When doing research about coding for kids online, you are likely to have come across MIT’s Scratch coding tool. This web-based tool allows students to create their own games and animations using an intuitive block-coding interface. With how powerful and popular this tool is, you are likely wondering: how much does Scratch coding cost? Learn all about Scratch coding's price and join a live online free Scratch class.
Learn how much Scratch coding costs
Scratch is one of the best free coding tools on the market. It's free to sign up, free to use, and free to collaborate. It has been running since 2007, and has added significant amounts of functionality over its lifetime. At its most basic level, Scratch allows kids to combine pieces of blocks of code to move sprites (characters) on a background. All sprites and backgrounds are included for free, plus kids are able to add their own sprites or create sprites using the built-in drawing tool. Kids can then save their projects after making an account, which allows them to share their creations with other students.
The collaborative element of Scratch is where it truly shines. Kids can check out other projects via the “Explore” page, and are able to “Remix” other Scratch projects. With remixing, kids can use another member’s project as a starting point for their own project, for free! This gives students this opportunity to learn from others' work, as well as collaborate with other students around the world. Or, Scratch provides the “Ideas” page for free, which are essentially guided tutorials on creating basic games in Scratch. Learn more about the numerous features Scratch offers for free here.
Is Scratch free for students?
Scratch is completely free for any student to use, and students are not required to make an account; however, creating an account will enable students to save and share their projects.
Is Scratch free to join?
It is totally free to make an account, and students will have access to all of Scratch’s features at no cost. There’s also no advertising because Scratch is funded by donations to the Scratch Foundation!
Get started with free Scratch classes
Despite being a free tool, Scratch is powerful, and can be daunting to dive into without any prior experience. Online coding classes help students triumph over that initial uncertainty by providing a structured curriculum. This natural progression through content alleviates frustration, allowing students to focus on bringing their digital ideas to life. Plus, working with a teacher in a synchronous course is the best way to get questions answered.
There are three different award-winning Scratch courses worth checking out, depending on your student’s age. For kids ages 5-7, check out Create & Learn’s ScratchJr course. Kids older than 7 should check out Create & Learn’s free introductory course for their Scratch Ninja program. Additionally, kids with some prior coding experience or that are in middle school may prefer the pace of the Accelerated Scratch course. Try a free Scratch class today!
How much does Scratch coding cost?
Scratch is a 100% free tool for kids to use. All features of Scratch, from collaboration to tutorials and more, have been and will continue to be free. Since there’s no cost to try it out, why not let your child experiment with making a Pong game based on this tutorial?
Written by Create & Learn instructor Dominic Occhietti. Dominic is a graduate of Michigan State University, where he studied music performance and computer science. He thoroughly enjoys teaching, whether that be coding classes, French horn lessons, or even downhill skiing lessons!
