Coding-Based Joyful Learning Through ScratchJr in Kindergarten

Widya Dwi Hardiyanti and Prayitno

Early Childhood Education, Universitas Negeri Yogyakarta, Indonesia

Keywords: Coding, Early Childhood, Joyful Learning, Kindergarten, ScratchJr.

Abstract: Coding has received attention from the national education ministry in Indonesia. Most kindergarten teachers

in Indonesia lack the experience to implement coding learning. Focusing on ScratchJr being the most popular

free introductory block-based programming language app designed specifically for children aged five to seven,

this paper explores the application of ScratchJr in kindergarten. This study explores how ScratchJr can be

used as a new learning media tool in kindergarten. This paper presents a case study of a kindergarten teacher's

experience in designing and implementing coding learning through ScratchJr, which is integrated with digital

technology media. This study employs a qualitative case study approach to explore how early childhood

learning experiences and teachers' experiences in implementing coding learning through ScratchJr in

kindergarten are influenced over one week. The study participants were 20 children aged five to six years.

The results of this study provide evidence that children can design, build, and program animation projects

after one week of intensive ScratchJr learning. In addition, the results of the study show that teachers have

successfully integrated coding learning through ScratchJr in kindergarten, which includes basic coding

concepts while also involving children in efforts to develop imagination and creativity. The results of the

study show the importance of applying coding learning through ScratchJr to help develop early childhood

creativity in the early years. Furthermore, this study looks at preliminary evidence that the State of Indonesia

will start implementing the coding curriculum in basic education. This research supports the latest policy rules

of the national education ministry through the application of coding learning through ScratchJr in kindergarten.

1 INTRODUCTION

Early childhood education is education intended for

children aged zero to eight years (NAEYC, 2022).

This period is also called the golden age period

because children experience a process of rapid growth

and development, especially the brain's thinking

ability, which develops by up to 80%. It is hoped that

during this period, positive stimuli will be given that

help children grow according to the progress of the

times. Based on the results of the survey, the use of

technology today is increasing, as evidenced by 92%

of families having internet access at home in 2021,

while this percentage level was initially only 90% in

2020. It has also increased children's access to

technology and the internet (Bunce & Woolley,

2021). Researchers, educators, and practitioners

agree on the importance of developing the 5Cs skills

to prepare children for the challenges of the 21st

century. These abilities can be taught and learned

effectively by integrating digital technology media in

learning that can start from the early childhood

education level.

The 21st century, as it is now, is an era of very

rapid technological development. Technology is

developing and spreading to various sectors of life to

help humans solve various things. Technology is used

from various ages until children unknowingly grow

up to be digital natives. Digital native is a term for

children who are born and raised in the digital era

(Yildiz & Guler Yildiz, 2021). Several studies have

sought that children not only consume digital media,

but also need to engage in positive activities, so that

programs focused on STEM (Science, Technology,

Engineering, Mathematics) and coding or

programming have emerged (Yalçın & Erden, 2021).

Whether children are aware of it or not, children use

digital technology media as a daily consumption

activity. Therefore, it is necessary for digital

education as a provision for children to face the

world. One of the efforts to realize digital education

is to introduce coding learning (Unahalekhaka &

Bers, 2021). Many developed and developing

countries have taken policies to utilize digital

technology media in the school learning curriculum,

Hardiyanti, W. D. and Prayitno,

Coding-Based Joyful Learning Through ScratchJr in Kindergarten.

DOI: 10.5220/0014068400004935

Paper published under CC license (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0)

In Proceedings of the 7th International Conference on Early Childhood Education (ICECE 2025) - Meaningful, Mindful, and Joyful Learning in Early Childhood Education, pages 65-73

ISBN: 978-989-758-788-7; ISSN: 3051-7702

one way is by learning coding.

Early childhood coding is a series of cognitive

processes that start from a simple stage to a higher

level to solve problems by finding effective and

efficient solutions or systematic such as how

computer systems work (Bakala et al., 2021).

Children's coding is defined as problem-solving

activities by applying computer science concepts that

are often associated with computational thinking

skills (Terroba et al., 2021). Based on the theory of

cognitive development of the Bloom taxonomy, the

computational thinking ability of the debugging

aspect and the design process is at the highest level,

namely, vacuuming and creating.

