Mr Vullo – Alternative Education

The 12 Days of ScratchJr Christmas Coding Projects for Kids!

Unwrap the Festive Fun: Easy Coding Activities for 5-7 Year Olds!

Are you ready to sprinkle some digital magic on your Christmas holidays? I’ve put together 12 super fun ScratchJr coding projects based on the characters and excitement of the festive season!

ScratchJr is the perfect free app for young children (ages 5-7) to learn the basics of coding, creativity, and storytelling. Our easy-to-follow, step-by-step guides will help your child create their own animations and games featuring Santa, Rudolf, Snowmen, and more!

Alternatively, if you are looking for Coding Tutor in Hertfordshire to support your children with this, I can also help.

Why Choose Our ScratchJr Christmas Projects?

  • Boosts essential digital skills with festive flair.
  • Perfect for beginners: No coding experience needed!
  • Block based coding: Ideal for teaching children the basics of coding.
  • Free and accessible: Uses the free ScratchJr app on tablets and computers.
  • Family-friendly: Wonderful for quality time during the Christmas holidays in the UK.

🌟 The 12 Days of Christmas Coding Challenge 🌟

Follow our festive countdown and complete all twelve fantastic ScratchJr coding projects! Each one features an iconic Christmas character and helps your child master a new coding block or concept. I will release a new Christmas coding project every day for the first 12 days of December.

🎁 Dive into the Christmas Coding Projects!

ScratchJr Christmas Coding Day 1:

How to make a Santa jump game in ScratchJr

Dive into Christmas coding with this festive ScratchJr project, demonstrating how to build your very own engaging Santa Jump Game using simple block-based programming. Ideal for beginner game developers, the tutorial guides users through setting up characters, implementing a challenging, rolling Christmas pudding obstacle, and designing an interactive scene. Learn fundamental coding for kids concepts such as continuous sprite movement, creating on-screen joystick controls, and crucial collision detection logic for the ‘Game Over’ condition. Optimise your ScratchJr skills this holiday season by following this simple, step-by-step video guide, which is part of a brilliant series of 12 days of Christmas coding projects.

For full details, please see here on the dedicated page for this Christmas Coding ScratchJr project.

ScratchJr Christmas Coding Day 2:

How to make a Snowman catch game in ScratchJr

Perfect for coding for kids, this ScratchJr project tutorial details how to build an engaging Snowman catch game, making it an ideal festive challenge for Christmas coding. Learners will master character control by coding the Snowman’s left and right movement using message-sending control buttons. The core of the game introduces essential timing logic, requiring users to sequence multiple present sprites to fall sequentially using the wait block to control gameplay flow. Furthermore, you’ll implement collision detection logic to manage the ‘catch’ condition, making this a rewarding ScratchJr exercise for beginner game developers.

For full details, please see here on the dedicated page for this Christmas Coding ScratchJr project.

ScratchJr Christmas Coding Day 3:

How to make a Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer game in ScratchJr

This ScratchJr project guide shows users how to develop an engaging Rudolph collection game, offering an excellent opportunity to practice directional movement and game timer implementation, which is brilliant for Christmas coding. The tutorial provides a step-by-step process for coding Rudolph with a four-way joystick, using the send message and receive message blocks for full character control. A key feature of this festive challenge is learning to implement an introductory countdown timer by programming an arrow sprite to rotate a set number of times using the repeat and wait blocks before triggering a ‘win’ screen. Finally, the project teaches simple collision detection for the collectibles, requiring the Christmas pudding sprites to instantly hide when touched by the main character, concluding a rewarding coding for kids experience.

For full details, please see here on the dedicated page for this Christmas Coding ScratchJr project.

ScratchJr Christmas Coding Day 4:

How to make an Elf Christmas catch game in ScratchJr

This ScratchJr project tutorial guides children through building a fun, fast-paced Elf Christmas Catch game, which is perfect for practicing Christmas coding skills by manipulating continuous action and timing. The challenge involves coding the main character, an Elf, to jump using a simple button control, which sends a message to trigger the vertical movement sequence. A crucial element of the game is using the wait block to give the multiple holly collectible sprites staggered starts as they move horizontally, creating a dynamic flow of obstacles. To implement a win condition, learners code a special “golden” holly sprite to trigger a screen transition to a win page when the collision detection (the bump block) is activated. Click here for full details on this Xmas ScratchJr Project.

ScratchJr Christmas Coding Day 5:

How to make a Christmas Fairy jump game in ScratchJr

This engaging ScratchJr project teaches children to code a Christmas Fairy jump game, offering practical experience in implementing continuous movement, detailed character control, and a simple Game Over condition. The tutorial focuses on using a forever block and the turn clockwise block to code the Star obstacle with dynamic, continuous movement and rotation across the screen. Learners will build a full joystick control setup for the Fairy, utilising message-sending buttons to trigger smooth left, right, and complex arched jump sequences. Crucially, the project introduces collision detection logic by programming the Star to activate the stop block and display “Game Over” upon contact, making it an excellent exercise for Christmas coding beginners. Click here for full details on this ScratchJr Xmas Coding Project.

