Scratch is a brilliantly simple programming language designed for kids. Instead of relying on lines of intimidating code, it uses a colourful, building-block style interface to introduce children to the basic computational concepts.

We’ve written a Scratch tutorial as part of our Give Your Kids the IT Edge feature in this month’s magazine (on sale now). Our tutorial shows you how to make your child the star of their very own computer game, in which they have to try and escape from a crab that keeps nipping at its toes. Your child does everything from programming the movements of the characters, to recording sound effects, to creating the scoreboard. Best of all, the software is completely free – just download it from the Scratch website.

If you follow the instructions in the magazine, you should end up with something like the game below (click on the image to play):

You press the arrow keys to move the child, and click on the green flag and red buttton to start and stop the game. If you turn up the volume, you’ll hear my appalling attempt to record my own sound effects when the crab nips the child (I am available for film work).

Our tutorial is really on a starting point. If you visit the projects page on the Scratch website you’ll find hundreds more examples of games and interactive stories that children have created with the software.

Adults are even giving it a bash too. William Wright, a DJ with BBC Radio Lincolnshire read our tutorial and used it to design a tongue-in-cheek game starring presenters from his local television show, Look North. I’ll be on William’s show on Monday evening to talk about Scratch.

It’s not only computer games that children can code themselves. In this month’s magazine we show how children from ages 5 to 15 can create their own blogs, interactive quizzes and even code their own photo gallery in Javascript. I promise it will keep them entertained for hours.