Scratch Programming for Kids
Use code blocks to program your first games and apps with Scratch. In the meantime, you'll also learn how computers work, in a way that's easy and fun.
For ages 8-12.
Learn to Code, from the Basic Blocks
Yep, no kidding!
We'll use the Scratch programming platform (developed by MIT) to learn the basics of programming. It's a super fun tool to use: all the code blocks look like puzzle or Lego pieces, and we stick them together to create scripts.
WIth these scripts, we can make anything happen on the screen: we'll create motion and visual effects, we'll create 2-player games, we'll make our characters fly and fall to the ground, and we'll program smart enemies.
In this course, we'll make programming games look like a game.
What We'll Build
Motion and Visual Effects
In the first chapter of the course, we'll familiarize ourselves with the Scratch programming tool and we'll use our first building blocks to create something that we can immediately see on screen.
With even the simplest scripts, we'll make our characters move on screen and program some really cool visual effects on them.
Pong
This will be our first full game that we write in Scratch. We'll learn about positions and directions, how to bounce and how to control things with our keyboard.
This is a two-player game, so you can play this game with a friend!
We'll also discover variables and learn how the computer stores values that we can modify during the game. We'll use this technique to keep the score of our game.
A Paint App
In this project, we will learn to create a drawing app. We'll create this from scratch! We'll design the buttons, the pencil, the magic wand, everything, ourselves.
We also learn a programming technique that we'll later use in the harder games: broadcasting messages, or making Scratch sprites "talk" to each other.
Shoot the Monster
This is one of our first more complex games. We're programming a ship that needs to shoot a monster (or the coronavirus). This time, the monster shoots back at us! In this game, we're programming our first enemy.
We learn how to use clones to shoot bullets, how to create explosion effects, and how to program levels to make the game more challenging.
A Flappy Bird Clone
In this project, we'll create a clone of the famous Flappy Bird game. This time, we learn how to make our character (Flappy the bird) fly, crash and fall to the ground, and we'll program a potentially endless game (if you can play it that long!). This is also our first game with sound effects.
In this game, I'll teach you how gravity works in any video game and how to make multiple scripts run independently.
A Pac-Man Clone
This will be our most challenging game in this course: a clone of Pac-Man, a famous game played by millions of people. In this game, you'll program a player that must eat the cookies (dots) in the maze without getting caught by the ghosts.
In this game, we'll learn to program intelligent enemies that will move on their own and will chase Pac-Man in the maze. I'll show you step by step how to write their scripts. They are the beginning of what computer scientists call algorithms.
Hi, I'm Daniel
I'm a software engineer and teacher, and I'm so excited to teach you to code in Scratch!
I've taught more than 16000 kids to code and I've taught advanced programming techniques to another 30000 professional software engineers who work at some of the best companies in the world.
I'll guide you step by step.
How We Learn
100% Hands-On
In this course, we'll learn by doing. All the projects in the course are practical: when we do something with the code, we'll see the effects immediately after.
Not to mention we are programming games and apps that we can play and share with our friends.
Focus on Intuition
Unlike standard programming classes, we won't focus on the mathematics of computers, because that's a boring way to learn programming.
Instead, we'll learn by trying things, seeing how they work, and only then we'll explain why. This helps kids get a better intuition about how real software works.
Guided Progress
I've chosen these games carefully, in increasing order of challenge, so that we start easy, get comfortable and confident in what we've learned.
As we progress, we'll need a small but healthy dose of effort to complete the games successfully. At the end, we get the reward of our work.
What We'll Learn
- Intro (2:39)
- Controlling Pac-Man in the Maze (12:41)
- Refining Pac-Man's Movement (15:12)
- Inky the Ghost Moves by Itself! (12:30)
- Inky the Ghost Moves by Itself, Part 2 (13:54)
- A Swarm of Ghosts Chasing Pac-Man (15:40)
- Pac-Man's Revenge (17:48)
- Pac-Man's Lives (7:01)
- The Dots (14:12)
- Scoring and Finishing the Game (15:10)
proven on
17000+ kids
(as of January 2021)
FAQ
1. How long is the course?
The course is about 8 hours in length, with videos 7-15 minutes each.
2. Are there any prerequisites?
Nothing is required for the course, except a desktop/laptop computer (any OS will do) and an internet connection. You don't have to install anything on your computer.
3. Can we run the course on a phone?
Unfortunately not. Scratch doesn't work well on mobile, especially if we are actually building the games.
4. Does the course offer certificates?
Yes! Everyone who finishes the course and does all the work in the projects gets a certificate.
5. How do I learn to code?
You'll start simple, with basic Scratch building blocks. Then I'll guide you how to create more complex scripts and games. In the meantime, you'll understand what code is and how computers work.
6. What if I'm not happy with the course?
Just email me at [email protected] and I'll issue a full refund.
7. I can't afford the course. What do I do?
Check out this exact same course on Udemy. Search for "programming for kids" and you'll find it. They might offer a promotion on the course.
8. Can I run the games on my computer or my smartphone?
The games only work while you're on the Scratch website. So if you want to play them like a normal app on the phone, that sadly doesn't work right now.
9. I have another question. What do I do?
Send me an email at [email protected]!