art form that I have carried with me”), Darrin has always been interested in the many building blocks that make up a game: art, programming, music, design. Once he gained more skills in software design, he set out to bring his own game ideas to life.

Around 2011, he began creating his first game: Lastronaut. Development took him about two years (“I did it the hard way,” he jokes), and he launched the game on the Apple App Store in 2013. He caught the eye of Apple, who featured the game on their homepage, and Lastronaut quickly surpassed 2 million downloads.

Passing the Controller

Darrin and his wife have two children: Ayla, 10, an artist and a writer; and Sammy, 8, who loves math and computers. Their close-knit family loves playing video games together. Darrin says that as a teacher, his wife gets plenty of opportunities to “share [her] gifts and passions” with their kids. Darrin’s passions, on the other hand, often felt too technical for his children to connect with. But earlier this year, tinkerer Sammy channeled Darrin’s curiosity and asked his dad to explain how his game worked.

“I’ve been writing code for 20 years, so I tried to explain to him, well, this is kind of advanced, like grade eight,” Darrin says. “You have to start at the beginning, in kindergarten. You have to work your way to a place where you’re going to understand this. I could show you how this works, but it’s not going to mean much to you just yet.”

Darrin had heard about Scratch through social media and his work in the technology sector. Because of its low-floor entry point and easy-to-understand block-based interface, it seemed like the perfect place for Sammy to start exploring the world of code. Darrin found a tutorial in the Scratch editor and Sammy began learning through playing. He remixed code, edited sprites, and created the prototype for what would become Starchasers: a simple game where a dog slides back and forth along the screen catching falling stars.

“He was really excited about it and he was trying to ask me, ‘Well, how do I get it on my iPad and how do I give it to my friends?’” says Darrin. “I couldn’t resist saying, ‘Hey, all right, let’s go into my office. Let’s make this for real. You tell me what to do and I’ll write the code.’”

3–2–1…Liftoff!

Artistic Ayla joined in on the excitement by creating new art for the game, from the dog character to celestial backgrounds. Darrin diligently digitized Ayla’s art and adapted the Scratch prototype for the App Store while walking his children through an iterative design process for the first time.

“I would put [Starchasers] on their iPad, and I would know there were issues with it, and bugs. I knew that if you pushed both sides of the screen it would freak out, but I’d wait for them to discover it,” he says. “It was this cycle of understanding: okay, you can give it some instructions, and then you’ve got to see if those instructions do what you thought they would do. This kind of feedback loop, even in Scratch, is a concept that is not familiar to you until you’re actually seeing it in action.”

The family worked through the gauntlet of game design, from creating original songs to collecting screenshots for the App store. They launched Starchasers this June, to many high-fives and congratulations from Sammy and Ayla’s friends. The experience reminded Darrin of his first foray into game design.

“To be alive in a time when I could just sit on a train for three years and make a game during my commute that two million people could play, it was cool to see them go through that same realization loop: Oh, just that laptop in your office? That’s all we needed. We used an open source framework. That’s all we needed to make something that everybody can enjoy,” he says. Just like Darrin’s release of Lastronaut, the kids decided that Starchasers would be available to everyone for free.

Creators, Not Consumers

As a software designer, Darrin loves that his kids are taking an interest in looking beneath the surface of the technology they use every day. He acknowledges that his positions on screen time may differ from other parents, but he sees inherent value in the skills his kids are building when they’re drawing on iPads, building “elaborate tunnels” in Minecraft, or making movies — like problem-solving, hand-eye coordination, and creativity. He likens those productive explorations to his time building with LEGOs as a child.

“I think Scratch fits in that bucket — that’s kind of how [Sammy] got started, because we had told him ‘No more iPad today,’ but I had said, ‘Hey, if you want to try something new, you can spend as much time as you want on things like Scratch,’” says Darrin.

After working on Starchasers, Sammy is interested in becoming a “game maker.” He has his sights set on creating an online multiplayer game (Darrin gamely agreed to help, while conceding it was “10 times as much work [as Starchasers], and even I don’t know how to do some of those things!”). Ayla’s still focused on artistic endeavors — she spends time each night writing stories and drawing beautiful pictures. Darrin feels confident that no matter what career path they choose, they’re headed into a job market that will likely have roles we can’t even imagine now, and their familiarity with technology will serve them well.

Reflecting on the experience, Darrin values the time his family spent building something new together above all.

“We’ve always enjoyed playing video games together as a family. [It’s amazing] to open the door to them and show them that, hey, we can actually make one! We can make our own thing and we can do it together,” he says. “You’ll see right on the [Starchasers] menu I put our three names as credits. For them to be able to take credit for something we’ve made was quite cool. We’ll always have it sitting there in the App store, as long as Apple will have it, as a little memento of the months we spent working on it together.”

Parents of Scratch: Reaching for the Stars with Darrin Henein was originally published in The Scratch Team Blog on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.