Getting Started with

Create your own games, animations,

interactive stories, and more!

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Getting Started
You can use Scratch online at: scratch.mit.edu

Once you’ve navigated to scratch.mit.edu, click Create.

This will bring you to the Scratch Editor, where you can start creating
projects.

If your computer uses an older operating system, or your internet connection

is unreliable, you can download Scratch and use it offline.

Visit https://scratch.mit.edu/download for information on

downloading and installing the Scratch app.

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The Scratch Editor
The Scratch Editor is where you create projects in Scratch. Here are its main
parts:

Blocks Palette The Stage

Blocks for coding your Where your creations come
projects. to life.

Coding Area Sprite List

Drag in blocks and snap Click the thumbnail of
them together to code a sprite to select it.
your sprites.

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Let’s Code!
To code projects in Scratch, you snap together blocks. Start by dragging out
a ”move” block.

Click the block to try it. Does your

cat move?

Now say something!

Click the Looks category.

Drag out a “say” block.

Snap it onto the “move” block.
Click on your blocks to try them.

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What Is a Sprite?
In Scratch, any character or object is called a sprite. Every new project in
Scratch starts with the Cat sprite.

Want to choose a different sprite?

Click the New Sprite icon to

choose a sprite from the library.

Or, hover over the New Sprite icon to see more options to draw your own
sprite, get a surprise sprite, or upload an image from your computer.

Want to delete a sprite from your project?

First, select the sprite by clicking on its thumbnail in the

Sprite List. Then, click the trash can to delete the sprite.

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Where Is Your Sprite?
Every sprite has an x and y position on the Stage.

x is the position of the sprite from left-to-right.

y is the position from top-to-bottom.

At the very center of the stage, x is 0 and y is 0.

When you move your sprite, you

can see its x and y position change.

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Quick Tips
Something not working as expected?

Add temporary waits to slow down

the action and give you time to
process if a piece worked or not.
Once you know the code is working,
you can remove these waits.

Try adjusting the order/the

sequence of the blocks. Ask First…
yourself: What needs to happen
first? What needs to happen Second…
second?
Third…

Separate the blocks and click on

each individually to see what it does.
Is there a similar but different
block option that might work better
in your sequence?

Debugging is finding the errors in your code. You can find more Debugging
strategies by clicking here.

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Next Steps

Many Scratch projects are started when the

user clicks the green flag above the stage.

Click the Events category and drag out the

block you want to activate your code
sequence. Attach your code sequence to the
event block and click the green flag to test.

You can choose to share your projects with

the global Scratch community by clicking the
Share button on your project page.
● Sharing projects allows others to
experience your program and see inside
to explore your code.
● Projects can be unshared at any time
(under “My Stuff”). And commenting can
be turned on or off, based on your
preference.

Embrace remix culture! Remixing is

encouraged in the Scratch community, as it is
a great way to collaborate and connect with
others and can lead to new ideas and also
help others grow as creators. Click the Remix
button on any shared project to create a copy.
Then, make a meaningful change to the
project to personalize it and make it your own.

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Tutorials
There are a range of tutorials available in the Scratch Tutorials Library, which
guide learners in creating projects with Scratch. Students can get started
making their own stories, animations, and games.

You can get to the Tutorials Library from the Scratch Editor by clicking the
Tutorials button.

The Getting Started tutorial will walk you through the basics.

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Tutorials
Once you’ve selected the tutorial, it will open in the Scratch Editor. Click the
green arrow to see each step.

When you’ve reached the end of a tutorial you can select another tutorial, and
keep adding to your project. Click here to the “See More” button to see all the
Tutorials.

You can also look for video tutorials on our official Scratch YouTube page:
https://www.youtube.com/c/ScratchTeam

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Coding Cards
The Scratch Coding Cards provide
another way to learn to create projects
with Scratch. Download the cards at
scratch.mit.edu/ideas.

Each set of cards starts with a title card, showing you what you can create.

The Animate a Character cards are a great set to start with. Each set of
cards starts with examples of what you can create and a list of all the cards in
the set.

After each title card is a

series of cards walking you
through each step of
creating a project.

Add your own sprites,

backdrops and more!

The front of each card

shows you what you can
create…

…and the back shows you

how to do it.

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Get Creative!
Encourage students to use their imagination as you create projects. There are
many different ways they can make their Scratch projects unique.

Create your own unique and original

sprites! See our guides for more on:
● Bringing Your Drawings Into Scratch

● Creating a Sprite with the Paint Editor

● Remixing and Re-imagining Sprites

Choose a sound or record your own. See

our guide Sound: Add, Record, and Use Text
to Speech Blocks for more information.

Try changing numbers or adding blocks to

your code to see what happens. Experiment
and customize your project however you want!

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Choose Your Color Mode
We want to make sure everything on the site is easy to read so more people
can express themselves on Scratch, and we want to follow Web Content
Accessibility Guidelines. So Scratchers have the option to use High Contrast
blocks, which will be easier for some people to read, or stick with the original
block colors as they work in the project editor.

Set your mode in the project editor under Settings > Color Mode. And you
can always toggle the color mode back and forth if your preference changes.
Original High Contrast

Choose Your Language

Do you, or a Scratcher you are working with, read/work in a language other
than English? You can adjust the language of the project editor under Settings
> Language. Or set the language at the bottom of many of our site pages.

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Educators
Looking for even more resources?

● Teacher Account Guide for more information on setting up teacher accounts and
managing classes

● Studio Guide for more on creating studios

● “Bring Yourself Into Scratch” Lesson Plan to use Scratch to help your students
get to know their classmates and build community based on shared values

● Project Planning Sheet to help students prepare to create their first project

● Show-and-Tell Sharing Sheet or Project Gallery Walk Self Reflection and

Peer Feedback Sheet for use with students when sharing their work

● Debugging Strategies Posters for a collection of possible strategies to use to

help your students get unstuck

● Debugging Reflection Worksheet to help learners reflect on what they learned

Tip: If you’d like to translate this guide, click here to make a copy of this Google doc.

Created by the Scratch Foundation (scratchfoundation.org). Shared under the

Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International Public License (CCbySA 4.0).