Congratulations to your kids on learning the basics of scratch programming! You know that scratch is fun, easy to use, and allows your kids to bring their creative ideas to life.
But once they’ve mastered the basics of Scratch, what’s next? This advanced guide will take your kid’s & teen’s coding skills to the next level, helping them create more complex, dynamic, and interactive projects.
Advanced Concepts in Scratch
Before diving into more advanced projects, it’s essential to have some base of key programming concepts that will make Scratch creations easier for your kids.
1. Cloning
Cloning allows kids & teens to create multiple copies of a sprite, each acting independently.
Imagine your kid has a favorite toy, and they want to make lots of copies of it to play with. Cloning in Scratch is like making copies of their toy. Each copy, or “clone,” can do the same things as the original robot, but they can also do their own actions.
Cloning is useful for games where you need many similar objects, like enemies, obstacles, or projectiles.
Use the “create clone of” block to make a clone of a sprite, and then use the “when I start as a clone” block to define the behaviour of each clone. You can see the example code block below.
| create clone of (myself) when I start as a clone forever wait 0.5 seconds change color to red end |
2. Custom Blocks
Custom blocks let kids create their own reusable blocks of code. This helps to keep their code organized, reduces repetition, and makes their projects easier to understand and modify.
On the left side of the Scratch editor, you’ll see a pink section called “My Blocks.” Click on it. Then click the “Make a Block” button.
A window will pop up where kids can name a new block. They can give it a fun name like “JumpTwirl” or “SuperMove.”
After naming their block, they can add the code that they want this block to do. For example, if they wish for their sprite to jump and twirl, they can add a few code blocks to achieve that.
Then in the game, whenever they want to jump and twirl, they can just refer to the custom block.
3. Lists
Lists allow you to store multiple pieces of information in a single variable. To explain in easier terms, let’s consider a wardrobe. Your kids must have a wardrobe and each section of it must be used for different clothing items.
A list in Scratch is like that wardrobe, but instead of clothes, you can store numbers, words, or other pieces of information.
They are useful for keeping track of scores, inventories, or sequences of actions.
Kids can create a list from the “Variables” menu, then use blocks like “add to list,” “delete from list,” and “for each item in list” to manipulate the list.
For example, your kid has created a list and named it “ My Toys.” Once they have their list, they can start adding items to it. Here’s how:
| add [Teddy Bear] to [My Toys] |
4. Broadcasts
Broadcasts are a way for sprites to communicate with each other. When a broadcast is sent, any sprite or script that is listening for that message will start running.
Experts use this fun example to teach the concept of broadcast:
Imagine you’re at a big party with lots of friends. You want to tell everyone it’s time to play a game. Instead of telling each friend one by one, you shout, “Game time!” and everyone hears you at once. In Scratch, broadcasts work the same way.
Kids can use the broadcast command to send a message. For example, if they want to start a game, they can broadcast a message called “start game.”
And other sprite uses the receive broadcast block to get a message. In the above example, when the “start game” message is received, a sprite can start moving or change costumes.
5. Extensions
Scratch extensions expand the capabilities of Scratch, allowing kids & teens to add new features and interact with external hardware and software.
These extensions enable more advanced programming, creativity, and interactivity!!
Extensions in Scratch are additional sets of blocks that kids can add to their projects. These blocks allow them to do things that aren’t possible with the standard set of Scratch blocks!
For example, you can use extensions to create music, draw with the pen tool, interact with your computer’s camera, or control robots and other hardware.
Conclusion
Now your kids are equipped with a few advanced scratch concepts and they can leverage it to make more exciting and complex games!
Scratch is a powerful tool that allows you to unleash your creativity and learn the basics of coding in a fun and engaging way. Begin your journey in scratch programming with Codingal’s coding courses for kids, where you can unlock your full potential and learn something new at every step.
Keep experimenting, keep learning, and most importantly, have fun with your coding journey! At Codingal, we’re here to support you every step of the way. Happy coding!
