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Scratch Day allows kids to make video game

Posted on: Sunday, 17 May 2009, 14:11 CDT

Children express their creativity by creating simple video games as part of Scratch Day at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, an assistant says.

Stephanie Gayle, an administrative assistant at Lifelong Kindergarten, the group that founded the MIT event, said Saturday's event at the school's media laboratory was a rare chance for children to use simple programming language, The Boston Globe reported Sunday.

I think it gives kids a voice in a realm that they're not used to being heard in, Gayle said. They can do incredible things with it, and it lends an opportunity for kids to become teachers to other kids.

The Scratch programming language was created by an MIT group with the intent it could be used by children to create games and various other media.

Games, music or animation created by children using the open-source program can also be uploaded onto a Scratch Web site so other kids can use them, the Globe said.

Gayle said more than 100 similar events were held in 31 countries.

Source: United Press International

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