Welcome back to our series of coding adventures. Today, we are adding a truly magical touch to our ScratchJr programmes by learning how to control the size of characters. We will be using the exciting Grow block and revisiting the powerful Repeat block to create a spectacular scene of growth!

The project for this guide involves a classroom scenario where we make a simple flower dramatically grow right on the desk. This is a brilliant way to teach children about transformations and efficient coding using loops. Let’s get creating!

Setting Up Your Scene for Magical Growth

Before we start coding, we need to set our stage. This process should be familiar if you’re following along with our coding tutorials:

• Choose Your Background: Tap the background icon and select the classroom setting.
• Add the Flower Character: Tap the ‘Plus’ button on the left to introduce a new character. Select a flower from the library.
• Position the Flower: Drag the flower to an appropriate spot, perhaps on one of the blue desks in the classroom, and remember to ensure it stays on the desk even when it grows!

For this programme, we only need to code the flower, so make sure the flower character icon is selected on the left.

Coding the Flower: Combining Grow and Repeat Blocks

We will combine various ScratchJr blocks to achieve this effect, ensuring the flower expands to a substantial size.

Introducing the Grow Block

The Grow block is found in the purple Looks category. This block instantly makes your selected character bigger each time it is executed.

1. Start with the Green Flag block from the yellow category to begin the programme.
2. Drag the Grow Block from the purple category and snap it onto the Green Flag.
3. Finish the script with the red End Block.

If you press the flag now, the flower will only grow by one step. To get that amazing, dramatic growth, we need the Repeat block!

Customising Growth with the Repeat Block

The Repeat block, found in the orange Control category, allows us to run a sequence of commands multiple times without having to use the same block over and over. This is essential for efficient coding.

4. Drag the Repeat Block (the loop icon) from the orange category and place it over the Grow block until it highlights and slots around it.
5. By default, the Repeat block will loop four times. To make the flower grow much bigger, tap on the number at the bottom of the Repeat block. The video suggests trying 7 or 6 to get the best size while keeping the flower on the desk.

Press the Green Flag and watch the magic happen! The flower will now grow quickly, repeating the Grow command six or seven times until it reaches its final size.

Next Steps for Young Coders

The Grow block is fantastic for showing emphasis, transformations, or making things appear suddenly. You can experiment by trying the opposite block (the Shrink block) or even having the flower move after it has grown.

If you are looking for more structured coding lessons, or if you have any questions about the blocks used in this tutorial, please do not hesitate to reach out. Thank you for watching, and happy coding!