A Back-to-School Coding Activity Your Students Will Love

After a summer of recharging—and maybe losing track of what day it is—the new school year is just around the corner. Along with fresh energy comes a long to-do list—organizing supplies, learning names, and setting expectations. These tasks lay the foundation for structure and routine. Yet, it’s just as important to carve out space for students to truly connect—with themselves, with one another, and with the creative possibilities that technology offers. This kind of connection sets the tone for a classroom culture where curiosity and creativity can thrive from day one.

To start the year with a project that is both engaging and meaningful, I recommend a simple activity on Scratch called “All About Me,” which welcomes every student—no prior coding experience required. This project invites students to share their stories, interests, and personalities through coding, making it a natural way to build connections while establishing a welcoming, energetic atmosphere.

Getting Your Scratch Classroom Ready

To make the experience smooth, I recommend setting up a Scratch Educator account. Once approved, you can create your class and generate a special join link. Sharing this link lets students create Scratch accounts linked directly to your classroom. This setup creates a digital portfolio of their work, allowing you to track progress over time while students continue building on their projects year after year. It’s a simple way to stay connected and support storytelling through coding.

When I introduce All About Me, students explore their identities and discover surprising things about classmates. This project brings fresh energy, encouraging genuine connections and revealing shared interests that help build lasting bonds. By coding animated characters, adding voice recordings, and choosing fun sounds, students create projects that feel personal and meaningful as they introduce themselves to a new group of classmates and a new teacher.

All students need to know is that this is their opportunity to creatively share who they are and what they care about in a new and exciting way. Students may decide to focus on their favorite hobbies, share about a favorite pet, or describe their dream career. Whatever students decide to home in on, it is a great way for you as a teacher to learn more about them.

Encouraging Independent Thinking

One lesson I’ve learned is to avoid showing students exactly how to code or handing out step-by-step instructions to copy. It’s important to prevent students from mimicking your code or each other’s projects. Instead, the goal is to empower them to think for themselves. Give just enough guidance to spark curiosity, then encourage experimentation, problem-solving, and creative risk-taking. This helps students develop critical thinking skills and a genuine sense of ownership over their work.

When students realize there isn’t one “right” way to tell their story, they become more confident and willing to try new things. They learn to see mistakes not as failures but as opportunities to explore and improve. This mindset nurtures resilience and creativity far beyond the classroom.

coding as a Tool for self-Expression

The All About Me Scratch project is more than just coding—it’s a powerful way for students to find their voice. The digital format allows for creativity that goes beyond traditional get-to-know-you activities. Students animate ideas, use sounds that reflect their personalities, and literally bring their ideas to life onscreen.

I remind students that their projects should be as unique as they are. This freedom nurtures authenticity and builds ownership over their learning. For many, this is their first experience using technology as a storytelling tool—and it can be transformative.

Tips for a Successful Start

• Set clear and flexible expectations: Encourage creativity and risk-taking rather than just finishing the project.
• Model curiosity and play: Experiment alongside students to show that mistakes happen to everyone.
• Encourage collaboration with boundaries: Peer support is great, but remind students that copying defeats the project’s purpose.
• Create a supportive environment: Celebrate effort and creative choices, not just advanced coding skills.
• Focus on all learners: Engage students who seem less interested by finding what sparks their curiosity.
• Make time for reflection: After sharing, invite students to discuss what they learned or what surprised them.

Keeping the Momentum Going

Once students experience the joy of coding their own animations, Scratch can become a regular part of your classroom. Integrate it into other subjects—coding to illustrate poems, science concepts, or historical figures. Seasonal themes and open-ended challenges keep things fresh and inspire ongoing exploration.

When students see coding as a tool for expression, they move beyond learning a skill to developing a creative practice. This benefits their confidence, communication, and critical thinking throughout the year—and beyond.

Starting the school year with a project that blends coding and personal storytelling is a strong way to build connection, creativity, and confidence. It shows students that their voices belong in the classroom—and that learning is something they help shape.

This is not about using technology for the sake of it. It is about using it with purpose—to support voice, creativity, and a sense of belonging from day one.

Try This Next

October is one of my favorite times of the year, and students love the energy around Halloween. I play “Spooky, Scary Skeletons” on repeat, and the classroom lights up with singing and dancing in a creative learning environment.

The video I use pairs the song with Disney’s classic black-and-white animation The Skeleton Dance. It has over 30 million views on YouTube and has become a staple in Halloween playlists and classroom projects.

Have students build their own Halloween-themed Scratch project. Ask them to try something they have not done yet—add sound effects, make a sprite dance, and explore cloning sprites. Then have them share with a partner and explain what new skill they used.

It is fun, loud, organized chaos, and full of learning. And it keeps the momentum going throughout the school year.