Common Sense Media Review
Block-based coder makes programming, animation accessible.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 8+?
Any Positive Content?
Videos and Photos
Scratch
Parent and Kid Reviews
Based on 78 parent reviews
Parents say that while the website is a useful tool for teaching coding to children by allowing them to create games and animations, it suffers from severe moderation issues, resulting in unjust bans and exposure to inappropriate content. Although many appreciate its creative potential and engaging community aspects, concerns regarding the lack of effective moderation and the toxic environment have led some parents to caution against its use for younger children.
- moderation issues
- creative potential
- toxic community
- suitable for beginners
- inappropriate content
Summarized with AI
Summarized with AI
Based on 423 kid reviews
Kids say the website has a mix of fun coding opportunities but suffers significantly from poor moderation, leading to many users experiencing unfair bans and heavy-handed content policies. While the educational aspects of coding are praised, the community dynamics are criticized for being toxic and unwelcoming, especially towards diverse opinions and content.
- poor moderation
- unfair bans
- toxic community
- educational opportunities
- user frustrations
- creativity limitations
Summarized with AI
Privacy Rating Warning
Privacy Rating
Our expert evaluators create our privacy ratings. The ratings are designed to help you understand how apps use your data for commercial purposes.
Pass
Meets our minimum requirements for privacy and security practices.
Warning
Does not meet our recommendations for privacy and security practices.
Fail
Does not have a privacy policy and should not be used.
Privacy Rating
Our expert evaluators create our privacy ratings. The ratings are designed to help you understand how apps use your data for commercial purposes.
Pass
Meets our minimum requirements for privacy and security practices.
Warning
Does not meet our recommendations for privacy and security practices.
Fail
Does not have a privacy policy and should not be used.
What's It About?
Scratch is a free, web-based application (with an optional offline app) that lets users combine graphics, photos, music, and sound to create interactive animations, games, and slideshows. Users create scripts by dragging and dropping graphical blocks that snap together like building blocks. They can then post their creations on the Scratch site, where others can view, download, and build upon them. There are tutorials and guides, often written in Scratch, to help get started. Scratch is a project of the Scratch Foundation in collaboration with the Lifelong Kindergarten group at the MIT Media Lab.
Is It Any Good?
This serves as a great introduction to coding logic, as well as a strong tool for self-expression, but there are still some safety concerns. Scratch stands out as an early entry in the coding-for-kids movement. This MIT brainchild has seen years of research and development and continues to have a loyal following in both classrooms and homes. Coding with blocks is widely accepted as an intuitive way for kids to start to understand some basic programming skills. The concept of remixing, or building on others' work, comes with some challenges, but encourages kids to not only collaborate with each other, but learn from each other. This open community model shines in many ways but does tend to leave kids open to mean behavior from other kids, as well as the occasional inappropriate bit of content. While there are adults actively involved in growing and moderating the community, they can't catch everything on their own and rely heavily on kids to report behavior and/or content that goes against community guidelines. There is an offline version of the tool, which will be a better fit for younger kids and those whose family members can't keep as close an eye. For others, though, Scratch can be a platform to share ideas, learn, and connect, all while building crucial STE(A)M skills.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about coding with Scratch. What does it mean and why is it important? What sorts of things use code?
Talk about collaboration on the platform. What does it mean to "remix" someone else's work? How do you feel about someone remixing what you've created?
Talk about being safe online. What are your family's rules about what can and cannot be shared? What should you do if you see something you know is not appropriate?
Website Details
- Subjects : Language & Reading : discussion , storytelling , Arts : drawing , script writing
- Skills : Thinking & Reasoning : hypothesis-testing , logic , problem solving , Creativity : imagination , making new creations , producing new content , Tech Skills : coding , digital creation , using and applying technology
- Genre : Educational
- Topics : STEM , Adventures
- Pricing structure : Free
- Last updated : December 11, 2025
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