Everything you build for the next twelve weeks happens on this one screen. Ten minutes learning where things live will save you hours of hunting.
The four areas
Looking at the Scratch editor, from left to right:
- The block palette (left strip) — every block Scratch has, sorted into coloured categories: Motion (blue), Looks (purple), Sound (pink), Events (yellow), Control (orange), Sensing (light blue), Operators (green), Variables (orange), My Blocks (dark pink). Click a category name and the palette jumps to it.
- The code area (the big empty middle) — your workbench. You drag blocks from the palette into here to build scripts. Blocks sitting in the palette do nothing; blocks in the code area are your program.
- The stage (top right) — where the show happens. The green flag ⚑ starts your project; the red octagon ⏹ stops everything.
- The sprite list (bottom right) — one small card per sprite in your project, plus the Stage panel on its far right for the backdrop.
The three tabs
Above the palette sit three tabs: Code (where you build), Costumes (where you draw and edit how a sprite looks), and Sounds (where you record and trim audio). Today we live in Code; Costumes arrives in Week 2 and Sounds in Week 9.
The most important rule in Scratch
Blocks belong to the sprite that is selected. Look at the sprite list — one card is highlighted with a blue border. Whatever you drag into the code area goes to that sprite, and only that sprite.
If you build a beautiful script and nothing happens, the first question is always: which sprite was selected when I built it? Nine out of ten mysteries in this course are answered by that question. Say it out loud every time something is strange.
Adding sprites and backdrops
- Add a sprite: hover the round cat button at the bottom-right of the sprite list, then pick from the library (there are hundreds), paint your own, or get a surprise one.
- Add a backdrop: the same kind of button on the far bottom-right, next to the Stage panel.
- Delete: click the small bin icon on a sprite card. Deleted by mistake? Edit menu → Restore Sprite.
Try it now
Point at your screen and name each area out loud: palette, code area, stage, sprite list. Click three different block categories and watch the palette change colour. Then add one new sprite from the library — anyone you like — and click between the two sprite cards, noticing that each one has its own empty code area. That is Scratch in a nutshell.