Scratch Junior: coding for preschool and primary school
Scratch Junior (or ScratchJr) is the visual coding app designed for children aged 5 to 7. Free, intuitive and built for pre-readers, it allows them to create animated stories, games and interactive cards by dragging simple blocks with icons. It is one of the most suitable digital tools for introducing computational thinking in preschool and the first years of primary school.
What is Scratch Junior
Scratch Junior is a free visual programming application developed by MIT Media Lab in collaboration with Tufts University and the Developmental Technologies Research Group. It is available for iPad, Android tablets and Chromebook, and can also be used offline once installed.
The target age is 5-7: children program characters (called sprites) by dragging interlocking blocks represented by colourful icons, without needing to read or write. Each block corresponds to a simple instruction (move, jump, speak, change colour) and by clicking them together in sequence a small program is built.
The interface is clean, large and tactile: children work directly on the tablet screen, move sprites with their fingers, record their own voice and take photos to include in their projects. Everything is designed to be accessible even to the youngest learners.
The difference between Scratch and Scratch Junior
Scratch Junior (ages 5-7)
- Blocks with visual icons, no text
- Tablet app (iPad, Android, Chromebook)
- Perfect for pre-readers
- Core features: movement, sounds, events
- Individual work on the device
Scratch (ages 8+)
- Blocks with written text
- Web app in the browser (desktop and laptop)
- Reading ability required
- Variables, lists, logical operators and conditionals
- Online community and project sharing
Scratch Junior is the ideal starting point into the world of coding: it prepares the ground for moving on to "classic" Scratch around age 8, when children have gained confidence with reading and are ready to explore more complex concepts.
What you can do with Scratch Junior
Animated stories
Children create stories with characters who move, speak and interact with each other against different backgrounds.
Simple games
Simple chase games, mazes, multiple-choice quizzes and challenges solved by tapping sprites.
Creative animations
Animate drawings, characters invented by the children or photos taken in class, with movements and transformations.
Interactive cards
Animated greeting cards for birthdays, holidays or school events, with voice messages recorded by the children.
Learning benefits of Scratch Junior
Digital literacy
Storytelling and language
Creativity
Sequences and algorithms
Collaboration
Problem solving
Scratch Junior is not just a coding app: it is a cross-curricular tool that combines digital, linguistic and expressive skills. Programming a story means thinking about a plot, choosing characters, deciding what they should say and in what order, and solving small technical problems along the way. For more on early-years coding, see our guide on early-childhood coding.
Activities and classroom projects with Scratch Junior
Tell a story with ScratchJr
Children choose two or three characters, a background and program a short story: entrance, dialogue, action and ending. Connects coding with narrative and story structure.
Animating an emotion
Each child picks an emotion (joy, fear, anger, surprise) and represents it by animating a sprite with movements, colour changes and sounds. Valuable work for emotional education.
Creating an interactive card
For holidays or birthdays, children make animated greeting cards with recorded voice messages. The products are then shared with families.
A small question-and-answer game
Build a mini-quiz in which tapping the right sprite reveals the correct answer. Useful for consolidating subject content such as colours, numbers, animals.
Collaborative group storytelling
The class is divided into small groups: each creates a scene of a shared story. At the end the scenes are sequenced together to produce a collective tale.
To explore other pathways suited to different age groups, check out our dedicated Bee-Bot guide and the Pixel Art guide.
How to introduce Scratch Junior at school
Introducing Scratch Junior in school works best when it proceeds in gradual phases, giving children time to become familiar with the app before moving on to more elaborate projects.
Exploring the interface
Children explore the screen, buttons, characters and backgrounds freely. A first contact without objectives, just discovery.
First movement blocks
The blue blocks are introduced to move the sprite right, left, up and down. Each child tries out the behaviour of each block.
A character speaks
Speech bubbles and voice recording are added: the sprite says a sentence chosen by the child. First experience of storytelling.
Adding movement and sounds
Several blocks are combined in sequence, pauses, jumps and background changes are introduced. Children grasp the concept of sequentiality.
Final project
Each child or group creates a complete short story or game, to present to their classmates. A moment of sharing and pride.
Alignment with the national digital curriculum
Scratch Junior is fully coherent with the goals of the Italian national digital curriculum (PNSD), which promotes the introduction of computational thinking and digital skills from the earliest levels of schooling. The app particularly responds to PNSD actions related to creating digital content, developing digital citizenship skills and laboratory-based teaching.
Introducing ScratchJr also responds to the European DigComp guidelines and the European key-competences framework for lifelong learning, which includes digital competence as one of eight fundamental competences.
To clarify the terminology used in digital education, it is helpful to consult the glossary of educational coding, which gathers definitions of computational thinking, algorithm, sprite, event and many other essential terms.
Domande frequenti
- From what age can children use Scratch Junior?
- Scratch Junior is designed for children aged 5 to 7. It can also be introduced in the last year of preschool and in the first years of primary school, adapting activities to the group's skills.
- Is Scratch Junior free?
- Yes, Scratch Junior is completely free. It is a project developed by MIT Media Lab, Tufts University and the Developmental Technologies Research Group, and can be downloaded at no cost from official app stores.
- What devices does Scratch Junior run on?
- Scratch Junior is available for iPad (App Store), Android tablets (Google Play) and Chromebook. It is a native app designed for tactile use on tablets.
- Do children need to be able to read to use Scratch Junior?
- No, Scratch Junior blocks are represented by visual icons and not by text. This makes the app accessible even to children who have not yet learned to read, which is one of its main strengths.
- Do you need the internet to run Scratch Junior?
- No, once installed the app works fully offline. An internet connection is only needed for the initial download and for any updates, which makes it ideal even in school contexts with limited connectivity.
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