What is Moving Characters in ScratchJr? Kindergarten Computer Science Definition

📚 What is Moving Characters in ScratchJr?

Moving characters in ScratchJr involves programming characters (or sprites) to change their position on the screen. This is achieved through a visual programming language where you drag and drop blocks of code to create sequences of actions. These actions can include moving left, right, up, down, or even jumping! It's fundamental to creating interactive stories and games.

📜 History and Background

ScratchJr was developed by the DevTech Research Group at Tufts University, the Lifelong Kindergarten Group at the MIT Media Lab, and the Playful Invention Company. Designed for young children (ages 5-7), it simplifies the core concepts of Scratch to be age-appropriate. Moving characters is one of the first skills kids learn, allowing them to immediately see the results of their coding efforts and encouraging creativity.

🔑 Key Principles

• 🕹️ Sequence: The order of the blocks determines the order in which the character moves.
• 🔁 Repetition: Using loop blocks, you can make the character repeat a movement multiple times.
• 🧭 Direction: Blocks dictate the direction the character will move (left, right, up, down).
• 🔢 Distance: You can control how far the character moves with number inputs on movement blocks.

📝 Real-World Examples

Let's look at how we can move characters.

1. Moving a character to the right: Drag a 'move right' block onto the script area. Tap the number on the block to change the number of steps the character will move.
2. Making a character jump: Use the 'move up' and then 'move down' blocks in sequence to simulate a jump.
3. Creating a walking animation: Combine 'move right' or 'move left' blocks with costume change blocks to make it look like the character is walking.

💡 Tips for Success

• 🧪 Experiment: Try different combinations of movement blocks to see what happens.
• 📐 Plan: Before you start coding, plan out what you want your character to do.
• 🐞 Debug: If your character isn't moving as expected, check the order and values of your blocks.

🌍 Conclusion

Moving characters in ScratchJr is a foundational element of digital storytelling and game creation for young children. By understanding the basic principles and experimenting with different blocks, kids can bring their imaginations to life and develop essential computational thinking skills.