Getting Set Up
Open a new Scratch project. Scratch will open in another browser tab.
Working offline
Working offline
For information about how to set up Scratch for offline use, visit our ‘Getting started with Scratch’ guide.
Once you open Scratch, you’ll see a window like the one below.
Look for each of the following areas and remember where they are.
The Stage
What is the Stage?
This is where your Scratch programs run. It has:
-
One or more backgrounds (images on the background of the screen)
-
Any code blocks associated with it (we’ll get to this)
The sprite list
What is a sprite?
Any item you can add on the Stage is a sprite.
A sprite includes:
- The image on the Stage
- Any extra costumes (looks) it has
- Any sounds associated with it
- Any code blocks associated with it
The code blocks palette
Code blocks
Code in Scratch comes in the form of blocks that you connect to make programs. You choose blocks from the code blocks palette, drag them into the current sprite panel, and then connect them to each other.
There are ten categories of blocks. They are colour-coded, and you can choose between them by clicking on the items in the list at the top of the code blocks palette.
The current sprite panel
What is the current sprite?
The current sprite is the one that’s selected in the sprite list.
The current sprite panel is where you can see the code, costumes, and sounds for the selected sprite.
Time to get coding!
In the sprite list, click on the Scratch Cat. The cat is now the current sprite.
Choose the Events category in the code blocks palette, click the when flag clicked block, and drag it into the current sprite panel.
Then go to Looks in the code blocks palette and find this block:
Click on it, hold down the mouse button, and then just drag it into the current sprite panel and let go of the button.
Now that the second block is in the current sprite panel, connect it to the bottom of the first block by clicking and dragging it again to move it below the other block until they snap together, like this:
Now click the Green Flag to start your program and watch what happens!