The debugging process for children tries to find

the right solution to the problem by conducting

several experiments. Children's design process tries

to work according to their imagination (Critten et al.,

2022). The results of the study stated that children

who were given coding learning were able to solve

problems more creatively and had higher levels of

cognitive skills, such as analysis and evaluation,

which were more developed compared to children

who were not given coding learning (Gerosa et al.,

2022). Learning coding is an important skill today,

because through coding learning children can develop

abilities based on the knowledge and experience

gained to reach the optimal stage of development. The

selection of technology tools and interactive media

must be adjusted to the child's developmental age,

individual readiness and interests, and appropriate in

the context of the family and community culture will

determine how effectively technology can be used as

a coding learning medium (Singhal, 2022). One of the

media that can be used for learning coding in an early

childhood education environment is a computer

programming application called ScratchJr. The main

problem faced in this context is the lack of systematic

and targeted implementation in integrating coding

learning as part of the early childhood education

curriculum in the city of Surakarta. This research has

the urgency to explore more deeply how the coding

process is practiced for children aged 5-6 years. The

purpose of this research was to describe the practice

of the early childhood coding process, which can be

used as an illustration of the implementation of

coding learning in an early childhood education by

utilizing a technology program called ScratchJr.

The results show that children aged 5-6 years have

limited ability to understand coding, so simple

features in the form of images or symbols are needed

that will be easier for children to understand, such as

ScratchJr (Misirli & Komis, 2023). All blocks are

completely graphic-based (with no text other than

numbers) to make it easier for children to use this

programming language before they can read.

Research proves that ScratchJr can develop

computational thinking skills because children learn

exploratively by trying out complex programming

blocks (Çiftçi & Topçu, 2023). Other research shows

that when children code with ScratchJr, children

learn to express themselves and be creative (Zeng et

al., 2023). ScratchJr also supports the joyful learning

approach that is being implemented in Indonesia.

The application of the joyful learning approach is,

in principle, by the recommendations of the

government in Indonesia that professional teachers

are obliged to create a meaningful, fun, creative, and

dynamic learning atmosphere. It is more important

that the learning process in early childhood education

must be carried out in an inspiring, interactive

manner, motivating children to participate actively,

providing enough space to develop creativity and

independence at the stages of child development.

Joyful learning will arouse children's curiosity. If

learning can be conditioned in a fun atmosphere,

children will be active and creative in the learning

process. Children will have the ability to organize and

be themselves in the learning process. Joyful learning

in it has no pressure, both physical and psychological

pressure, so that a fun and non-monotonous

classroom atmosphere is created. Joyful learning

makes the learning process exciting and meaningful.

Exciting means that learning can be enjoyed by

children without any pressure. Meanwhile, meaning

means that the knowledge gained by children in

learning can be useful in their lives.

The fact that problem that always occurs in the

field is that teachers still use boring methods, models,

and strategies for early childhood. The learning

methods, models, and strategies used by teachers in

the implementation of learning still often come from

one direction, namely, learning is only centered on

the teacher without understanding the characteristics

of each child. As a result, children become bored, so

they are not enthusiastic about following the learning

process in the classroom. To overcome these

problems, professional teachers must carry out

various efforts by implementing various learning

strategies so that children have strong motivation in

the learning process. One of the efforts that can be

made by teachers in the learning process is to use

joyful learning strategies. In addition, teachers also

need to introduce the use of digital technology media

from an early age, so coding-based learning through

ScratchJr is very suitable to be applied in early

childhood education. Thus, this article will shed light

on the implementation of coding-based fun learning

ICECE 2025 - The International Conference on Early Childhood Education

through ScratchJr in early childhood education.

2 METHOD

This study uses a qualitative method with a case study

approach to understand and explore in depth the

practice of coding through ScratchJr in children aged

5-6 years. This research is a case study because it

addresses the "how" question that allows for an in-

depth examination of a phenomenon. This research

employed a case study method, which allows people

to gain a greater insight into a specific case by

investigating it in depth and within its actual context

(Babbie, 2010). This research is designed as

qualitative research because it focuses on detailed

information and phenomena in the best possible way.

Qualitative research focuses on understanding

how people perceive events, describing them, and

connecting meanings, rather than on the analysis of

statistical data as seen in quantitative research

(Christensen et al., 2014). This study aims to explore

the practice of coding through ScratchJr in children

aged 5-6 years, so that the qualitative research method

is in accordance with this study. The data of this study

were collected from 20 children aged 5-6 years in one

of the early childhood education institutions in the

city of Surakarta, Indonesia. All children have the

same knowledge background, socioeconomic status,

and ability to use technological media devices.

