Sprites & Costumes in Scratch

In Scratch, a sprite is any character or object on the stage, like the cat, a dog, a ball or a spaceship. A costume is a different picture of that same sprite, used to make it look like it is moving or changing. Switching between costumes is how a child makes a character appear to walk, flap, or dance. This guide explains both ideas in plain language and shows how your child can add their own.

What is a Sprite?

When Scratch first opens, the orange cat you see is a sprite. Think of a sprite as an actor on a stage. Each sprite can be given its own set of instructions, its own movements, and its own sounds.

A project can have many sprites at once. You might have a cat sprite, a ball sprite, and a balloon sprite, each doing its own thing. Below the stage, Scratch shows a small panel where every sprite in the project appears as a little thumbnail. Clicking a sprite there lets your child give that character its instructions.

Adding a New Sprite

In the bottom-right corner of the screen, there is a button with a cat-and-plus icon. Hovering over it gives a few choices, and the easiest one is "Choose a Sprite," which opens a library full of ready-made characters: animals, people, food, vehicles and more.

Your child can also:

• Paint a new sprite themselves using the simple drawing tools, which is wonderful for creative children.
• Upload a picture from your computer, if you have one you would like to use.
• Get a surprise sprite, which picks a random one for fun.

Let your child pick a sprite that excites them. A favourite animal or a silly food character makes the whole project feel like theirs.

What is a Costume?

Here is where the magic of animation begins. Every sprite can have several costumes, which are simply different pictures of that sprite. Click any sprite, then look for the Costumes tab at the top left of the editor. The cat, for example, comes with two costumes that show its legs in slightly different positions.

When a child switches quickly between these two costumes, the cat looks like it is walking. That is the same trick used in cartoons and flip-books: show slightly different pictures one after another, and the eye sees movement.

Making a Sprite "Walk"

To bring a sprite to life, your child combines costumes with movement. A simple recipe looks like this:

1. From Events, start with the yellow "when green flag clicked" block.
2. From Control, add a "forever" block so the action repeats.
3. Inside it, add a Looks block that says "next costume," which flips to the next picture.
4. Add a Motion block like "move 10 steps."
5. Add a "wait" block for a short pause, so the legs do not move too fast.

Click the green flag, and the sprite struts across the stage, legs moving, looking alive. Children find this genuinely delightful.

Changing How a Sprite Looks

The Looks blocks give children lots of playful control over a sprite's appearance. They can:

• Make a sprite say something in a speech bubble, like "Hello!"
• Grow or shrink the sprite by changing its size.
• Use the switch costume to block to jump to a specific look on purpose, perhaps a "happy" face or a "surprised" face.
• Show and hide a sprite, which is handy for games where things appear and disappear.

Tips for Parents

• Let them collect characters. Adding a few sprites and naming them is a gentle, confidence-building activity all on its own.
• Costumes before code. Spend a little time just clicking through costumes so your child understands they are "pictures of the same character" before adding movement.
• Encourage drawing. If your child loves art, the paint tools turn Scratch into a creative studio, not just a coding tool.

Common Mistakes

• Coding the wrong sprite. Each sprite has its own blocks. If a sprite "won't listen," check that it is selected in the sprite panel below the stage.
• Costumes change too fast. Without a short "wait" between costume switches, the animation blurs. Add a small pause to slow it down.
• Confusing sprites with backdrops. The background scenery is called a "backdrop" and is handled separately from sprites. They have their own costume-like images too.

What's Next?

Now that your child can add characters and change their looks, the next exciting step is making them repeat actions smoothly. Read Loops in Scratch to see how, and Events in Scratch to make sprites react to clicks and key presses. All our guides live on the kids' Scratch hub.

When your child is ready for friendly, step-by-step guidance, our Scratch & Coding for Kids program in Jalgaon walks them through it all. Join the waitlist to hear when the next batch begins.