FREE website - 'Scratch' - that teaches your kids coding @ Freebies

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FREE website - 'Scratch' - that teaches your kids coding!

Freebies9 Sep 17

Source: HotUKDeals | Deals > Kids

Opening post

sam_brackley

9 Sep 17

We've just discovered the 'Scratch' website which is completely free to register and is aimed at kids 8 and up, though I'm using it with my Year 2 child and he's fine as long as I help.

It introduces kids to coding and they can make their own animations. It took 20 mins to have a play and figure it out but has kept my son entertained for an hour on each day of the weekend for a couple of weeks so far.

I highly recommend it and it's FREE with no adverts or anything like that!

I have also found a book on Amazon for £3.99 delivered if your child really loves it..Scratch book but you can figure it out without the book!

All comments (77)

othen

9 Sep 17 #1

Scratch has always been free, I'm pretty sure every parent that has had children of primary school age would know that. This is not a deal as such, it should be moved to the Free section.

Deedie to othen

9 Sep 17 #7

I don't think there are sections anymore. everything gets dumped in deals now

othen to Deedie

9 Sep 17 #9

Look at the menu at the top on the home page, it will say:

Hotdeals All Deals Voucher Codes Freebies

PS. Freebies means free things :-)

sam_brackley to othen

9 Sep 17 #11

On the Android app there it is not there. Just deals and vouchers. I've opened all the menus and can't find freebies anywhere.

othen to sam_brackley

9 Sep 17 #19

I notice that someone has moved this posting to the Freebie section (I'm guessing one of the moderators did that), perhaps one needs the web version to see the menu (you should be able to do that on your cell phone)?
This post was a useful piece of information, but I'm be amazed if any primary schools were not using it (and telling parents to subscribe). I certainly knew about this from my son's school when he was 4.

Deedie to othen

9 Sep 17 #21

my 8yr old had never heard of it, but is on it just now

sam_brackley to othen

9 Sep 17 #22

The app def does not have freebies section and it is still in deals section. They should be same grrrrr....

You must be lucky with your school but from all the comments posted there seem like a variety of options. It isn't a national curriculum compulsory thing so it will come down to teacher choice in each school I suppose.

mrty to sam_brackley

9 Sep 17 #27

This app DOES have a freebies section, what it doesn't do is allow you to post to the freebies section.

sam_brackley to mrty

9 Sep 17 #28

Let me re-phrase that then. The app does not have a freebie section that I can see.

Where can I find it please?

mrty to sam_brackley

9 Sep 17 #31

On the main screen (you do have the latest version of the app?) Just left of centre is a drop down menu. From the drop down select the topics you want to see. Select freebies and there you go. :thumbsup:

sam_brackley to mrty

9 Sep 17 #34

Right I found it, with some searching as it doesn't appear in the list, you have to search for freebies (and when you didn't know that existed in first place how are you supposed to know what to search for? - that's me moaning at app, not you!!). So instead of choosing 'kids' i need choose 'freebies' next time. Thank you. This app really is not that obvious, preferred the old style one by miles!!!!

mrty to sam_brackley

9 Sep 17 #38

I preferred old app too. Think most people do.

Evilmonkey to sam_brackley

9 Sep 17 #29

Oddly, it kind of is. Not scratch as such, but coding is. Unfortunately it's still a bit hit and miss depending on the primary school as to whether they actually meet the requirement!

It increases every year, but I would still only put it at around 50-60% of schools :cry:

Scratch is excellent though. It can start fairly small, but end up very complex indeed. One of my students created a working copy of Tetris in it!

bensimmo to sam_brackley

9 Sep 17 #50

Computing is a compulsory curriculum, while it can and is done with robotics (programmable 'toys' ) etc or poorly with parrot fashion slides ;-), there are few other resources used to teach it that can beat scratch (or scratch similar programmes).
They can even be learning Python programming if the teachers can understand it themselves. It's not being most kids.

