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Create a campsite

Use Scratch, a digital coding program, to create your own digital art.
Plan a session with this activity

You will need

  • Access to a computer
  • Pens or pencils
  • A4 paper
  • Create a campsite instruction sheets
Instruction sheets
PDF – 1.8MB
Download Instruction sheets

Before you begin

  • If your meeting place has internet: run Scratch online by typing rpf.io/camp into the address bar of your internet browser.
  • If your meeting place doesn’t have internet: download Scratch and the project ahead of time. When you have internet access, type rpf.io/camp into the address bar of your internet browser. Click to exit full-screen mode, then click ‘See inside’. Go to the File menu and select the option to ‘Save to your computer’. To open the project, you’ll also need to download Scratch.
  • Familiarise yourself with Scratch and how to create new costumes using the Create a campsite instruction sheet.
  • When you’re ready to run the activity, open Scratch. Open the project and enter full-screen mode.
  • Print out copies of the Create a campsite instruction sheet for the group.

Get into graphics

  1. Everyone should think about the things we see online and in apps every day. Are they just text-based? Often pictures are used, and we call these images or graphics. Why might you use a picture instead of text?
  2. Everyone should discuss why you might create art on a computer (digital art) rather than drawing it on paper. What are the advantages and disadvantages? Creating digital art is part of digital making. What are some other examples of digital making?
  3. Everyone should watch a short demonstration of Scratch. Show how clicking on objects around the campsite will change them.
  4. Click to exit full-screen mode. If you’re offline then this will automatically bring up the code. If you’re using Scratch online, click ‘See inside’. Now you can see what Scratch is being told to do, with a list of actions called code. In the language of code, clickable areas of the campsite are called ‘sprites’ and they display different ‘costumes’ when you click on them. In this activity, everyone should create a new object (costume) that comes up when you click.
  5. Walk the group through the Create a campsite instructions to draw a new costume.
  6. Demonstrate what it looks like in the campsite. Click the full-screen icon and show how the costume comes up when you click on a sprite.

Have a go

  1. Everyone should have a go at using Scratch. Click on the sprites in the campsite scene to change things. Think of something you’d like to add into the scene and draw a draft version on paper.
  2. Everyone should try to add a new costume to one of the sprites, using the instruction sheet as a guide.
  3. Everyone should show the graphics that they have created to other members of the group and make sure they save their work.

Reflection

This activity helped to develop your skills, translating things drawn on paper to something digital. Why do you think it can be helpful to draw a draft version of an object on paper before creating your digital item? Why do you think it can be quicker to create digital art? (You can fill a shape with colour, copy and paste images, and undo things easily.) What other things would you like to use Scratch for?

Safety

Online safety

Supervise young people when they’re online and give them advice about staying safe.

For more support around online safety or bullying, check out the NSPCC website. If you want to know more about specific social networks and games, the Net Aware website has information and safety tips for apps.

As always, if you’ve got concerns about a young person’s welfare (including their online experiences), follow the Yellow Card reporting processes.

All activities must be safely managed. Do a risk assessment and take appropriate steps to reduce risk. Always get approval for the activity and have suitable supervision and an InTouch process.