Scratch Challenge Card Ideas

Ideas for challenge cards built around Scratch block coding: sprites, events, loops, conditionals, variables, broadcasts, and the remix culture of the Scratch community site (Chapter 14).

Beginning

Sprite Maze Walker

A student uses arrow-key event blocks and move/turn blocks to steer a sprite through a simple hand-drawn maze backdrop without touching the walls. The challenge introduces motion blocks and edge/costume-based collision as an all-visual first project with no loops required. Stretch goal: add a second maze that's harder to navigate.

Say Hello Chain

A sprite introduces itself through a sequence of say blocks separated by wait blocks, teaching that program order matters and that timing is itself something you control. Stretch goal: have a second sprite respond after the first sprite finishes talking.

Repeat-10 Dance

A sprite performs a short dance by cycling through several costumes inside a repeat 10 block, giving a first hands-on feel for a loop repeating a fixed number of times rather than running once. Stretch goal: swap repeat 10 for forever and notice how the dance never stops.

Bounce Off Walls

A sprite drifts across the stage using move and if on edge, bounce, introducing a built-in conditional block that reacts to the sprite's own position. Stretch goal: change the sprite's costume every time it bounces.

Color-Changing Sprite

Pressing a key changes the sprite's color using an if key pressed then block inside a forever loop, combining an event check with a conditional for the first time. Stretch goal: make a different key produce a different color each time.

Intermediate

Score Keeper Catch Game

An object falls from the top of the stage on a loop; touching it with the player sprite broadcasts a "caught" message that increments a score variable displayed on stage. This combines variables, broadcast/receive, and collision detection into one working mini-game. Stretch goal: make the falling object speed up as the score rises.

Maze Runner With Lives

Building on the beginner Sprite Maze Walker, add a lives variable that starts at 3 and decreases by 1 each time the sprite touches a wall, broadcasting a "game over" message when lives reach 0. Stretch goal: reset the sprite to the start position after losing a life instead of ending immediately.

Remix a Shared Project

Find an existing Scratch community project close to a chosen idea, remix it, and add one genuinely new feature — a power-up, an extra level, a new sprite — documenting in a short note what was changed and why. This reinforces Scratch project sharing as a real way to build on other programmers' work. Stretch goal: message the original creator to say what was added.

Multi-Sprite Broadcast Relay

One sprite broadcasts a message that triggers three other sprites to each perform a different action in sequence (one moves, one changes costume, one plays a sound), teaching broadcast/receive as a way to coordinate independent sprites without tangled direct references. Stretch goal: have the last sprite broadcast a second message that resets the whole relay.

Random Number Guessing Game

A variable holds a random number from pick random; the player enters guesses through ask/answer, and an if-then-else inside a loop compares the guess and gives a "too high" or "too low" hint until the guess is correct. Stretch goal: count and display how many guesses it took.

Advanced

Full Pong or Breakout Clone

A two-paddle or paddle-and-brick game with ball-angle changes on each bounce, a score variable, and a clear win condition, combining motion, conditionals, variables, and broadcasts into a complete playable game. Stretch goal: add a second ball for extra difficulty.

Custom Block Animation Library

Build three custom blocks ("My Blocks") — a walk cycle, a jump, and an idle animation — then reuse all three across multiple sprites in one project. This is Scratch's direct equivalent of a Python function: naming a reusable sequence of steps once instead of repeating it. Stretch goal: add parameters to one custom block, like walk speed.

Multi-Level Platformer

Use clone blocks to spawn multiple platforms or enemies at runtime, chaining broadcasts so completing one level clears the stage and loads the next. This combines cloning, broadcasts, and variables tracking the current level. Stretch goal: save and display the player's best completion time.

Data-Driven Quiz Game

Store quiz questions and answers in a Scratch list, loop through the list asking each question with ask, and track a running score by comparing answer to the matching list item. Stretch goal: shuffle the question order using pick random each time the quiz runs.

Peer-Reviewed Group Project

Pair with another student and combine two separately built mechanics — one student's sprite movement system with another's scoring system, for example — into a single playable game, then write a short peer code review note describing what changed and why. Stretch goal: present the finished project at a show-and-tell session.