If anyone finds their kids are starting to enjoy it, get them on to CodeClubs / CoderDojo etc

Grill to othen

9 Sep 17 #37

It is amazing what a users thumbnail tells you about a person

emmajchloe to othen

9 Sep 17 #40

I've got 2 boys in primary school and 1 just going into 6th form and I've never heard of "scratch" before today. Thanks OP

madeofbraille to othen

9 Sep 17 #57

Give over.
What's the point in writing out that spiel? Do you feel great now letting everyone on here know that you knew about the website already?
The pettiness of some people is ridiculous.

liamwba1 to othen

9 Sep 17 #60

No - My wife is a primary school teacher and they have not used scratch, aside from it being mentioned in the odd staff meeting.

othen to liamwba1

9 Sep 17 #62

I suppose there are people who have not heard of The Beatles :-)

gemniz

9 Sep 17 #2

It's good for people who don't know, also can try code.org I think it is, where they have scratch type games with actual lessons... My daughter loved it

Broadsword

9 Sep 17 #3

Wow this website sometimes, so picky. Thanks OP appreciate the heads up on this. Shame it's flash though.

sam_brackley

9 Sep 17 #4

I'm a parent of a primary school child. I did not know about it and neither did my friends with primary school aged children. I thought it was a good share but will have no objection to mods taking it off if not really a 'deal'. It is entertaining and educating my child for free so has technically saved me from spending money on buying something similar to do the same job.

BUT I didn't realise there was a free section!!!
Maybe someone could move it? I really don't find this new app very easy. My other half gave up but I've persisted although clearly with big errors - Sorry!

bensimmo to sam_brackley

9 Sep 17 #12

Always good to bring things up. If you didn't know,chances are others didn't know. Also look at TuxPaint for the younger child. They tend to love it.
You child should be using it at some point in primary school, I think it's now down in KS1.
CodeClubs also use it as do early senior school.
Look at CodeClub/RaspberryPi websites for some thing to have a go at.

There is a Scratch on tablets to so have a look for that, the same but simplified for primary age too.

Deedie to bensimmo

9 Sep 17 #20

I'm well aware of the menu system on here, been a member for a long time on here.

what I probably should have said is that the mods don't distinguish between "deals" "vouchers" or "freebies" anymore and everything is dumped in deals now. the mods regularly post voucher codes, in the deals section, disguised as deals by posting some random item from a website and using a code to justify a deal.

so, there is no sections anymore regardless of what the top of the page says.

mrty

9 Sep 17 #5

Thanks OP, I didn't know about this. I'm pretty sure a lot of parents and grandparents won't have heard of this. :stuck_out_tongue:

I've not done any coding or programming since I did a course on Cobol and played around with basic on the old C16 and C64 (thought we were the mutts nutz then).So going to do this myself.

sam_brackley to mrty

9 Sep 17 #6

You've literally just spoken to me in another language :joy: I may be learning as much as my son :joy:

mrty to sam_brackley

9 Sep 17 #17

Cobol - common business-oriented language.

C16 - Commodore 16. Every level home computer with a MASSIVE 16kb ( not a typo , yes kb ) ram.

C64 - As above but with 64kb ram.

I spent two years completing a correspondence course learning Cobol. And another in systems analysis. Did the exams and passed.
Computeach (the course providers) had advertised that anyone passing their courses would be helped to get a job working with computers (bear in mind this was the mid 80's ). They offered me a job as data input clerk , or typist, as the qualifications I had weren't' good enough for anything better. -"but you can improve your employability by completing this course for another £1200 " ( nearly three months wages then).
What a con.

melted to mrty

9 Sep 17 #53

I seem to remember seeing adverts for Computeach in computer magazines of that era, was never tempted to part with my money for one of their courses.

I initially learn't to program in Basic from fixing all the bugs, printing errors, and omissions in the basic programs I'd typed into my brother's zx81 (16k with ram pack) from computer magazines from WH Smith, then I read a good book covering assembly language by Rodney Zaks on programming the z80, and another by the same author on programming the 6502, when my brother got a 48k Atari which also had an excellent Basic programming language reference manual and he bought the hardware manual which came with a complete assembly listing of it's entire operating system printed on A4!

I was offered a programming job despite having no programming qualifications and worked as a mainframe programmer for a few years, I learn't the proprietary programming language from reading the manufacturer's instruction reference manual, which was the size of a telephone directory (when telephone directories were big), but well written, and picked up Cobol as I went along from fixing the odd Cobol program and reading a book. They were supposed to send me on an intensive programming course run at the mainframe manufacturer's HQ, but the manager decided I'd already learn't more than most of the staff that had attended the course in the weeks that I'd worked there. :disappointed:

.

GlentoranMark to melted

9 Sep 17 #55

Old languages never die, they just need new operatives.

I too was a ZX81 guy but got lost when I discovered women :grin: Only recently (last 5 years) have I came back to programming as I've several solutions that would work on a mobile platform..

Edmundo07

9 Sep 17 #8

Did not know about this, thanks for the heads up.