Qualitative research argues that the depth and

originality of knowledge are more important than

generalizations, so it focuses on in-depth and specific

data from smaller groups rather than large samples

(Johnson & Christensen, 2014b). Therefore, 20

samples of children will generate data for this study.

Participants were selected based on the purposive

sampling method. Purposive sampling was used in

this study to select information-rich cases for in-depth

analysis according to the research objectives.

In this study, the coding process through ScratchJr

in children aged 5-6 years was studied in depth

through observation. Observation is a carefully

observed activity that fosters a deep awareness of an

event, situation, or place, as well as the behavior of

the people in it, to obtain data and information (Gall,

2014). Observations can be categorized in various

forms; some reference sources classify them into

direct and indirect observations (Johnson &

Christensen, 2014a), while others differentiate it into

participatory and non-participatory observation

(Mukherji & Albon, 2015). In this study, observation

was carried out directly without intermediaries on the

subject at the place where the event took place, and

the researcher was with the subject being studied. In

addition, observation is also carried out by actively

participating directly to observe the ScratchJr coding

process carried out by children aged 5-6 years, so that

researchers know and get information accurately and

in detail. In addition to the observation method, the

documentation method is also used in this study to

document the results of children's work during the

coding process using ScratchJr. Therefore,

observation and documentation methods are used in

this study to facilitate consistency and accuracy in the

data collection process.

Observation forms are a data collection tool to

discover children's processes as they code in

ScratchJr. Observation can foster a deep awareness of

an event, situation, or place, as well as the behavior

of the people in it (Mukherji and Albon, 2015). The

observation form was created by the researcher and

used during data collection. In addition to the

observation form, the data collection tool used is

documentation of children's work during the coding

process using ScratchJr. Data is collected

individually, and each child has between 45-60

minutes to explore and create a project using

ScratchJr. During the child's exploration of ScratchJr,

the child's progress in the coding process is recorded

on an observation form. In addition, every

documentation of the children's ScratchJr project is

stored for analysis.

Figure 1: Data Analysis Technique.

Data from observation and documentation results

were analyzed using descriptive analysis techniques.

After completing the data collection process, all

observation results and documentation of children's

ScratchJr work are thoroughly analyzed to reveal the

results of the research. This process involves

encoding the data, identifying themes, and drawing

conclusions based on the patterns found in the data.

Due to the ethical research process, to ensure the

confidentiality of participants' privacy, the analysis of

children's data was abbreviated "Child" (C), followed

by a number, so that it became a form of code.

3 RESULT

Joyful learning for early childhood is learning while

Coding-Based Joyful Learning Through ScratchJr in Kindergarten

Table 1: Coding-Based Joyful Learning Through ScratchJr in Early Childhood Education.

o Activit

Title Warm Up Activit

Main Activit

Concludin

Activit

Introducing the

ScratchJ

Children observe and listen to the

teacher's ex

lanation in ScratchJ

Children try to open

ScratchJr on their own

Children and teachers sit

together in a circle (circle

time) to discuss the

activities that have been

carried out, share ideas,

discuss what happened,

what worked, what

didn't, and provide each

other with feedback on

the work project

children's animations to

make them meaningful

and interesting.

Create a new

animation project

The teacher gives an example using

blocks to create animations

Children try to create

animations using different

lock

rammin

Add a background

(story theme)

The teacher gives an example of how

to add a background

Children add background

(theme) freely according to

their creativit

Add characters and

make the character

move

The teacher guides in adding

characters based on the background

and gives an example of how to

make a character move by dragging

and arranging blocks

Children are free to choose

characters based on the

theme and select blocks that

are arranged to make

characters move

Save animation

project using

children's names

The teacher gave an example of how

to save the finished animation

project work with the child's name

Children save the work of

animation projects by typing

their names

Tell the animation

(display project or

presentation)

The teacher invites children to share

and tell of their animation and to

appreciate the work of a friend's

animation

Children share and tell of

their animation and

appreciate the work of a

friend's animation project

playing, which will invite children to be active. While

playing, children are actively learning, and while

learning, children are actively playing. Joyful

learning for early childhood is learning while playing,

which will invite children to be active. Joyful learning

uses an approach that evokes feelings of fun and

creativity to reduce the boredom and learning tension

experienced by children. The steps of coding-based

joyful learning through ScratchJr in in Table 1.

