Scratch Jr Adventures

Overview

This is the one screen-based activity in the Explorer software-ai pillar — and it's intentionally placed last. By now, your child has practiced computational thinking through physical games, sorting experiments, recipe debugging, and game design. They understand sequencing, conditionals, and debugging. ScratchJr takes all of that invisible thinking and makes it visible on screen: snap blocks together, press play, watch your character move. The satisfaction of seeing your code come alive is what hooks many children on programming for life.

Safety & Screen Time Notes

This activity involves 15 minutes of guided screen time. This is not passive consumption — it's active creation, which is a fundamentally different cognitive activity than watching videos. However:

• Set a timer. 15 minutes of screen coding. When the timer goes off, the screen goes away. The planning and reflecting happen off-screen.
• Sit with your child. This is not a "hand them the iPad" activity. You are the guide, sitting beside them, asking questions, helping when stuck.
• Skip this activity if screen time is a concern. Every other unit in this pillar is screen-free. Your child can learn computational thinking without ever touching a device. This activity is a bonus, not a requirement.
• Age guidance: ScratchJr is designed for ages 5-7. Scratch (the full version, at scratch.mit.edu) is better for ages 8+. Both are free.

Setup

Before the Screen (15 minutes)

Install the app ahead of time. Open it yourself first to understand the interface. It's intuitive, but 5 minutes of adult exploration prevents confusion during the activity.

Plan the story on paper. This is critical — planning off-screen before coding on-screen is how professional developers work too.

Give your child the notebook and ask:

"We're going to make an animated story on the tablet. But first, we plan on paper. Every good programmer plans before they code."

Work through these questions:

1. "Who is the main character?" (ScratchJr has a cat, but you can choose others. Draw the character.)
2. "Where does the story happen?" (Draw a simple background.)
3. "What happens in the story? Tell me the beginning, middle, and end."
4. "What does the character DO? Walk? Jump? Spin? Speak?"

Write or draw a simple 3-4 step storyboard:

• Scene 1: Cat appears on the left side
• Scene 2: Cat walks to the right
• Scene 3: Cat says "Hello!"
• Scene 4: Cat jumps

Keep it simple. The goal is not an epic animation — it's experiencing the code-to-action connection.

Instructions

The Coding Session (15 minutes, timed)

Start the timer. Open ScratchJr together.

Step 1: Meet the interface (3 minutes)

Point out the key areas:

• The stage (top) where the character lives
• The block palette (bottom) where the code blocks live
• The scripting area (middle) where you snap blocks together
• The green flag (top) that runs the program

"The blocks are instructions. You snap them together like puzzle pieces. When you press the green flag, the character does whatever the blocks say — in order, just like our recipes."

Step 2: First program (4 minutes)

Build the simplest possible program together:

1. Drag a "Move Right" block to the scripting area
2. Press the green flag
3. Watch the cat move

"You just wrote your first program! One instruction. The cat did exactly what you told it."

Now add more blocks:

1. Add another "Move Right" block (the cat moves farther)
2. Add a "Say" block (the cat says something)
3. Add a "Jump" block

Press the green flag. Watch the sequence play out.

"See? The cat does each instruction in order — first move, then speak, then jump. That's sequencing. You already know this from our other activities."

Step 3: Build the story (8 minutes)

Now let your child build the story they planned on paper. Help them find the right blocks, but let THEM snap them together and press play.

Common things children want to do and how to do them:

• Make the character talk: Use the "Say" block and type a message
• Change the background: Tap the background area and choose or draw a scene
• Add a second character: Tap the "+" to add a new sprite
• Make something repeat: Use the "Repeat" block around other blocks

When something doesn't work as expected: "The cat went the wrong direction? That's a bug! What block do we need to change?"

This is debugging in action — the same skill from Debug the Recipe, but now on screen.

Timer goes off. Save the project. Close the app.

After the Screen (10 minutes)

Reflect on paper.

"Tell me about your program. What did the character do?"

"Did everything work on the first try? What did you have to fix?"

"What was the hardest part?"

"If you had 5 more minutes, what would you add?"

Have your child draw what their program did — a paper version of the animation. This reinforces the learning without additional screen time.

Connect to prior activities:

"Remember when we programmed the human robot? The cat is like that robot — it only does what the blocks tell it. Remember debugging the recipes? You just debugged real code. Remember the game you designed? You could build that game in Scratch someday."

What to Watch For

• Block sequencing: Does your child understand that the order of blocks matters? If they put "Jump" before "Move," do they notice the difference?
• Experimentation: Do they try different blocks just to see what happens? This is the hacker mindset — exploration through experimentation.
• Debugging confidence: When something goes wrong, do they get frustrated or curious? The activities earlier in this pillar should have built resilience around errors.
• Desire to continue: Do they ask for more time? Want to come back tomorrow? That's the programming bug biting. Plan regular (but time-limited) sessions.

Variations

• No-screen alternative: If you prefer to skip screens entirely, create a "paper ScratchJr." Draw code blocks on index cards (move right, move left, jump, say, repeat). Your child arranges the cards in order, then acts out the program physically — they ARE the character. This covers the same concepts.

• Collaborative coding: If multiple children are present, one is the "programmer" (choosing blocks) and one is the "computer" (predicting what will happen before pressing play). They switch roles each round.

• Challenge mode (ages 7-8): Give a specific goal: "Make the cat walk to the other side of the screen, say 'I made it!' and do a dance." Let them figure out the blocks independently. This is goal-directed programming — the next step beyond free exploration.

• Ongoing project: Dedicate 15 minutes of screen time once a week to Scratch/ScratchJr. Each week, add to the same project. Over a month, your child builds something genuinely complex — and experiences what it means to develop software incrementally.

Reflection Prompts

At dinner or before bed:

• "What was it like to see your code actually DO something?"
• "How is programming on the screen different from programming the human robot?"
• "If you could program anything — a robot, a game, an app — what would you make?"
• "What would you want to learn next about coding?"