_pierce

9 Sep 17 #10

It's aimed at teachers but another website that will help you with this if you want to learn is code-it.co.uk

Triadian

9 Sep 17 #13

My son has tried scratch and although he likes it - he prefers clickteams fusion which although is a paid program the free version allows you to do most things my boy does.

afnoor

9 Sep 17 #14

thanks op my child is in yr3 and I'd never heard of scratch before!

Strzelecki

9 Sep 17 #15

codeacademy.com is also worth a look.

MIB15

9 Sep 17 #16

Great website, thanks for posting OP

BigOrkWaaagh

9 Sep 17 #18

Scratch is as old as the hills. Why is this a deal?

sam_brackley to BigOrkWaaagh

9 Sep 17 #24

Other questions in life....
Why post a comment without reading the other comments?
Why is there no head banging against a brick wall emoji?
Why do some people believe that when something is created at a certain point in time every person from that point forward in the history of the world will know of its existence?
Why can't people just hit cold instead of making seemingly pointless comments?

Why? Why? Why? Soooooooooooo many questions we just don't have the answers to.

mittromney

9 Sep 17 #23

Thanks OP

Curlyman83

9 Sep 17 #25

If you go to the TES website and search 'Scratch scheme of work' in the resources section, there are loads of teaching power points and videos which will walk you through developing your skills on scratch and how create lots of different animations

tanvir1

9 Sep 17 #26

Bring back the Amstrad CPC464 with the build in tape deck!!

sam_brackley

9 Sep 17 #30

Soooooooooo many helpful comments. Thanks peeps! The comment section is an education in itself! ❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤

lovebargains

9 Sep 17 #32

Thanks. I have 2 kids school age. Never heard of this. Will give it a go

nraja

9 Sep 17 #33

I'm a computing teacher and most primary kids use this in their schools. It's sad to see some of the irrelevant comments about how it should go in the freebies section! Glad OP posted this so parents can introduce coding to their kids in a simple way and get head start before they use it in school. Thanks

Walgeon

9 Sep 17 #35

If parents are using this for their kids because it was posted then it's a great post.

Some people just love to complain. Kinda pathetic

pjuk14

9 Sep 17 #36

Cheers op! I've two young un's I'd never heard of this! Will have a little go later. Well worth a post in my opinion.
Going by the heat in here your proving the 'why is this a deal?' Posters wrong. :thumbsup:

Babbler

9 Sep 17 #39

Those with kids interested in this should look into codeclub.org.uk. Some libraries run it. I'm a volunteer for it and it's great fun.

mattzere

9 Sep 17 #41

I use Scratch to teach my class (9/10 year olds) how to code. Works brilliantly! See also Code.org

cynikill

9 Sep 17 #42

I'm all for teaching kids coding and I'll have a look. What I don't understand though is why, at a time when we are still outsourcing more and more programming jobs to India and Asia, is programming seen as a critical skill these days. From a career point of view, it's not worthwhile

TehJumpingJawa to cynikill

9 Sep 17 #47

Programming is a prerequisite to many highly paid design, engineering & research roles, moreover skilled programmers are a highly sought after commodity all of their own.

Decades of the school curriculum being hopelessly inadequate, leading to an insufficiently skilled UK workforce is why programming jobs are being out sourced.

bensimmo to cynikill

9 Sep 17 #51

There are plenty of the UK still and iirc a shortage of the skills.
But it's not just programming that it helps. In introduces language, logic and often enables a blend of science/tech/maths (and engineering) as they get older.
So it helps a way of thinking.

Writing and Typing are is a pointless skill since we can talk to each other or just get the phone to interpret what we say to text. Yet they still teach it.

Sport is pointless too.

GlentoranMark to cynikill

9 Sep 17 #54

My own personal mantra is "find a problem, make a solution... if there is a solution then make it better."

The riches are now in the niches which the far East can't help. UK solutions need UK workers, if they can't be found then they will be brought in from elsewhere. NHS, banks, companies everywhere need hands on guys. People that understand the software inside out. These are niche solutions.

There are many niches that outsourcing just won't help.

trevcjohnson to cynikill

15 Sep 17 #75

Crudely because to employ someone in India costs a fraction of the cost of someone in the uk. Big companies only care about profit they don't give a hoot about the countries they operate in

Pootled

9 Sep 17 #43

Thanks.

adhkarzf

9 Sep 17 #44

Got 2 in primary and 2 in secondary and this is the first I've heard of it so thanks op for posting. Eldest in year 10 youngest in year 1.

acbuyer

9 Sep 17 #45

Scratch is brilliant. It works like lego by connecting the instructions like bricks.

sach7

9 Sep 17 #46

Also have an offline editor - scratch.mit.edu/dow…oad It's made by MIT, the best University in the world arguably. Definitely the best for all the degrees they offer lol.

