Scratch for Children 2

A first coding app for children who cannot read yet.

Snap picture blocks together and a character walks, jumps, talks and sings.

There is nothing to read. A child looks at the blocks, joins them up, and

presses the green flag.

■ Four doors

Make something new

Start with an empty stage. Pick a character, pick a background, join some blocks.

My projects

Everything they make ends up here. There is no save button. It saves itself.

Examples & stories

Easy ones first. Press them, then change them. See how one was made and try the

same thing, or read a story and change the ending however you like.

Exhibit

Look at what other children have sent in, and press a heart on the ones you like.

■ They can draw, too

If the character they want is not there, they can draw it. If it nearly is, they

can change it. Paint, erase, start again.

■ For the grown-up

· No adverts.

· No account. We do not ask for a name, a birthday or a phone number.

· No payments and no in-app purchases.

· Works with no connection. The pictures and sounds are inside the app.

· Projects are stored on the child's own device.

· 21 languages.

■ How the exhibit works

Sending a project to the exhibit is optional, and it sits behind a step only a

grown-up can get past.

Projects do not go up straight away. A person looks at each one and puts it in

the exhibit if it is fine. This can take a few days.

We do not ask for real names - only a nickname the child chooses. A project can

be taken down again at any time, and anyone who sees something wrong can flag it

from inside the app. A flagged project is not pulled automatically; a person

looks at it again.

■ Who it suits

Usually five to seven. Younger children enjoy just moving a character around,

and past eight some are ready for Scratch (scratch.mit.edu).

The blocks are all pictures. The only text is in the say block and in the

project name.

■ Who made it

Made by CodingTeading.

Built on ScratchJr, an open-source project by the DevTech Research Group at

Tufts University, the Lifelong Kindergarten Group at the MIT Media Lab, and the

Playful Invention Company. This app is not affiliated with or endorsed by them.

The object drawings are Microsoft Fluent Emoji (MIT licence), recoloured to this

app's palette. The characters, backgrounds and interface artwork are original.

Also on the web: scratchild2.codingteading.com

Contact: [email protected]