Using Scratch for a museum drop-in activity

[Matt Edgar]

Hi,

I have agreed to spend some time with the explainers at the National Media Museum in Bradford who are planning a drop-in activity for families using Scratch (http://scratch.mit.edu/). (see also stuff on their brilliant new Life Online gallery http://www.nationalmediamuseum.org.uk/PlanAVisit/Exhibitions/LifeOnlineExhibition/PermanentGallery.aspx)

I've used Scratch with my own children and think it would be great to get more families into it. The catch is that visitors will spend only about 20 minutes having a go at the museum. What could we do in that time to light the spark and get people going home to download it and take it further themselves?

All suggestions gratefully received :)

Regards,
Matt
http://mattedgar.com

[Peter Higginson]

Jim recently circulated what we did with Scratch. We split things into about 20 min sessions so depending on what you want you could get some ideas from the first session.
 

>>I was recently involved in a Pilot at my sons primary school using
>>scratch with 9 year olds. I've documented what we did and what we
>>learned here http://jimanning.com/2012/01/putting-my-money-where-my-mouth-is/

Two things I learnt, a) Scratch is much more fun if you have sound on b) if you use the drawing example from session 1 it might be better to start with a Scratch base where the default sprite is a pencil, rather than the cat.

 

I think as a "taster" you need to combine some element of demoing what is possible with some simple DIY things. Without a demo of what is possible I don't think there will be a motivation to go and try it at home.
 

Have fun and ask if anything is not clear.

Peter

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Date: Mon, 2 Apr 2012 15:16:17 -0700
From: ma...@mattedgar.com
To: coding-...@googlegroups.com
Subject: [Coding for Kids] Using Scratch for a museum drop-in activity

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[Matt Edgar]

Thanks Peter,

I saw Jim's blog post. It's really useful. Thanks also for your additional tips. The point about demo plus DIY is great.

I'll let you know how we get on.

Regards,
Matt

[Matt Edgar]

Thanks for all your tips on using Scratch for a drop-in activity.

The team at the National Media Museum are running their first Scratch sessions this weekend. Details here: http://www.nationalmediamuseum.org.uk/Events/Families/A/AvatarDanceWorkshop.aspx

Please do pass on to anyone who may be interested.

Regards,

Matt

[Lucy Johnson]