Scratch

The Official ScratchJr Book: Help Your Kids Learn to Code

Recommended Ages

K–2nd grades (ages 5–7)

Introducing coding in early elementary can feel intimidating, especially if adults don’t code themselves. “The Official ScratchJr Book” provides a friendly, step-by-step path for families to use the free ScratchJr app to build simple stories and games together. Written by Marina Umaschi Bers and the ScratchJr team, it distills early childhood computing research into bite-sized projects that teach sequencing, debugging, and creative problem solving. We love how clearly each activity is laid out, with screenshots and suggestions that make it easy to facilitate even if you’re learning alongside your child. It’s an excellent fit for ages 5–7 who enjoy tablets and storytelling and for parents who want structure beyond random tinkering. The book assumes access to a compatible device and may feel slow for older kids, but that pacing is perfect for early learners. Pro tip: work through one project a week and then encourage your child to remix it—changing characters, backgrounds, or outcomes to solidify concepts.

Great for ages ~5–8 who love stories and characters and are curious about “how apps work,” and for parents who want a structured yet playful way to introduce computer science concepts at home.

Pros

Step‑by‑step project book written by members of the ScratchJr team that walks kids through building simple stories and games in the free ScratchJr app, introducing core concepts like sequencing, loops, and debugging in bite‑sized, visual challenges; frequently recommended by coding‑education sites as the go‑to companion for families who aren’t coders themselves. 

Cons

Requires a tablet and an involved adult to read directions and troubleshoot; projects are designed for younger children and will be quickly outgrown by older tweens; it doesn’t move beyond block‑coding or into typed languages, so families will need follow‑up resources for continued progression.

Many charter schools and ESAs are happy to fund both the physical book and compatible tablets or Chromebooks under technology, STEM, or computer‑science budgets, since ScratchJr is free and aligns closely with early CS standards; confirm device and vendor rules with your program.

$7.95/month

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The Official ScratchJr Book: Help Your Kids Learn to Code
$7.95 USD

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Coding
Coding
Scratch
Scratch
STEM
STEM

The Official ScratchJr Book: Help Your Kids Learn to Code Mission

The Official ScratchJr Book is designed to help families and educators guide young children through their first experiences with coding by using ScratchJr to create interactive stories and games. Its mission is to make early childhood computer science playful and developmentally appropriate, emphasizing creativity, storytelling, and problem‑solving over memorizing syntax.

The Official ScratchJr Book: Help Your Kids Learn to Code Story

After co‑creating the ScratchJr programming language to bring coding to ages 5–7, researchers Marina Umaschi Bers and Mitchel Resnick saw that many adults wanted concrete, project‑based ideas for using it with kids. They wrote The Official ScratchJr Book as a hands‑on companion full of step‑by‑step projects, tips, and discussion prompts that blend literacy, art, and computational thinking. The book bridges research labs and living rooms, translating years of work on constructionist learning into approachable activities any family can try with a tablet.

About Modular Learning

FAQ: Additional Details about The Official ScratchJr Book: Help Your Kids Learn to Code

During a typical lesson, a child taps bright, colorful blocks on a tablet screen while the book lies open beside them, giggling as a cartoon cat suddenly zooms across the screen or repeats silly sound effects; you’ll hear the soft click of plastic tablet cases on the table, little fingers drumming as they test and retest their code, and proud shouts of “Look what I made!” when a mini‑game finally works.

ScratchJr is a free visual programming app for ages 5–7, and this book is its project‑based companion: each chapter walks kids step‑by‑step through building interactive stories and games on a tablet or Chromebook using drag‑and‑drop coding blocks. Families or co‑ops typically install the free ScratchJr app on devices, then open the book to a chosen project, following the illustrated instructions to add characters, backgrounds, and simple scripts; over time, kids start remixing the sample projects and inventing their own. It fits neatly into a weekly “coding club” session or a tech block two to three times a week. 

Young children will need an adult to read the instructions, help them navigate menus, and offer gentle coaching (“What do you think happens if we add a repeat block here?”); as kids gain confidence, parents mostly step back to celebrate finished projects and help them share with siblings or friends.

Kids should be comfortable using a tablet or touchscreen and able to follow short, visual directions; early readers can work with an adult reading the text aloud, while independent readers can follow the book more on their own.

This book provides structured projects for ScratchJr, making it easier for parents to guide autistic, ADHD, and young learners through coding challenges. Visual step‑by‑step pages mean reading can largely be handled by an adult while the child focuses on manipulating blocks and telling stories.

Breaks ScratchJr into tiny, visual challenges, which can really help 2e kids who need structure to get started. Great for parent‑child collaboration where the adult can handle reading the directions while the child drives the creativity.

Any refunds are handled by the bookstore or online retailer that sells the book; app access is free and does not require a subscription or separate cancellation.

Not suited for kids who want highly open‑ended sandbox play without instructions, or for teens seeking more advanced coding; families avoiding screens or tablets will need unplugged coding games instead.

After finishing ScratchJr, many families move on to Scratch, “Super Scratch Programming Adventure!,” Code.org’s elementary courses, or robotics kits like LEGO WeDo to deepen computational thinking. 

The ScratchJr app continues to be actively maintained and translated, now boasting tens of millions of users and over 277 million projects created worldwide, and the book remains compatible because it focuses on core blocks and concepts that haven’t changed even as the app has expanded device support and language options. 

Plan a weekly “coding club” time, even if it’s just you and your child, and let them creatively remix each project (changing sprites, backgrounds, and sounds) once they’ve followed the book’s basic steps.

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Meet Marina and Mitch

Marina Umaschi Bers is a professor of education and computer science whose DevTech Research Group pioneered early‑childhood programming tools such as ScratchJr and the screen‑free KIBO robot, while Mitchel Resnick is the LEGO Papert Professor of Learning Research at the MIT Media Lab and the founding mind behind Scratch. Together they have spent decades designing and studying creative technologies that let children learn by making, and their collaboration on ScratchJr extends that constructionist approach to the earliest grades.