– Mitchel Resnick, Director of the Lifelong Kindergarten group at the MIT Media Lab.

We often hear from parents who would like their kids to experiment with coding, but they don’t know where to start. The options can seem a little overwhelming, but we almost always encourage our parents to start their kids with Scratch. Read on to find out why, and for a sneak preview of our own introduction to creative coding for kids, Start with Scratch. 

What is Scratch?

Scratch is a block-based visual programming language developed by MIT. Designed for kids 7-16 years old, kids can use Scratch to program their own interactive stories, games and animations. This is primarily done through dragging, dropping and connecting blocks together to form sequences – making it effortless for those who aren’t proficient with using keyboards to start coding. So basically, Scratch is all the fun of coding with none of the hassle of typing!  

Why Scratch?

For beginners who have no coding experience, Scratch is a great launchpad. Here’s why:

• Visual, block-based programming allows kids to see their code in action and learn concepts without having to type actual code.
• Helps kids learn to think creatively, reason systematically and work collaboratively.
• Makes kids unafraid of failing by lowering the barriers for experimentation and iteration.
• Hosts a collaborative community of young coders, where kids can learn from each other and inspire each other.

Here’s a simple maze game that any kid, who has learnt the basics of Scratch, can create, using basic programming concepts.

Now check out the kind of game kids can create when they’ve learnt more advanced programming concepts and apply it to their projects. Pretty cool, huh?

The Saturday Kids Pedagogy

At Saturday Kids, our students don’t just learn to code – they code to learn.

No lectures, no memorisation, no one right answer. Like real life, we’re all about trying things out yourself, failing, figuring what went wrong and trying again. These are the skills and mindset that will last a lifetime, and how we learn in real life.

We’re all about equipping kids to learn how to learn, and for kids ages 7-10 Start with Scratch is the best way to jump in.

Because the kids who learn to learn become curious, inventive, resourceful human beings who solve real world problems to make a meaningful impact.

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