Learn how to code with Scratch to easily create interactive stories, games and animations in this free online course.

Do you or your children like playing video games? This course shows you how to easily create unique games and digital art. We begin by defining ‘sprites’ and explaining how to choose them and define their size, name and location. We go through the steps taken to paint an object, select a backdrop and change its appearance using Scratch ‘costumes’. The course demonstrates how to set the tempo using Scratch ‘tempo’ blocks. We explain how to use ‘event’ blocks to run the script and lay out the types and use of variables in Scratch.

This digital art course then outlines how to move sprites to a particular position on the ‘stage’ using X and Y coordinates. We discuss the use of conditional blocks and how to use iteration blocks to draw shapes before using examples to make iterative development clear. We teach you how to create a script to draw complex shapes and use the ‘ask-and-answer’ blocks to accept and process user text inputs. This course provides the training you need to make simple games and provides examples like ‘Catching the Ball’ to guide you through the process.

Finally, the course shows you how to create advanced games like ‘Cleaning the Ocean’ with Scratch. We equip you with the skills required to animate a sprite and tell stories or create music using two or more objects. This course offers clear instructions to help you navigate Scratch’s simple interface and introduces you to the world of coding to help you solve real-world problems and prepare you for text-based programming. Scratch is a simple entry-level programming language designed to help kids and beginners take their first step in this exciting field. Sign up to learn how to use Scratch to create engaging stories, games and animations and begin your coding career.