The ScratchJr used in this study was integrated

with a larger exploration unit on early childhood

learning as part of the kindergarten. This learning

lasts about 10 hours of work over 5 days (about 2

hours per day). The implementation of this research

is an intensive experience where early childhood will

delve into the basic concepts of the coding process

using ScratchJr for one week. During this period,

early childhood in kindergarten spends one week

focusing on designing, creating, and programming

ideas that can help with the child's development. The

researcher adjusts the learning principles that the

teacher has applied in his class. Researchers provide

an opportunity for children to discuss ideas about

daily activities, share new ideas, and give each other

feedback. The implementation used in this study is an

adaptation of the curriculum created by the DevTech

Research Group at Tufts University.

The learning presented in this paper provides a

learning experience where children can use ScratchJr

as a medium to develop a sense of competence and

confidence in the ability to use technology. ScratchJr

also develops creativity to create animation projects,

from coming up with ideas to implementation, and

ending up being able to share them with the

community. The curriculum focuses on learning the

basics of coding to create simple animations using a

variety of programming blocks. The researcher

adapted the curriculum to suit the stages of early

childhood development.

The benefit of implementing the coding

curriculum through ScratchJr is that teachers are able

to adapt the curriculum to meet the talents, needs, and

abilities of early childhood interests. Teachers are

able to create a comprehensive curriculum based on

coding concepts through ScratchJr and adjust the

content of the curriculum according to the stages of

early childhood development as a whole. The teacher

follows the child or follows the direction of the class.

Teachers try to plan as much learning as possible, but

still leave room for flexibility, and it's a bit difficult.

Teachers must be confident that this will succeed and

see the coding curriculum as a learning process that is

in line with the development of the 21st century,

which is all digitalized. Coding through ScratchJr can

provide children with the freedom to use technology

in a new way and follow the mutually agreed class

rules. Overall, the children feel enthusiastic and

happy when doing coding through ScratchJr.

The first lesson of the programming with

ScratchJr, which is divided into two sessions, is

devoted to introducing ScratchJr. Instead of visiting

the playground for warm-up activities, researchers

showed the graphic programming blocks inside

ScratchJr to the children. Then, the children with

ICECE 2025 - The International Conference on Early Childhood Education

great enthusiasm and curiosity discuss questions such

as: "What is the name of this game?"; "What is the

function of this block?"How to move the

character?"How do I change the background of the

theme?"Can I add another character?"; "How do I

delete a character?" which the researcher then

answered by showing directly through the ScratchJr

application. This session meeting is very energetic

because the child discovers something new in the

classroom. Researchers introduced various forms of

graphic programming blocks within the ScratchJr

application to create animation projects. The

researchers told the children about the functions of

the various forms of programming blocks and

demonstrated how they were used.

After the teacher demonstrated how to make

animations using programming blocks. The next

activity was that the children were asked to create an

animation project using the programming blocks.

ScratchJr is a storytelling programming language that

allows children aged five to seven to create their own

interactive stories, collages, and games. With

ScratchJr, children combine graphics programming

blocks to make characters move, jump, dance, and

sing. Children can modify characters and add their

sounds. Children display one category of instructions

at a time by clicking the selector on the left. Dragging

the instruction block from the palette to the script area

below it activates it. Putting the blocks together will

create a program that is read and played from left to

right. ScratchJr asks children to create coding from

left to right, just as they are learning to read and write.

After completing the animation, children have the

opportunity to present their animated work to their

friends, explain the animated themes that have been

created, and tell the characters in the animation.

Letting children speak for themselves about their

work and showing what they are proud of brings joy

to researchers and teachers. Children enjoy

interacting with friends, and this gives them the

opportunity to help develop their language and social

skills. The children take turns showing their

animation programs and perfecting them if they

encounter problems. At the end of each activity,

children have a presentation where they can

communicate and share ideas from their animation

projects with teachers and friends in the classroom.

Children can see the work of their friends' animation

projects and can give appreciation or opinions

regarding their friends' animation projects. This

activity provides tangible evidence that coding

activities through ScratchJr can develop children's

language, confidence, and social-emotional skills.

4 DISCUSSION

ScratchJr is a block-based programming language

that supports children to explore great ideas in

computer science, such as algorithms, debugging,

modularization, control structures, and design

processes in a fun and developmentally appropriate

way for children (Relkin et al., 2021; Yang et al.,

2022). ScratchJr introduces computational concepts

such as sequencing, looping, occurrence, and

operators, and engages the child in cognitive

processes related to problem-solving. ScratchJr

invites early childhood to engage in coding as 21st-

century literacy and develop the ability to use

symbols (language) to understand, generate,

communicate, and express ideas or thoughts by

producing products that can be shared with others

(Lin et al., 2020; Tuli & Mantri, 2020). As a literacy,

coding can help develop a new way of thinking,

namely computational thinking, and a new way of

producing animations in the coding process to help

develop problem-solving skills and creativity in early

childhood at work. Implementing ScratchJr in early

childhood, in kindergarten, can expand the scope of

concepts and basic coding. ScratchJr allows children

to drag and drop blocks to create a program for each

character they choose. Children combine motion

blocks, sounds, and displays to program their own

stories and games. Further, children can create their

own stories with a maximum of four pages in each

project that has a beginning, middle, and end.

