Explore starter activities that give you a quick way to learn how to do new things with ScratchJr.

The Coding as Another Language (CAL) approach, developed by Prof. Marina Umaschi Bers understands the learning of computer science as a new literacy for the 21st century that supports young learners in developing new ways of thinking, new ways of expressing themselves and new opportunities to make the world a better place and themselves better human beings. The CAL approach is not about teaching children how to code so they become software developers. It is about children developing character strengths, problem-solving strategies, and collaborative attitudes to become future global citizens who can think and act in new ways.

Based on this approach, Prof. Bers and her DevTech Research Group, are working on a set of curriculum units for K-2 using both ScratchJr and KIBO robotics. The CAL curriculum introduces powerful ideas from computer science, in conversation with literacy, in a playful, structured, and developmentally appropriate way through unplugged games, storytelling, movement, singing and coding.

ScratchJr Family Day is a hands-on, interactive event where young learners and their families come together to explore creative coding with ScratchJr! This event provides a welcoming space for children and their caregivers—parents, grandparents, siblings, and extended family members—to collaborate, experiment, and create their own projects using ScratchJr.