I’ve been waiting for a program like Scratch to come along for a while, and I’m very excited. Scratch is a free programming tool for kids. The simple and intuitive interface will allow students to easily create animations. With a little extra effort, they will be able to create interactive animations, and even games.
This video tutorial will explain the simplicity of the program and the potential for student learning.
I’ve only begun to explore the possibilities of the program, but the potential is just making my head hurt (in a good way). The thing about “Scratch”, is that once students become fluent in the “rules” of the program, they can construct their own systems, and take their projects in almost any direction that they can imagine.
David Gran is an art and technology teacher at the Shanghai American School. He is also the head honcho of the 
Thanks for sharing information about Scratch. I recently wrote about how I have been having my English Language Learner students use an online application to create video games as a language development activity. It’s obviously not the same as Scratch, but I thought you’d find it interesting:
http://larryferlazzo.edublogs.org/2007/05/05/student-created-online-video-games/