ScratchJr is described as a tech playground for early

childhood in kindergarten. Like a playground, the

environment is open and allows for child-directed

exploration and the creation of projects that express

the child's unique interests and individuality(Pellas,

2024; Yang et al., 2022).

ScratchJr users are encouraged to learn through

experimentation and fix errors, fix bugs, and

troubleshoot. ScratchJr is a block programming

language that has visual properties that correspond to

syntactic properties (Delacruz, 2020; Govind et al.,

2020). This helps prevent syntax errors and allows

young users to focus their entire attention on the

project their child is working on. ScratchJr, as an

introductory programming language, allows children

to express themselves and develop creativity.

ScratchJr appeals to early childhood learners who

enjoy the process of coding to create animation

projects. Research in early childhood using ScratchJr

found that children showed significant changes in

attitudes and self-efficacy related to social emotional

development after engaging in coding (Fidai et al.,

2020; Unahalekhaka & Bers, 2021). The

Coding-Based Joyful Learning Through ScratchJr in Kindergarten

programming block-based language in ScratchJr

offers an open setup to create projects of any choice,

while engaging with great ideas from computer

science. ScratchJr encourages children to explore and

practice certain aspects of programming, such as

cause and effect, logical sequences, and problem-

solving. ScratchJr is like a playground and invites

creativity and conflict resolution, constructed

according to certain cognitive mechanisms structured

in such a way as to allow children to develop certain

great ideas (Kyza et al., 2022; Unahalekhaka & Bers,

2022; Konstantina & Stamatios, 2024). One of the

main differences between the ScratchJr programming

language and other games is that the ScratchJr

programming language provides a tool for children to

come up with their own projects openly, and not just

to play around with games that are already in

development. Process of creating animations,

children become programmers of animation, also

being able to develop problem-solving skills.

The implementation of the coding curriculum

through ScratchJr in kindergarten classrooms aims to

invite early childhood to discover, explore, and

develop great ideas from computer science concepts

that are appropriate to their development. Seymour

Papert uses the term great idea to refer to the concept

of computer science as a meaningful and useful

discipline (del Olmo-Muñoz et al., 2020; Metin,

2020). Bers explained seven great ideas from

computer science that can be learned by every early

childhood according to its development, namely

algorithms, modularity, control structures,

representations, hardware or software, design

processes, and debugging (Saxena et al., 2020;

Bakala et al., 2021). These great ideas can be

connected to many curricular areas of the experience

domain outside of computer science, one of which is

through a coding-based curriculum. The

implementation of this coding curriculum is

consistent with the content proposed by the policies

of the Ministry of Basic Education and national

government regulations in the State of Indonesia.

The implementation of the coding curriculum

through ScratchJr is suitable for children in

kindergarten classrooms because it facilitates the

development of language, cognitive, fine motor,

social-emotional, and art skills. Children become

programmers by creating their animations through the

coding process and becoming storytellers by sharing

stories from meaningful animation projects with their

environment. The use of programming blocks is in

harmony with most early childhood curricula that

invite children to explore depicted characters of

humans and animals (Relkin et al., 2021; Singhal,

2022). ScratchJr programming blocks can develop a

child's potential to be imaginative and creative,

imagining projects that can move into meaningful and

engaging animations. Children can identify mistakes

and complete steps to correct mistakes. Problem-

solving skills are one of the most important skills that

need to be emphasized in early childhood education

(Yang et al., 2023; Zurnacı & Turan, 2024). In

addition, ScratchJr also involves learning how to

manage frustration, develop perseverance, and

teamwork skills. Therefore, when teachers provide

opportunities for children to do coding activities, they

aim to provide support for cognitive and socio-

emotional development.

The implementation of coding through ScratchJr

in kindergarten, in addition to learning problem-

solving strategies, also provides new ways to express

oneself, such as language and art. ScratchJr offers

coding activities using a variety of digital

programming blocks that can develop children's self-

expression through the creation of meaningful and

engaging animation (Dittert et al., 2021; Critten et

al., 2022). ScratchJr is an expressive medium of self-

expression, similar to writing, speaking, and art.

