Review by Amanda Bindel, Common Sense Education | Updated December 2015
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PBS KIDS ScratchJr

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  • Download on Google Play
  • Download from App Store

PBS and Scratch mash-up offers nice wrapper for rock-solid coding tool

Subjects & skills
Subjects
  • Arts
  • English Language Arts
Skills
  • Communication & Collaboration
Grades This grade range is based on learning appropriateness and doesn't take into account privacy. It's determined by Common Sense Education, not the product's publisher.
Pre-K–2
Great for:
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Not yet reviewed
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Use Responsibly Full evaluation
Price:  Free
Platforms:  Android, iPad

Take a look inside

5 images
Start from scratch or choose a story starter scene to customize.
Mix and match favorite PBS Kids characters and others.
Add custom sounds.
Each character has its own set of code to follow.
How-to images highlight features, and a short video demonstrates them.

Pros: Lots of choices in character and scene, plus ready-made programs so kids can do some backward design.

Cons: No training modules or step-by-step programs for kids to create and learn from.

Bottom Line: Storytelling and artistic creativity meet programming code blocks for interactive design fun.

How Can I Teach with This Tool?

Teachers of young elementary school-age kids will find the programming game engaging for their students who are the typical audience for the shows featured, but it will serve mostly as an introduction to the clicking the blocks of code together rather than much instruction for the logic of programming. Kids can create stories around the scenes and with the characters, directing them with the commands.

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PBS KIDS ScratchJr is a collaboration between PBS Kids and MIT, the developer of the Scratch programming language, which was designed to help kids express themselves through code. The story-making tool features PBS characters from Wild Kratts, Peg + Cat, Nature Cat, and WordGirl along with blocks of code that kids use to direct the characters' actions.

Kids can start with a blank screen or choose a story starter. From the blank screen, they choose characters or create their own, select a backdrop or create their own, and then click together commands to direct each character to jump, move, turn, look, and more. They can record custom sounds, too, to make their characters speak. The story starters have characters and backgrounds chosen along with preset commands. Kids can make changes they want to that code to customize it, or they can add more characters. Projects are automatically saved.

Favorite characters from familiar kids' shows work alongside kid-friendly block-programming language to introduce kids to coding. Kids will easily pick up on how to use the blocks to direct the characters, and the backdrops and story starters give them a jump start in creating their own programs. The options for creating custom scenes and characters extend the fun and educational opportunities beyond PBS Kids characters.

The interface is a bit busier than other block-programming apps, so it may be overwhelming to some kids to be faced with so many choices of characters and scenes. Parent may want to guide kids to focus on the code blocks rather than simply moving characters with their fingers, which is possible (and fun) but does not reinforce learning to code.

Overall Rating
Engagement Is the product stimulating, entertaining, and engrossing? Will kids want to return?

Character choices and backgrounds appeal to a wide range of interests. Peg + Cat, Word Girl, and the Wild Kratts crews mix and mingle in the kid-created programs.

Pedagogy Is learning content seamlessly baked-in, and do kids build conceptual understanding? Is the product adaptable and empowering? Will skills transfer?

Play is open-ended with no set missions or objectives, so kids won’t get the benefit of trying, failing, and trying again. This is more of an introduction to what can be done with code, rather than an exploration of the language and logic.

Support Does the product take into account learners of varying abilities, skill levels, and learning styles? Does it address both struggling and advanced students?

A video tutorial and in-app how-to images demonstrate features, with separate tutorials for the interface, paint editor, and block programming. Starter projects under the lightbulb tab let kids run programs before adapting or writing their own.

Common Sense Reviewer
Amanda Bindel Classroom teacher
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