Scratch Jr – WISE Score & Parent Review | Screenwise

Scratch Jr

Name: Screenwise
Author: Screenwise

app2015

97%

WISE Score

4.0

App Store

MIT's brilliant coding sandbox for littles—no ads, no BS, just pure creative programming that actually teaches computational thinking.

Scratch Jr

app

Everyone, 2015

97%

WISE Score

4.0

App Store

MIT's brilliant coding sandbox for littles—no ads, no BS, just pure creative programming that actually teaches computational thinking.

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Where to Find

App Store

Google Play

Screenwise Verdict

This is what educational apps should be: thoughtfully designed, completely free of commercial manipulation, and genuinely effective at teaching foundational skills. ScratchJr turns coding into a literacy—a way to express ideas and solve problems, not just a technical skill.

The MIT/Tufts pedigree shows. The interface is clean and developmentally appropriate, the blocks are intuitive, and the creative possibilities are vast. Kids aren't following tutorials or earning meaningless badges—they're building actual projects and learning to debug when things don't work.

The catch: you need to invest time upfront. The app won't teach your kid to code by itself. But 30 minutes of co-exploration unlocks hours of independent creative play. For parents who want screen time that actually builds skills rather than just occupying eyeballs, this is the gold standard.

Age Fit

Designed specifically for ages 5-7, though kindergarteners will need more hand-holding and second graders can run with it independently. Older elementary kids (8-10) will likely graduate to regular Scratch, which has more complexity and features.

WISE Breakdown

Wholesome

Collaborative MIT/Tufts project designed around child development principles. No characters, no storylines, no conflict—just pure creative building blocks. The interface is gentle, encouraging, and built for small hands and developing minds.

Imaginative

This is essentially a blank canvas for kids to build anything they can think of—stories, games, animations. Kids program characters to move, dance, sing, record their own voices, insert photos of themselves, and design in the paint editor. The possibilities are genuinely endless, and it teaches computational thinking as a creative medium rather than a rote skill.

Safe

No ads, no in-app purchases, no social features, no chat, no user-generated content from strangers. It's a completely offline creative tool made by a nonprofit. The only reason it's not 100 is that it requires some adult scaffolding initially—kids can get frustrated without guidance—but from a safety perspective, this is gold standard.

Enriching

Teaches foundational coding concepts (sequencing, loops, conditionals) through play. Builds problem-solving skills, spatial reasoning, and early numeracy/literacy in a meaningful context. Research-backed by MIT and Tufts developmental psychologists. Kids aren't just consuming—they're creating, debugging, iterating. This is genuine skill-building disguised as play.

Parent Info

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Why It Might Be Great

Teaches real coding concepts (sequencing, loops, problem-solving) through intuitive visual blocks that kindergarteners can grasp
Zero commercial garbage—no ads, no purchases, no data harvesting. Made by a nonprofit that actually cares about learning
Kids create their own interactive stories and games, recording voices, taking photos, designing characters—it's genuinely open-ended
Research-backed by MIT Media Lab and Tufts child development experts; designed specifically for 5-7 year old brains
Builds genuine skills: spatial reasoning, debugging, project planning, and early math/literacy in context that feels like play

⚠

What to Watch For

Requires adult setup and initial guidance—the app doesn't hold kids' hands, so budget 20-30 minutes to learn together
Can be frustrating for kids without some scaffolding; the interface is simple but the logic takes practice
Works best on larger tablets (7+ inches); phone screens are too cramped for little fingers
Some kids will need project ideas to get started—blank canvases can be intimidating without prompts

Conversation Starters

"What story are you trying to tell with your characters? Can you show me how you made them move?"
"Uh oh, that didn't work the way you wanted—what do you think went wrong? How could we fix it?"
"If you could add one more thing to your project, what would it be?"
"Can you teach me how to make a character jump? I want to learn your tricks."

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