About the Author

The Learning through Engineering, Art, and Design (LEAD) Project is an educational initiative established to encourage the development of creative thinking through the use of technology. Created by The Hong Kong Federation of Youth Groups in collaboration with the MIT Media Lab, the LEAD project promotes hands-on, design-based activities to foster innovation, problem solving skills, and technical literacy.

Check out the Super Scratch Programming Adventure! video

Table of Contents

A Note for Parents and Educators

Stage 1 – Riding A Flare from the Sun

Let's get to know Scratch! We'll also learn about sprites and coordinates.

Stage 2 – Entering Deep Space

This is where you'll make your the first game. You'll also learn how to create new costumes and program a character's movements, reactions, and sound effects.

Stage 3 – Trapped By Mona Lisa’s Smile

While writing this two-part game, you'll learn how to control the flow of a Scratch project. You'll see how to keep score using variables and control the order of the game using broadcasts.

Stage 4 – Defend Hong Kong's Technocore

You'll learn to control sprites with the mouse, program objects to bounce back, and more.

Stage 5 – Penalty Kick In Ipanema

You'll program a soccer game with a targeting system, several related rules, interactive sound effects, and a vivid, animated background!

Stage 6 – Race in the Desert

You'll learn how to create a side-scrolling racing game, program complex movements for sprites, and make the game's background change over time.

Stage 7 – The Secret Treasure of Giza

In this Egyptian adventure, you'll create an interactive maze with a guard, booby traps, and treasure!

Stage 8 – Wizard's Race

When you make this simple button-mashing game, you'll also learn how to play music with Scratch and create an animated background.

Stage 9 – The Final Fight ... In Dark Space

You'll need to use all the knowledge you've gained while making this sweet fighting game. You'll create two characters with unique fight moves, custom health counters, and more.

Stage 10 – Epilogue

Bonus Round 1 – Make It, Share It!
Bonus Round 2 – Scratch in the Real World with PicoBoard
Bonus Round 3 – Scratch Resources

Want to use Scratchy the cat, Gobo, the Cosmic Defenders, and the other sprites from the book in your own games? Download the sprites, sound effects, and more here.

Reviews

"Walks readers through a series of extremely well-designed game-design projects, each of which introduces a new concept or two to young programmers, providing a gentle learning curve for mastering Scratch's many powerful features."
—Cory Doctorow, Boing Boing (Read More)

"I found all the games fun to build and use and could definitely see the distinct lessons each one was designed to teach...This book provides a good way to get started by demonstrating how to build fun applications and hopefully this in turn will encourage readers to move on to creating more on their own."
—Adrian Woodhead, Slashdot (Read More)

Featured in Volume 33 of MAKE Magazine

"A great introduction to game design. Kids will start building games from the first page."
—Liz Upton, Raspberry Pi blog (Read More)

"If you have a kid who plays around with a computer and can read even a little, GET THIS."
—Greg Laden, National Geographic's "ScienceBlogs" (Read More)

"If you think you might have a future programmer on your hands, it's time to introduce your kid to Scratch. . . . Super Scratch Programming Adventure! makes it even easier to get started."
—Ruth Suehle, Wired.com's GeekMom (Read More)

"If you've got a child or maybe even a classroom of students who are wanting to make their own games, Scratch is a great option...for structured training that is also entertaining, Super Scratch Programming Adventure! will make a great textbook."
—James Floyd Kelly, Wired.com's GeekDad (Read More)

"The book is written well, and offers a screenshot for every step of the process...It will impart enough knowledge for you to begin working on separate projects."
—Lucas, Full Circle Magazine

"Super Scratch Programming Adventure! goes far beyond those free resources for introducing young readers to what Scratch is capable of, and for that reason it's definitely a worthwhile investment."
—Matthew Humphries, Geek.com (Read More)

"If you're looking for a way to get your kid interested in programming, and Scratch in particular, I can't recommend this book enough."
—Chris O'Brien, SiliconBeat (Read More)

"My daughter wanted to learn how to program a video game, and I thought it would be a lot more difficult. Shortly after starting to read and apply this book, she coded a video game!"
—Richard Bejtlich, TaoSecurity (Read More)

"Would be of great use to someone who already knows a little Scratch and wants to become more skilled...the layout of the book is visually very appealing and the writing is concise and to the point."
—Phil Shapiro, Opensource.com (Read More)

"If you have a 6-10 year old boy or girl in your family, I unhesitatingly recommend Super Scratch Programming Adventure. If it ends up in the hands of the right kid, it will be a life-changing experience."
—John Hattan, GameDev.net (Read More)

"Super Scratch Programming Adventure! feels fresh and unique. . . . .I certainly recommend it, there isn't another book like this out there and the projects on offer are some of the best and most polished Scratch games that I have seen."
—Carl Turland, Coding at School (Read More)

"A really great introduction to Scratch, and to the world of programming in general. Everything about it is fun, accessible, and easy to use, no matter what age you are."
—Amy Nelson, Games Fiends (Read More)

"The style of instruction is straightforward and accessible, and the games that the reader creates as exercises provide plenty of opportunities for experimenting with Scratch."
—Amy Koestra, The Show Me Librarian (Read More)

"Super Scratch Programming Adventure! is a great tool for parents to use to help their kids or for teens to use on their own."
—Jennifer Wagner, Connect with Your Teens (Read More)

Updates

switch costume to Car