Make an Animation in Scratch

To make an animation in Scratch, your child gives a character different costumes, switches between them to create movement, and adds gentle sliding, speech bubbles and scene changes to tell a little story. Unlike a game, an animation does not need a player, it simply plays out like a tiny cartoon. This is a wonderful project for imaginative children who love stories more than scores, and this guide walks through it kindly.

Animation is Just Pictures, One After Another

The whole secret of animation is simple enough for any child to grasp: show slightly different pictures quickly, and the eye sees movement. A flip-book works this way, and so does Scratch.

In Scratch, those different pictures are the costumes of a sprite. By switching costumes in turn, with small pauses between, a character appears to walk, wave, or flap its wings. Everything else is decoration on top of that one lovely idea.

Step 1: Pick a Character to Animate

Open Scratch and click Create. Keep the cat or choose a different sprite from the library using "Choose a Sprite." Pick something with more than one costume, or one your child would enjoy drawing extra costumes for. Many library sprites come with several costumes ready to go.

Click the Costumes tab to see what costumes your chosen sprite has. Encourage your child to flick through them and notice the small differences.

Step 2: Make the Character Move on the Spot

Let's make the character look alive. On the sprite, build this gentle stack:

1. Start with "when green flag clicked."
2. Add a "forever" loop.
3. Inside it, add "next costume" from the Looks group.
4. Add a short "wait" block, perhaps "wait 0.3 seconds," so the costumes do not flash too fast.

Click the green flag. The character now animates in place, legs or wings shifting back and forth. This is the beating heart of every animation.

Step 3: Glide Across the Scene

A still-walking character is nice, but moving it across the stage tells more of a story. The smoothest way is the "glide" block in Motion, which slides a sprite gently to a chosen spot over a number of seconds.

Add, after the green flag, a "glide 2 seconds to..." block aimed at the other side of the stage. Combined with the costume-switching forever loop running alongside, the character now strolls across the scene like a proper cartoon. The glide gives a lovely, smooth motion that children find very satisfying.

Step 4: Let Characters Talk

Stories need dialogue. The Looks group has two friendly blocks:

• "say [Hello] for 2 seconds" shows a speech bubble for a set time, then clears it.
• "think [Hmm] for 2 seconds" shows a thought bubble instead.

Your child can give a character lines: "say Good morning! for 2 seconds," then a "wait," then "say What a lovely day! for 2 seconds." Add a second sprite and have it reply, and a little conversation comes to life.

Step 5: Change the Scene

Animations often move between places, a garden, then a house. These backgrounds are called backdrops. In the bottom-right corner, beside the sprite-adding button, is a backdrop button that opens a library of scenes.

Once your child has added a couple of backdrops, the "switch backdrop to..." block in Looks changes the scene on cue. They can switch backdrops between parts of the story, perhaps using a short "wait" so each scene has time to be enjoyed.

Step 6: Add Sound and Sequence

To finish, your child can:

• Add background music or sound effects from the Sound group's library.
• Use "wait" blocks to time the story so speech, movement and scene changes happen in a pleasing order.

Timing is the real craft of animation, and tweaking the waits until the story flows nicely is a calm, rewarding activity.

Tips for Parents

• Plan the story first. A quick chat, "Who is in it? What happens?", gives the project direction and makes it more fun to build.
• Two costumes are enough to start. Your child does not need fancy artwork. Even two simple costumes make a believable walk.
• Use waits generously. Most beginner animations move too fast. Slowing things down with waits instantly makes them look more polished.

Common Mistakes

• Costumes switch too fast. Without a "wait," the animation blurs. A pause of around a quarter to a half second usually looks right.
• Everything happens at once. If speech and movement overlap confusingly, add "wait" blocks to space events out in time.
• Animating the wrong sprite or backdrop. Remember that sprites and backdrops are separate. Check you have the right one selected.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I need to draw to make an animation? Not at all. The library has many sprites and backdrops ready to use. Drawing is an optional bonus for children who enjoy it.

How is an animation different from a game? A game responds to a player's clicks and keys. An animation usually plays on its own from start to finish, like a short film.

What's Next?

If your child enjoys making characters move, they may also love making them interactive. Read Make Your First Scratch Game next, and revisit Sprites & Costumes in Scratch to deepen the animation skills. Explore everything on the kids' Scratch hub.

For caring, guided lessons in storytelling and animation, see our Scratch & Coding for Kids program in Jalgaon. Join the waitlist for the next batch.