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4 min read 5 stepsApril 20, 2026Verified April 2026

Scratch: Free Visual Coding Platform for Kids from MIT — No Experience Needed

Scratch lets children create games, animations, and stories by snapping together colorful code blocks. It is free, safe, and used in schools worldwide.

At a Glance

Visit the Scratch website

~25s

Go to scratch.mit.edu in a web browser on your computer, tablet, or Chromebook. You will see the Scratch home page with featured projects from the community. Click "Start Creating" to open the Scratch editor immediately without creating an account. This is a good way to try it out before signing up.

Quick Tip

Quick Tip: The Scratch editor works on tablets like iPad, but a keyboard and mouse make coding much easier. For the best experience, use a computer.

Explore the Scratch editor

~22s

The Scratch editor has three main areas. On the left is the block palette, where all the coding blocks are organized by category — Motion, Looks, Sound, Events, Control, and more. In the middle is the coding area, where you drag blocks and snap them together. On the right is the stage, which shows your animated project. Click on any block to see what it does.

Build your first simple project

~22s

To start, drag a green "When Flag Clicked" block (from the Events category) onto the coding area. Then snap a "Move 10 Steps" block below it (from the Motion category). Click the green flag above the stage to run your program and watch the Scratch Cat move across the screen. Try changing the number in the block to 50 or 100 to see what happens.

Create a free account to save work

~32s

When your child is ready to save their project or share it, click "Join Scratch" at the top of the screen. A parent email address is required for children under 13. Enter a username that does not include your child's real name, a password, and verify your country. Scratch will send a confirmation email to the parent address. Projects are auto-saved to the account once you are signed in.

Warning

Scratch's community features include comments and messages. Make sure your child understands that they should not share personal information in their projects or in comments on other people's work.

Explore Scratch tutorials and starter projects

~27s

Click the "Tutorial" option inside the editor to find step-by-step guides for making a game, an animation, or a music project. Each tutorial walks through the process with video instructions. These are excellent starting points for children who prefer structured guidance over open-ended exploration.

Quick Tip

Quick Tip: The Scratch website has a section called "Ideas" with dozens of project guides organized by theme. Searching for topics your child enjoys — such as animals or space — will quickly surface relevant starter projects.

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Scratch is a free, visual programming language and online community developed by the MIT Media Lab. It is designed specifically to teach children ages 8 to 16 the foundational concepts of computer programming without requiring them to type complex code. Instead of writing code by hand, children snap together colorful blocks — like puzzle pieces — to create programs that make characters move, react to keyboard presses, play sounds, and tell stories.

Scratch is used in thousands of schools around the world as an introduction to computer science. The projects children create can be as simple as an animated greeting card or as complex as a multi-level game with score tracking. As children advance, they naturally learn programming concepts like loops, conditions, variables, and events — the same building blocks used in professional software.

The Scratch community at scratch.mit.edu allows children to share their projects and explore millions of projects created by others. They can see the code behind any public project, which makes it easy to learn from what others have built. The community is moderated, and Scratch has strict guidelines against personal information sharing and inappropriate content.

Scratch requires a free account to save and share work, but children can start coding and experimenting without creating an account first. The platform works in any web browser on Mac, Windows, or Chromebook. There is also a free downloadable Scratch app that works without an internet connection, which is useful for households with limited connectivity.

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