Looking for Scratch games for kids that are actually fun to build, not just fun to play? This season our students at CodeSky in Markham have been making a small holiday game each week. Each one takes a single class to build, and every one teaches a real programming idea your child will use again in Python later.
Here are three Scratch holiday games your child can build, what each one teaches, and how to make it a little harder once the first version works.
1. The bat that dodges the clouds (Halloween)
A little bat flies across a night sky while clouds drift toward it. The player moves the bat up and down to avoid them. Touch a cloud and the game starts over.
What your child learns: moving a character with the keyboard, making objects repeat forever, and checking when two sprites touch. That last idea, called collision detection, is the heart of almost every video game.
Make it harder: make the clouds speed up a little each time one passes, or add a timer that shows how long the bat survived.
2. Catch the falling candy (Halloween)
Candy falls from the top of the screen and the player slides a basket left and right to catch it. Every catch adds a point.
What your child learns: variables (the score), random numbers (where each candy appears), and resetting an object once it reaches the bottom so the game never runs out of candy.
Make it harder: add a spooky item that takes a point away, or end the game after three misses so every catch counts.
3. Light up the lamps (Diwali, or any festival of lights)
A row of lamps sits dark on the screen. Click a lamp and it glows. Light every lamp before time runs out to win.
What your child learns: costumes (a dark and a lit look for the same sprite), responding to clicks, and keeping count until a goal is reached. Kids also start thinking about how a program knows it is "done", which is a big step in logical thinking.
Make it harder: have lamps flicker out again after a few seconds, so the player has to keep them all lit at the same time.
Why holiday games work so well for kids
- They are small. One idea per game means your child finishes in one sitting and feels proud of it.
- They are personal. Kids choose their own characters, colours and sounds, so no two games look the same.
- They build on each other. Moving, touching, scoring and counting show up again and again, so each game makes the next one easier.
- They are easy to share. A finished game is something your child can show grandparents, friends and classmates.
Tips for parents
- Ask your child to explain the rules of their game before they build it. Planning first is half of programming.
- When something breaks, ask "what did you expect to happen?" instead of fixing it for them.
- Play their game and give one honest suggestion. Kids love a real player.
Build Scratch games with us in Markham
At CodeSky, students ages 7 to 18 learn Scratch, Python, JavaScript and Arduino in small in-person classes, taught in English and Chinese. Start anytime — your child begins at their own level. Free trial first.
Book a free trial class and let your child build their first holiday game with us.