Only really works as an intro to programming. Once your kids get to like y6-y7 teach them python or another programming language that is an actual language. codecademy.com ftw

MSK.

9 Sep 17 #48

Or just give your kids a bit of credit and let them do some real programming *shrugs* They're probably brighter than you.

GlentoranMark

9 Sep 17 #49

Similar to Scratch but maybe of more use to a kid because of current technology is appinventor.mit.edu/exp…re/

same sort of drag and drop interface but you can create Android apps.

I just released my first app 2 months ago on the Play Store. It's a basic fixture list widget for the football club I support but it serves a purpose and I've more complicated apps in development.

I'm 49&¾ :smile: so it's never too old to learn!

Edit* I built my app on Android Studio. Both Scratch and Appinventor have limited abilities, you will get stuck with anything more complicated than a simple page or 2.

unclepies

9 Sep 17 #52

Heat from me, not heard of it before

big.k

9 Sep 17 #56

I really believe coding should be taught in school (if it isn't). It doesn't just open up a whole new job prospective (website, database, game/software development, banking tools...list goes on) but more importantly, it teaches children a great asset: logical thinking which improves problem solving. It's a life lesson, a life skill to look at any issue and think logically on how to solve it.

shellsuit75

9 Sep 17 #58

I've a 21, 19 and 8yo and I've never heard of it, so thanks to the OP for sharing :smile:

Why some people would assume we all know the same things as them, is baffling.

If that was the case, we'd have no need for this site would we as we'd all know the deals as soon as they pop up!

Boom123

9 Sep 17 #59

too complicated, cold

liamwba1 to Boom123

9 Sep 17 #61

Not sure if serious?

fishmaster

9 Sep 17 #63

Working with your hands is a fools game. Use your head and you can make a lot more £$. Coding can be both, you have to decide your future.

noizemaker

10 Sep 17 #64

It was free all the time ? :-)

JER1802

10 Sep 17 #65

As much as Scratch is free, and is well worth a look, Warioware DIY on the DS has far more to offer, like music creation, custom sprites, with tutorials that help guide people in a funny and charming way, and mimic, to an extent, proper 2D game development, \which can be picked up for a few quid.

knocik

10 Sep 17 #66

Code for life is also free

codeforlife.education

sam_brackley

10 Sep 17 #67

Book from Amazon arrived today and is really good! However haven't had chance to look on TES website, as mentioned above, to get resources from there yet.
As for all the other suggestions, I need to work my way through them, so many more resources to use!

amour3k

11 Sep 17 #68

Nice!. :-)

preacher

11 Sep 17 #69

It's been mentioned already but you should use Code.org

im a computing teacher and it's brilliant to get younger kids interested in programming.

sam_brackley to preacher

11 Sep 17 #70

That's now top of my list! Thank you!

Thefajitakid123

11 Sep 17 #71

Thanks for the heads up on this OP. My daughter came home with a letter from school this week saying that they would be using Scratch this year so I'm interested to find out what its all about.

quixoticduck

11 Sep 17 #72

Check and see if there's a Coder Dojo near you! coderdojo.com‌ :smile:

NuttyShopper0

12 Sep 17 #73

I'd also recommend parents to take a look at codeclub.org.uk/pro…cts
Code Club is about teaching children to code Scratch/ Html and Python. It also includes raspberry pi and micro-bit programming projects for elder children.
Please check for a club near you or else you can just join in and do the projects with your children.
The projects are easy to follow with step by step instructions and every project includes some challenges for the child to test his knowledge.
I am currently hosting 2 code clubs in Ealing and children love it.
you can find your nearer club at codeclub.org.uk/fin…lub
If there is none available please start one, it doesn't require any prior programming or coding knowledge. The training for host volunteer is available online and is very easy to complete. Also the support team of code club runs frequent training events and meet-ups.

Thank you for reading :-) Have Fun!

ldee46

14 Sep 17 #74

It can teach me coding as I don't have a clue!

Kurfew

16 Sep 17 #76

I'm a software developer at 22 and I can promise you there is no lack of jobs in programming. I get at least 3 job offers a week from headhunters and the pay + benefits are very competitive. There's a big lack of devs compared to the demand. Yes, jobs are outsourced to india / Asia, but those are generally the easy jobs such as QA and very repetitive coding work. Anything innovative that requires critical thinking is kept here.

lauraowl

17 Sep 17 #77

Going to let my son have a go at this.. thank you

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