Scratch

Create stories, games and animations

Scratch is a creative-learning platform for young people to make interactive stories, games and animations and share them with peers. Its visual programming editor uses blocks that users drag and snap together, so beginners can build projects without having to type conventional code syntax. The homepage shows projects from community members across different interests, including drawing, animation, games, language and creative experiments.

Characters, sounds and ways to build a project

The editor includes a library of characters, backgrounds, sounds and graphics. Children can also upload assets from their own devices or draw original artwork. The platform encourages experimentation and remixing: users can start from a beginner-friendly tutorial or starter project, adapt an existing public project and make the result their own. Scratch presents this open-ended format as a way to turn ideas into playable or viewable creations.

Tutorials, ideas and a shared community

The Getting Started area links to video tutorials, printable guides, tips and an Ideas page with beginner projects. The community lets Scratchers publish work, browse what others make and find inspiration. The organisation says young people have created more than a billion projects on Scratch, and describes its online community as moderated by an expert team to encourage safe, kind and welcoming interaction. Families should review the platform’s community guidance and privacy information with children.

Origins and the Scratch Foundation

Scratch began at the MIT Media Lab in 2007, developed by a team of education experts and researchers led by Professor Mitchel Resnick. In 2019, the platform and community moved from MIT to the independent Scratch Foundation, which says it develops and maintains Scratch. The foundation describes its mission as supporting children’s learning, self-expression and development, and says it continues to design the platform with young people and their community.

Free access and ways to support

The platform is free to use, and the homepage attributes that access to support from families and other supporters. It invites visitors to donate to help keep creative learning available to children. The site also links to information about leadership, careers, news, getting involved, partnerships, a shop, help and issue reporting. Scratch lists Facebook, Instagram, X, LinkedIn and YouTube for news and community updates; it does not publish a phone, email or office address in the source record.