Scratch – WISE Score & Parent Review | Screenwise

Scratch

Name: Screenwise
Author: Screenwise

app2019

84%

WISE Score

4.0

App Store

MIT's block-coding playground where kids build games and animations—brilliant for learning, but the community needs closer supervision.

Scratch

app

Everyone, 2019

84%

WISE Score

4.0

App Store

MIT's block-coding playground where kids build games and animations—brilliant for learning, but the community needs closer supervision.

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Where to Find

App Store

Google Play

Screenwise Verdict

Scratch is one of the best educational tools out there for teaching kids to code. It's free, ad-free, and genuinely focused on learning—not extracting money or attention. The block-based interface makes programming accessible without dumbing it down, and the creative possibilities are nearly endless.

The catch: the community moderation isn't great. Inappropriate content can slip through, and there are no parental controls to limit what your kid sees or who they interact with. If your child is using the community features, you need to be checking in regularly. For younger kids, consider keeping them in offline mode or limiting them to creating and sharing only with family.

Bottom line: Scratch is brilliant for building computational thinking and creativity. Just treat the community aspect like any other social platform—supervised, not free-range.

Age Fit

Best for ages 7-16, though younger kids with parent support can start earlier. Older teens who are serious about coding will eventually graduate to text-based languages, but Scratch remains a solid foundation. Adults won't use it themselves, but it's perfect for teaching kids.

WISE Breakdown

Wholesome

Scratch promotes collaborative learning and creative expression in a community setting. The platform encourages kids to share their work and learn from others. However, moderation issues mean inappropriate content or comments can slip through, and some parent reviews cite overly strict or inconsistent banning policies that can frustrate young users.

Imaginative

This is pure creative rocket fuel. Kids code their own games, animations, and interactive stories from scratch (pun intended). The block-based programming interface removes technical barriers while teaching real computational thinking. Integration with physical devices like micro:bit and LEGO MINDSTORMS extends creativity into the real world. Millions of user-created projects demonstrate genuine creative output.

Safe

The app itself has no ads or manipulative monetization, which is excellent. However, web search results consistently flag moderation concerns—inappropriate games or comments can slip through despite the moderation team. No parental controls exist within the platform, requiring parents to actively monitor usage. The community aspect, while enriching, introduces risk. Common Sense Media parent reviews specifically call out 'terrible moderation' as a significant issue.

Enriching

Scratch teaches fundamental programming concepts, computational thinking, problem-solving, and logic in a hands-on way. It's used in schools worldwide and comes with extensive educator resources and tutorials. Kids learn by doing, iterating on projects, and studying others' code. The skills translate to real-world applications and STEM pathways. Common Sense Education reviews praise it as 'a very dependable and great app for students to learn about coding.'

Parent Info

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Why It Might Be Great

Teaches real programming concepts through visual, block-based coding that removes syntax frustration
Kids create actual games, animations, and interactive stories—not just following tutorials
Works offline, integrates with physical devices (micro:bit, LEGO MINDSTORMS), and has extensive free educational resources
No ads, no purchases, no manipulative mechanics—just pure learning and creation
Used in schools worldwide with strong educator support and a massive library of example projects to remix

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What to Watch For

Moderation issues mean inappropriate content or comments can appear in the community—Internet Matters and Common Sense Media both flag this
No parental controls built in, so you'll need to actively monitor what your kid is viewing and who they're interacting with
Some parents report overly strict or inconsistent banning policies that can frustrate kids who didn't do anything wrong
Community features are valuable for learning but introduce risk—consider starting with offline-only mode for younger kids

Conversation Starters

"What kind of game or animation do you want to build? Walk me through how you'd make it happen."
"Can you show me a project someone else made that you think is cool? What did they do that you want to learn?"
"If you could code anything to happen in real life, what would it be?"
"What's been the trickiest part of coding so far? How did you figure it out?"

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