ScratchJr gives children the opportunity to express

their ideas in a meaningful, creative, and expressive

way in a personal way. This is in line with the

understanding of programming as one of the hundred

languages of children described by the popular early

childhood pedagogical approach of Reggio Emilia

(Gerosa et al., 2022; Bers et al., 2023). ScratchJr

offers easy and challenging activities for early

childhood. The implementation of ScratchJr needs to

adjust to the development and cognitive abilities.

Therefore, at the same age level, the study found pre-

reading children and fluent readers (reading symbols)

with different cognitive abilities.

Early childhood basically needs to be given

stimulation and challenges to learn new things. The

selection of ScratchJr for the implementation of the

coding curriculum in this study was due to three

different factors. First, ScratchJr is the most popular

programming language for early childhood.

Secondly, ScratchJr is free (can be downloaded

anywhere, anytime, and by anyone). Third, ScratchJr

includes abilities that expose children to great ideas

in a way that is appropriate for children's

development because it is designed specifically for

children aged five to seven. ScratchJr provides a

means to express themselves because it allows

children to create stories and projects openly (Misirli

& Komis, 2023; Guss et al., 2024). ScratchJr can help

develop problem-solving with complex concepts

such as loops. ScratchJr offers an easy-to-understand

ICECE 2025 - The International Conference on Early Childhood Education

look so that children can get started easily by simply

moving one character and then move on to create

complex multi-character and multi-page projects (Na

et al., 2024; Zurnacı & Turan, 2024). This makes

ScratchJr an ideal candidate as a medium for the

implementation of coding in kindergartens.

This research answers specific needs following

the national education policy in Indonesia and

provides a unique learning experience for early

childhood, so that it can be integrated, integrated, and

adjusted according to the needs of the curriculum in

kindergarten and teacher professional development.

However, regardless of the choice of media, the

successful implementation of a children's coding

curriculum in a kindergarten classroom must be

appropriate for early childhood development, provide

a medium for self-expression, develop rapid problem-

solving skills, and be able to provide flexible media

that is easy to use for early childhood (Clarke-Midura

et al., 2023; Quinn et al., 2023; Masarwa et al., 2024).

It's important to note that the benefits of

implementing a coding curriculum aren't limited to

technology literacy. The coding curriculum can

support the development of language, cognitive,

physical, motor, math, socio-emotional, and art.

Teaching coding also trains problem-solving skills.

The problem faced by the field of learning technology

education today is not whether to teach coding in

early childhood, but how best to choose media or

devices and curriculum that are in accordance with

the stages of early childhood development in the

kindergarten classroom.

5 CONCLUSIONS

The results of this case study indicate that an effective

coding curriculum, implemented through ScratchJr in

kindergarten, should include materials that are

tailored to the stages of early childhood development

as a whole, teachers who are comfortable and

confident in teaching coding, and a collaborative

learning environment. Based on the study's results,

integrating ScratchJr into kindergarten coding does

not require teachers to allocate time outside of their

teaching hours. Instead, teachers use ScratchJr as a

learning medium to invite children to explore the

coding process in creating animation. Because early

childhood learning values personal exploration and

achieving goals from any path that makes sense for

each child, ScratchJr offers a unique way for children

to express their creativity and create new ideas.

Traditional early childhood learning is typically

explored through reading books, class discussions,

and working on children's worksheets. Coding

through ScratchJr can be another way to understand

material in a new, more modern way, as it utilizes

digital technology media that gives children the

opportunity to create moving images in the form of

meaningful and interesting animations. As

technology becomes increasingly important in a

global society, ScratchJr could become a new way to

teach coding in kindergarten. Teachers integrate the

principles of early childhood learning with the use of

technology. The teacher pointed out that ScratchJr

can be used as a medium that allows early childhood

to learn basic concepts of simple coding. Although

ScratchJr is relatively new in early childhood

education, this study shows that implementing a

learning curriculum that utilizes technology media

can be applied in other kindergartens, provided that

learning is tailored to the stages of early childhood

development. Overall, the findings of this study

provide early evidence that coding through ScratchJr

has a positive impact on early childhood development

in the cognitive, social-emotional, and creativity

domains.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The authors would like to extend many thanks to

LPDP. This research was funded by the Indonesia

Endowment Fund for Education (LPDP) and the

Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Indonesia.

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