Animation for Kids with Scratch Programming: Create Your Own Digital Art, Games, and Stories with Code

The myth: Programming is only for kids who are good at math and science.

The reality: Anyone can learn how to code. Kids with an artistic bent and curious minds can give life to technology that shapes our daily experience.

Don’t believe it? Give this book a try! It will prove to be the best investment for your kids. This book teaches kids how to create animations with code. No big words or scary concepts. Only step-by-step, visual programming laced with digital art, games, and storytelling projects. It is a great art and code mixer. Animation for Kids with Scratch Programming is a perfect guide for self-learning, classroom studies, and code club activities.

This book has three sections: •Section one starts with simple projects to help students learn basic programming concepts. Those projects give students hands-on learning experience in developing their own games and animations. •Section two provides students with animation techniques to fuel their creativity and imagination. It provides them tools to create more interesting animations. •Section three guides students through four complete animations, each with its own storyboard. Kids learn how to manage the complexities of development, the interactions of multiple characters, and the timing of separate events. Many of the animation techniques introduced earlier are utilized to create these projects.

A two-hour free webinar class is included with the purchase of this book. In this online class, we will walk students through an animation or game programming project. To register for the free webinar, please go to www.MentorsCloud.com.

This book highlights the following areas:

Art and Code: Art and code go together like cookies and milk. This book leads with what kids know – art, games, and story-telling. Let them discover their Aha moments while having fun.

Simplicity: No kids study grammar to figure out how to talk. They learn by talking. Why should it be different with programming? No more concept overload and wordy explanations. Start coding from day one.

Projects: The book guides students to create their projects step-by-step. The instant gratification gained in each project reinforces their confidence and love for learning. Use this book in classrooms or for self-learning.

Techniques: This is the 1st book focusing on animation techniques in Scratch. Kids can use it as a great reference book for building their own games and animations.

Storyboard: Actions and scenes have to be planned out just like in filmmaking. This book teaches kids how to use the storyboard to guide their programming logic.

Danny Takeuchi is the founder of the startup, MentorsCloud.com. He taught over 200 kids how to program games, animations, and mobile apps, using the curriculum he developed. He is also a collaborator in the Sherlock Holmes & the Internet of Things (IoT) Global Challenge sponsored by Columbia University’s Digital Storytelling Lab. He worked as an engineering intern in the HP Inc. R&D Lab. For more information, go to MentorsCloud.com.