Workshop
Kids 'At-Home' Activities
Available online now
We usually host free monthly workshops and activities for families, but this isn’t possible at present due to the COVID-19 outbreak.
So we’re putting together a range of activities that you can download and try at home.
Some of these will require the use of Scratch, a free, online, block-based code editor which you’ve probably seen us using if you’ve been to one of our family workshops. You might also have used it in school.
There are lots of different tutorials available for using Scratch. Here we are going to focus on showing you ways of using Scratch that link to the work we do at Phoenix. This will include things like animation and drawing.
We’ll be updating this page regularly, so be sure to bookmark it and check back every few days to see what activities we’ve added.
Take a look at our family workshops gallery to see what children have made in previous workshops.
Grow Art
This tutorial will teach you about creating drawings using Scratch.
Click the link below to download the .pdf and open the tutorial.
Grow Art Tutorial
Time: 30min
Difficulty: Beginner
Requirements: Access to the Scratch website.
Monster Machine
This tutorial is based on our Remix Characters family workshop. It teaches you how to build a machine on Scratch that will mix up character parts.
Click the link below to download the .pdf and open the tutorial.
Monster Machine Tutorial
Time: 45min
Difficulty: Beginner
Requirements: Access to the Scratch website.
Virtual Pet
This tutorial will teach you about creating an interactive, virtual pet using Scratch.
Click the link below to download the .pdf and open the tutorial.
Virtual Pet Tutorial
Time: 45min
Difficulty: Intermediate*
Requirements: Access to the Scratch website.
*If you have completed the Monster Machine and Grow Art tutorials, you should be fine with this!
Sound Box
This project shows you more about using variables to create and control different effects. Remix the template and view the tutorial to create your own custom Sound Box.
Click the link below to download the .pdf and open the tutorial.
Sound Box Tutorial
Time: 45min
Difficulty: Intermediate*
Requirements: Access to the Scratch website.
*If you have completed the Monster Machine and Grow Art tutorials, you should be fine with this!
Doodle Maze
This project explores how collisions can be used to build Sprites that interact with each other. Remix the template and view the tutorial to create your own custom Doodle Maze.
Click the link below to download the .pdf and open the tutorial.
Doodle Maze Tutorial
Time: 30min
Difficulty: Intermediate*
Requirements: Access to the Scratch website.
*If you have completed the Monster Machine and Grow Art tutorials, you should be fine with this!
Global Garden
This project introduces the use of global variables. These can be used to build projects that people can interact with together.
Click the link below to download the .pdf and open the tutorial.
Global Garden Tutorial
Time: 45min
Difficulty: Intermediate*
Requirements: Access to the Scratch website.
*If you have completed the previous tutorials you should be fine with this!
Improvised Sketches
In this project we are going to think about how we can set up different events to happen in different ways. This will allow us to tell surprising, random and funny stories.
Click the link below to download the .pdf and open the tutorial.
Improvised Sketches
Time: 30min
Difficulty: Beginner
Requirements: Access to the Scratch website.
Bridge Designer
This project combines the use of the pen tool with other elements covered in our earlier workshops to create an interactive bridge drawing game.
Click the link below to download the .pdf and open the tutorial.
Bridge Designer
Time: 45min
Difficulty: Intermediate
Requirements: Access to the Scratch website.
Motion Canvas
This explores using interactivity to create moving images.
Click the link below to download the .pdf and open the tutorial.
Motion Canvas
Time: 45min
Difficulty: Intermediate
Requirements: Access to the Scratch website.
Theremin Project
This project creates an interactive instrument, based on the Theremin.
Click the link below to download the .pdf and open the tutorial.
Theremin
Time: 30min
Difficulty: Beginner
Requirements: Access to the Scratch website.
Moving Tiles - Coming Soon
This project creates a fun, animated tile image.
Time: 30min
Difficulty: Beginner
Requirements: Access to the Scratch website.