What We Fund
The Scratch Foundation funds the projects and activities that make up Scratch, ScratchJr, and ScratchEd, including new technologies, communities, and learning resources. Our goal is to ensure that these projects and activities remain free for everyone, enabling schools and educational organizations worldwide to use Scratch as an entry point to help kids learn to express their creativity through coding.
Creative Technologies
Scratch
Computer Programming for Everyone
The Scratch Foundation provides funding to support the further development and dissemination of Scratch, the free programming language and online community developed by the Lifelong Kindergarten Group at the MIT Media Lab. With Scratch, you can program your own interactive stories, games and animations--and share your creations with others in the online community. Scratch helps young people learn to think creatively, reason systematically, and work collaboratively--essential skills for the 21st century.
We provide funding to the Lifelong Kindergarten Group at the MIT Media Lab, under the direction of Professor Mitchel Resnick, to support the growth, innovation, and localization of Scratch.
ScratchJr
Interactive Storytelling for Young Children
ScratchJr is an introductory programming language that enables young children (ages 5-7) to create their own interactive stories and games. Children snap together graphical programming blocks to make characters move, jump, dance, and sing. Children can modify characters in the paint editor, add their own voices and sounds, event insert photos of themselves -- then use the programming blocks to make their characters come to life.
Inspired by Scratch, the ScratchJr interface and programming language were designed to make them developmentally appropriate for younger children. The features were carefully designed to match young children’s cognitive, persona, social, and emotional development.
We provide funding to the Developmental Technologies group at Tufts University, under the direction of Professor Marina Umaschi Bers, to ensure that ScratchJr will be available on more devices, with more features, and for broader audiences.
Get the FREE ScratchJr app for iOS ›
Get the FREE ScratchJr app for Android ›
Get the FREE PBS KIDS ScratchJr app for iOS ›
Get the FREE PBS KIDS ScratchJr app for Android ›
Learning Communities
Scratched
Collaborative Communities for Educators
The Scratch Foundation supports ScratchEd, an online community where educators share stories, exchange resources, and ask questions about using Scratch in the classroom.
Building on the success of the ScratchEd community, the ScratchEd Team launched the first ever Educator Meetups in Boston, MA in 2013. Educator meetups are free, in person events where educators gather to network, share ideas, and learn more about Scratch.
We provide funding to the Harvard Graduate School of Education, under the direction of Professor Karen Brennan. Our investments support the ongoing operations of the ScratchEd website, the broader dissemination of Scratch resources, and the expansion of Educator Meetups.
Join ScratchEd ›
Find a ScratchEd Meetup near you ›
Connect with Scratch educators on Facebook ›
Scratch Day
Gatherings for Young People
Scratch Day is a global network of events that celebrates Scratch -- and the young people who code and create with it. During Scratch Day, kids and adults gather to share projects and learn from one another.
The Scratch Foundation invests in Scratch Day to strengthen and expand the global Scratch community.
Scratch Conference
Gatherings for Researchers, Developers, and Educators
The Scratch Conference is an event for educators, developers, and researchers to explore the myriad ways people are creating and learning with Scratch. At Scratch Conferences, people from the global Scratch community meet in person to share ideas, discuss strategies, and participate in hands-on Scratch workshops.
The conference is held at the MIT Media Lab in even-numbered years; the next Scratch@MIT Conference will be in 2020. Local organizers from around the world also host regional conferences each year.
The Scratch Foundation invests in the Scratch Conference to strengthen and expand the global Scratch community.
Learning Resources
Scratch Coding Cards
Creative Coding Activities for Kids
With Scratch Coding Cards, kids learn to code as they create interactive games, stories, music, and animations. The short-and-simple activities provide an inviting entry point into the Scratch programming language. Kids can use the colorful 75-card deck to create a variety of interactive projects, from writing an interactive story and creating a virtual pet, to creating their own version of a pong game.
The Official ScratchJr Book
Helping Younger Children Learn to Code
The Official ScratchJr Book is the perfect companion to the free ScratchJr app and makes coding easy and fun for all. Kids learn to program by connecting blocks of code to make characters move, jump, dance, and sing.
Each chapter includes activities that build on one another, culminating in a fun final project. These hands-on activities help kids develop computational-thinking, problem-solving, and design skills. In each activity, you'll find:
Step-by-step, easy-to-follow directions
Ways to connect the activity with literacy and math concepts
Tips for grown-ups and teachers
Creative challenges to take the learning further