🤔 2. Throw a Dance Party

👋 Welcome to Scratch Jr! Your creativity is the limit; if you can imagine it, you can create it. PUS

📚 This chapter will guide you through the basics of Scratch Jr. Together, we’ll create a dance party! 🕺💃

• 🚶‍♂️🗣️ Learn to animate characters: make them move and talk.
• 🌄 Change the scene with custom backgrounds.
• 💾 Master saving your projects for future editing or sharing with friends.
• ❌ Discover how to remove objects and reverse actions.

✅ By the end of this chapter, you’ll navigate Scratch Jr with ease and bring your ideas to life through coding blocks.

Let’s get the Scratch Jr cat to dance with a friend on a stage.

This chapter will show you how to set up and complete your first project.

🔹 Step 1️: 📱 Open the App

• 🖥️ This is the initial screen upon opening the Scratch Jr app.
• 👆 Tap the 🏠 button located on the left side.

🔹 Step 2: Make a New Project

• 🖼️ The home screen displays all saved Scratch Jr projects.
• 🔄 If it’s your first project, you’ll only see a plus sign.
• 👆 Tap the plus sign to create a new project.

🔹 Step 3: Make the Cat Move!

• 🌟 Use the Scratch Jr editor to create animations, stories, and games.

• 🖱️ Drag blue arrow blocks to make the cat move.

• 🐱 Tap the blue block to move the cat.
• 🧩 Combine blocks to create sequences of actions (scripts).

• 🎉 Experiment with blue motion blocks to make the cat dance.
• ▶️ Tap any block in the script to run it.
• 🎊 Congratulations on your first computer program!

🔹 Step 4: Use the Green Flag

• 🏁 Start your script with the Start on Green Flag block.

• 👉 Tap the Green Flag button to run the script.

• 🧩 Learn about other triggering blocks for future projects.

Step 5: Add a Background

• 🖼️ Choose a background from the selection.

• 🎭 You’ll see loads of backgrounds that you can choose from. For our dancing cat, let’s choose the theatre. Tap the check mark at the top to load it into your stage.

• 🎉 Congratulations, your cat is a star!

🔹 Step 6: Add Another Character

• ➕ Let’s give your cat a friend.
• 👥 Tap the plus sign to add a character.

🔄 Scroll Down the Page:

• 📜 If you scroll down the page, you’ll see many characters to choose from.
• 👆 Tap the character you want to add.
• ✅ Then tap the check mark to add it to your project.
• 🐧 We’ve chosen the penguin.

• 👥 Now there are two characters on the stage.
• 🎭 To the left of the stage is the character area, showing all characters in your project.
• 🔄 The new character always appears in the middle of the stage.
• 🖐️ Use your finger to drag the character anywhere on the stage.
• 🌟 We’ve moved each of our characters to a spotlight.

• 🔍 Don’t panic if your cat’s script disappears.
• 🐱 It’s still there in the cat’s programming area.
• 🐧 Now the screen displays the penguin’s programming area.
• 📜 Each character has its own scripts.
• 🎭 Tap the cat in the character area to see its script.
• 🔄 Select the penguin again to work on its dance moves.

Step 7: Don’t Just Dance, Say Something!

• 🗨️ Make the penguin speak before dancing.
• 🟣 Use the purple Say block for speech bubbles.
• 🖱️ Tap the purple button to access the looks blocks.
• 🔄 Drag the Say block to the programming area.

🗣️ Change Text in Say Block:

• 🔤 Tap the word “hi” to open the keyboard.
• ⬅️ Use the backspace key to delete “hi”.
• 🖋️ Type “Let’s dance!” or desired text for the penguin.

• 🎶 Add blue motion blocks for the penguin’s dance.
• 🏁 Start the penguin’s script with a Start on Green Flag block.

Try it Out:

• 🟢 Tap the Green Flag button.
• 🐱🐧 Scripts for both cat and penguin run simultaneously.
• 🔄 All scripts starting with a Start on Green Flag block activate.
• 🚀 Useful for larger projects with multiple characters.

Step 8: Add a Title

• 📝 Display a title on the stage.
• ➕ Tap the Add Text button.
• 🏷️ Type “Dance Party”.
• 🔄 Drag and place the title anywhere on the screen.

🔄 Customize Title Appearance:

• 📏 Use Change Size () to adjust the size.
• 🎨 Use Change Color () to change the color.
• 🎭 Experiment to find the best fit for your stage.
• ▶️ Press Go to preview on the stage.
• ✏️ Tap on the words to edit the title again.

Step 9: Name Your Project

• 📛 Give your project a name for easy identification.
• 💻 Tap the yellow tab in the top-right corner.
• ✏️ Delete the current name (Project 1) and type “Dance Party”.
• ✅ Tap the check mark to confirm and return to the main screen.

📤 Share Your Project:

• 🔗 Send your project to others via Scratch Jr.
• ℹ️ for detailed instructions, visit Scratch Jr FAQ section.

Step 10: Save Your Project

• 💾 Tap the Home button to save.
• 🔄 Your project won’t save until you return to the home screen.
• 🖼️ Tap the project’s image to resume editing in Scratch Jr.