Scratch is a block-based programming language developed at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to simplify learning to program. In this workshop, participants will create two complete games from start to finish. One game will enable the computer to play a “Guess the Number” game against a human player, while the other will be an arcade-style game where players pop as many balloons as possible in one minute. Along the way, students will learn foundational computer science concepts, including variables, loops, conditionals, functions, and event handling.

This class is designed primarily for middle school students. No prior programming experience is required. A limited number of computers will be available. Participants bringing their own laptops should download and install the Scratch programming environment beforehand. Those without laptops may bring a USB storage device to save their projects at the end of the workshop.