Have you ever wanted to make a picture move? Today, we’re going to learn how to animate a fox so it can wag its tail using Scratch, a fun programming tool!
First, we need to look at the fox’s costumes. Costumes are like different outfits or poses for our fox. We’ll start by going to the “Costumes” tab. Here, we can see all the different poses the fox has. Let’s keep just one pose by deleting the others.
To make the tail wag, we need to create a new costume. We can do this by right-clicking (or pressing and holding) on the costume and selecting “Duplicate.” Now, we have two of the same costumes!
Next, we need to change the tail a little. Click on the tail, rotate it just a bit, and then put it back in place. This small change will help us create the wagging effect.
Now, let’s make the tail move! Go back to the “Code” tab. Here, we can use the “Next Costume” block. This block will switch between the costumes we made, making it look like the tail is wagging.
To keep the tail wagging, we can use a “Forever” loop. This loop will keep running the “Next Costume” block again and again. But wait! The tail is wagging too fast!
To slow it down, we can add a “Wait” block. Set the wait time to 0.2 seconds. Now, the tail wags at a nice, steady pace. If you want the animation to be even smoother, you can add more costumes with slight changes to the tail.
Now that you know how to use the “Next Costume” block, what will you animate? Maybe a cat jumping, a bird flapping its wings, or even a robot dancing! The possibilities are endless, so have fun creating your own animations!
Costume Creation Challenge: At home, find a toy or a stuffed animal that you like. Imagine it has different poses or outfits, just like the fox in Scratch. Draw two or three different poses on paper. Think about how you can make it look like your toy is moving. Can you make it look like it’s waving or jumping? Share your drawings with a friend or family member and explain how each pose changes.
Observation Walk: Take a walk around your home or garden and observe how things move. Look at how a tree sways in the wind or how a pet moves its tail. Try to describe these movements in steps, just like the different costumes in Scratch. How many steps does it take for a leaf to fall or a pet to wag its tail? Write down your observations and think about how you could animate these movements using Scratch.
Animation Storyboard: Create a simple storyboard for a short animation. Think of a story where a character, like a fox or a cat, moves from one place to another. Draw each step of the story in a sequence of pictures. Use arrows to show movement. Once your storyboard is complete, try to recreate it in Scratch using the “Next Costume” block. Share your animation with your classmates and see if they can follow your story!
Here’s a sanitized version of the YouTube transcript:
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I want to animate this fox and make it wag its tail. First, I’ll go to the costumes tab and delete the other poses. To duplicate this costume, I can right-click or long press and select duplicate. Now, I can select the tail, rotate it a little bit, and stick it back on.
If I go back to my code, I can click “next costume” to make the tail wag. Let’s do that in a forever loop. That’s too fast, so I’ll add a wait block and set it to 0.2 seconds. Now the tail is wagging! I can add more costumes to make the animation smoother.
What will you animate with the next costume?
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Thank you!
