Project 1: Pony Art

This project turns Scratch's Neigh Pony sprite into a kind of multicolored paintbrush. The same trick can be also applied to paint with any sprite in Scratch. Through this simple but super-funny project, you will find your feet in the world of programming. 

How it works 

Use a computer mouse to paint multicolored art. Whenever you drag the mouse, a rainbow-tail of cats is left behind. Later on, you'll see how to add other effects. 

1. Follow the mouse: First, you'll make a script to use the mouse pointer to move the Neigh Pony sprite around the stage.

2. Changing color: Next, you'll add blocks to the script to make the sprite change its color

3. Making copies: Then you'll use the "stamp" block to make a trail of copies appear on the stage

4. Going wild: There are lots of crazy effects you can try out on the cat once you start experimenting. This project let you go wild with your imagination. You can experiment with a variety of colors, sizes, and effects for the pony, and in the end, your project will look like a piece of modern art. 

Let's get started. 

Use the online version of Scratch, go to the Scratch website (https://scratch.mit.edu/) and click on Create at the top. If you use Scratch offline, click on the Scratch icon on your desktop. You should see a fresh project, ready for you to start building scripts. 

Pen Extension is a Scratch 3.0 extension including Scratch 2.0's pen blocks.[1] To use them, they must be enabled in the "Extensions" section of the editor. Older blocks are kept but hidden.[2] There are 9 blocks. The stamp block "stamps" a picture of the sprite onto the stage wherever the pony is standing. 

***Loops: Almost all computer programs contain loops. These are useful as they let a program go back and repeat a set of instructions, which keeps scripts simple and short. The ''forever" block create a loop that goes on forever, buy other types of loops can repeat an action a fixed number of times. You'll meet all sorts of clever loops in later projects.

There are lots of ways to change how the pony looks, and you can use them to create some startling visual effects. Below are a few examples, but feel free to try your own experiments. 

Special Effects: There are lots of other effects to try besides simple color and size changes. Try adding another "change" block to the main script. Click the drop-down menu and try the other effects to see what they do.

At your fingertips: to give yourself more control over effects while painting with the pony, you can trigger scripts with any keys you choose. You could create weird pony changes, including the ghost effect in the following example.