Introducing Scratch 3.0: Expanding the Creative Possibilities of Coding

The Scratch Team
The Scratch Team Blog
3 min readJan 2, 2019
Today, we’re launching Scratch 3.0, the next generation of Scratch, that expands how, what, and where kids can create with code.

Over the past decade, millions of kids around the world have used Scratch to code their own interactive games, stories, animations, and more. This outpouring of creativity inspires us to continue to extend and improve Scratch, so that kids everywhere have new opportunities to express themselves creatively with new technologies.

Today, we’re launching Scratch 3.0, a new generation of Scratch that expands how, what, and where kids can create with code. As we’ve tested prototypes of Scratch 3.0, we’ve been amazed by the projects that kids have made — like a hedgehog that speaks French, a hippopotamus that dances to hip-hop, and a soccer game you control with your shoe.

Here’s what’s new in Scratch 3.0:

In Scratch 3.0, you can add collections of extra blocks called “extensions” that enable you to do more with Scratch.

Scratch Extensions

With Scratch extensions, you can keep adding new coding blocks to Scratch. Program motors, lights, and sensors with the LEGO® Education WeDo 2.0, LEGO® MINDSTORMS® Education EV3, and micro:bit extensions. Program characters to speak in other languages with the Google Translate extension, or to talk out loud with the Amazon Text-to-Speech extension. You can even program characters to respond to your body movements using your webcam and the Video Sensing extension.This library of extensions will continue to grow over time, expanding what you can create with Scratch.

To help kids get started with Scratch, there is a new collection of tutorials and “how to” videos.

New Tutorials and Activities

Whether you’re just getting started or looking for inspiration, the new Ideas section of the website includes tutorials for everyone. Animate a character, make music, or create an adventure game with Cartoon Network characters. You can find more activities and full coding curricula from Raspberry Pi Code Club, Google CS First, and the ScratchEd Creative Computing Curriculum Guide.

Scratch 3.0 comes with new, easily remixable characters, backdrops, and sounds.

New Characters, Sounds, and Backgrounds

Tacos, dinosaurs, mermaids, and shoes! Beats, sneezes, squawks, and squeaks. Jungles, concert halls, mountains, and stadiums. We worked with artists to create lots of new, easily remixable characters, sounds, and backgrounds. There are also improved paint and sound editors for creating and editing your own images and sounds.

Scratch Everywhere

Scratch 3.0 is designed to work in any current browser and on a wide variety of devices — including touch devices like tablets. No internet? No problem. Scratch 3.0 has an offline editor called Scratch Desktop.

Scratch has always been more than a coding platform. What makes Scratch special is the global community of kids, educators, families, and organizations who are creating and sharing projects, developing tutorials and resources, and hosting in-person events, workshops, and conferences. We’re looking forward to seeing what you all do with this new generation of Scratch.

Scratch On!

Media Kit
Scratch 3.0 FAQ
Scratch overview video

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The Scratch Team Blog
The Scratch Team Blog

Published in The Scratch Team Blog

Scratch is a project of the Lifelong Kindergarten Group at the MIT Media Lab.

The Scratch Team
The Scratch Team

Written by The Scratch Team

Scratch is a programming language and the world’s largest online community for kids. Find us at scratch.mit.edu.

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