ScratchJr Christmas Coding Day 6:

How to make a Gingerbread man catch game in ScratchJr

This fun ScratchJr project teaches children to code a Gingerbread Man catch game, which is an excellent introduction to handling multiple sprites and implementing a win condition in Christmas coding. The tutorial demonstrates coding two-way movement for the Gingerbread Man using simple left and right buttons that send and receive colour-coded messages. To create a dynamic challenge, the falling star collectibles are programmed with continuous downward motion and staggered start times using the wait block to control gameplay flow. Finally, a special Red Star is introduced as the winning item, which uses collision detection (bump block) to trigger a transition to a “Merry Christmas” screen. Click here for full details on this ScratchJr Xmas Coding Project.

ScratchJr Christmas Coding Day 7:

How to make a Father Christmas catch game in ScratchJr

This exciting ScratchJr project teaches young coders to develop a festive Father Christmas catch game, which is perfect for mastering timing and movement for Christmas coding. Learners will custom-design the Santa sprite and implement left/right directional controls using message-sending buttons, linking them to move blocks for character navigation. The main challenge involves coding the falling holly collectibles with continuous downward movement using a repeat block and ensuring a staggered start time for each piece with the wait block. Finally, the game introduces a win condition: a special “golden” holly is programmed to transition the screen to a “Merry Christmas” page when it triggers the collision detection (bump block) upon being caught by Father Christmas. Click here for the full details of this project.

ScratchJr Christmas Coding Day 8:

How to make a Snowman collect game in ScratchJr

This engaging ScratchJr project teaches young coders to develop a timed Snowman collect game, which is an excellent challenge for mastering Christmas coding skills by implementing full directional control and an effective countdown timer. The tutorial guides users in creating a four-way joystick—using four separate message-sending buttons—to control the Snowman’s movement (up, down, left, and right). Crucially, the project introduces advanced programming concepts by implementing a game-ending timer: a rotating arrow sprite uses the repeat and wait blocks to count down to a win screen transition, adding a fast-paced element of urgency. Finally, players practice collision detection as they code the star collectibles to hide immediately when the Snowman successfully touches them before time runs out. Click here for full details on this ScratchJr Xmas Coding Project.

ScratchJr Christmas Coding Day 9:

How to make a Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer game in ScratchJr

This thrilling ScratchJr project tutorial guides young coders on how to create a fast-paced Rudolph the Reindeer collect game, which is an ideal activity for practicing Christmas coding skills by implementing full directional control and an essential game timer. You’ll learn to design a four-way joystick—using message-sending button sprites—to control Rudolph’s movement (up, down, left, and right) around the screen. A central programming focus is the game-ending countdown timer, where a rotating arrow sprite uses the repeat and wait blocks to count down a specific duration before switching to a winning screen. Finally, players code the various present collectibles to disappear instantly using collision detection (bump block) once Rudolph successfully touches them, completing a fun, time-based coding for kids challenge. Click here for full details on this ScratchJr Xmas Coding Project.

ScratchJr Christmas Coding Day 10:

How to make an Elf Christmas jump game in ScratchJr

This engaging ScratchJr project teaches young coders to develop an Elf Christmas jump game, which is perfect for mastering continuous action, animation, and collision detection for Christmas coding. Learners will create a rolling Christmas Pudding obstacle by combining forever loops with move left and turn counter-clockwise blocks, simulating continuous motion and rotation. The tutorial guides users to build three control buttons (left, right, and jump) that send unique messages to the Elf sprite, enabling precise character movement across the screen. Crucially, the jump action is coded as a smooth, arcing sequence of vertical and horizontal movement blocks, and the game ends instantly with a Game Over message when the Elf touches the pudding, using the start on bump trigger. Click here for full details on this ScratchJr Xmas Coding Project.

ScratchJr Christmas Coding Day 11:

How to make a Christmas Fairy catch game in ScratchJr

This engaging ScratchJr project teaches young coders to develop a festive Christmas Fairy catch game, which is perfect for mastering movement, timing, and implementing a specific win condition for Christmas coding. Learners will create left and right directional controls for the Fairy using message-sending buttons, linking them to move blocks for fluid character navigation. The core game mechanics involve coding the falling holly collectibles with continuous downward movement using a repeat block and ensuring a crucial staggered start time for each piece with the wait block. To complete the challenge, a special Golden Holly is introduced as the winning item, which is programmed to trigger a screen transition to a “Merry Christmas” page when caught using collision detection (bump block). For full details, please see here on the dedicated page for this Christmas Coding ScratchJr project.

ScratchJr Christmas Coding Day 12:

How to make a Gingerbread man Christmas game in ScratchJr

This detailed ScratchJr project tutorial guides young coders in creating a fast-paced, timed Gingerbread Man collect game, which is an excellent challenge for mastering full directional control and implementing a game-ending countdown timer for Christmas coding. Learners will design four message-sending buttons to create a complete joystick setup, allowing the Gingerbread Man to move up, down, left, and right across the screen. The project includes coding the collection of Christmas Tree sprites, which disappear instantly upon contact using the bump block. Crucially, the game features a visible timer (a rotating arrow sprite) that uses the repeat, turn clockwise, and wait blocks to count down a specific duration, ending the game by transitioning to a “Merry Christmas” win screen. For full details, please see here on the dedicated page for this Christmas Coding ScratchJr project.

💡 Top Tip for Grown-Ups

The best way to learn ScratchJr is by playing! Encourage your child to experiment with the block and characters to see what happens. There are no mistakes in coding—just unexpected features!

Ready to Start Your Coding Christmas Countdown?

Start with Day 1 and then work your way through the 12 projects. Be sure to bookmark this page to easily find all 12 ScratchJr Christmas projects throughout the festive season. You can also sign up for our newsletter to get more updates.