Scratch broadens the range of what you can design and create on the computer, making it easier to express your creativity. With Scratch, you can create characters that dance, sing and interact with one another, create images that whirl, spin, and animate in response to movements of the mouse, or integrate images with sound effects and music clips.

Scratch is a perfect tool for kids to learn the basics of computer programming, providing them with a tool that helps them explore their creative side by designing interactive birthday cards, short animated videoclips or interactive reports for school.

At the core of Scratch is a graphical programming language that lets you control the actions and interactions among different media. Coding in Scratch is much easier than in traditional programming languages: to create a script, you simply snap together graphical blocks, much like LEGO bricks or puzzle pieces.

Once you’ve created a Scratch project, you can share it on the Scratch website, the same way you might share videos on YouTube or photos on Flickr. Or you can embed your Scratch project in any other webpage – for example, embedding an interactive Scratch animation on your MySpace or Facebook homepage.