Home › Blog · For parents · 14 November 2026
What is Scratch? A parent's guide
If your child has come home talking about sprites, costumes and a cat that walks across the screen, they have met Scratch. Here is what it is and how you can help.
Coding with blocks
Scratch is a free programming language made for children. Instead of typing lines of code, children snap together coloured blocks, a little like building with bricks. One block says "move 10 steps". Another says "repeat 10 times". Put them together and a character walks across the screen.
Because the blocks only fit together in ways that make sense, children cannot make spelling or punctuation mistakes. They can concentrate on the idea, which is the hard and interesting part.
Who makes it?
Scratch was created at the MIT Media Lab and is now looked after by the Scratch Foundation, a non-profit organisation. It is free to use and has no adverts. It is designed mainly for ages 8 to 16. For younger children there is ScratchJr, a simpler app for ages 5 to 7.
What do children learn?
- Sequences: putting instructions in the right order.
- Loops: repeating an action without writing it out again.
- Conditions: "if the cat touches the wall, turn around".
- Variables: keeping score in a game.
- Debugging: working out why something went wrong, and fixing it.
These are the same ideas used in professional languages such as Python. Scratch simply removes the typing.
How to get started at home
- Open the Scratch website in a web browser on a laptop or desktop computer. A tablet works too, although a keyboard helps.
- Press Create. You can start building straight away, without an account.
- Try the built-in tutorials. "Animate a name" and "Make a chase game" are good first projects.
- Sit beside your child for the first session. You do not need to know the answers. Asking "what do you want it to do next?" is enough.
Is it safe?
Children can build projects without sharing anything. An account is only needed to save work online and to share projects with the Scratch community, where other users can comment. As with any online community, it is sensible to set up the account together and agree some ground rules first.
One tip from the classroom
Resist the urge to fix the bug for them. The moment a child finds their own mistake is the moment the learning sticks.