Innovation Games 2024: Elementary Guidelines

Elementary Scratch Programming projects will be made using the Scratch computer programming platform. Scratch is a project of the Scratch Foundation, in collaboration with the Lifelong Kindergarten Group at the MIT Media Lab. It is available for free at https://scratch.mit.edu ⎋.

This year’s project prompt is the following:

Create an original game or web story about Earth’s wonders and mysteries. Your project could be about animal conservation, weather prediction, ecosystems, mapping the ocean floor, or another world feature you’re passionate about.

Important for Elementary Level Competition: Each school will be allowed to bring a maximum of 10 teams to the competition, but only 3 teams per school will be permitted to officially submit their projects and be featured on stage. Read more in the “Judging” section.

Competition Rules & Requirements

Read and review the competition rules on the Innovation Games competition page.

Program Registration

1. To create an account for themselves, coaches will visit CodecraftWorks.com ⎋ and click the gold-colored “Login” button on the left side of the site. If you are viewing this page on a mobile device, the button may appear at the top of the page instead. Selecting this button will take you to the login page. If you have already created an account, you can skip this step.

2. Coaches must confirm their email address, school, and students’ grade level in this form: Innovation Games Coding: Program Registration ⎋. Codecraft will be in touch ASAP with a link and code to a custom program. This program is where coaches and students will access competition resources and project submission.

Student Account Creation and Distribution

1. Once coaches have received their program information, coaches will create student accounts that have usernames and passwords. Coaches will also be able to reset student passwords.

   • To create student accounts, follow these instructions: How to Create Student Accounts with Passwords ⎋.

   • When creating students’ display names, please use their first name and last initial (with more letters as needed to distinguish between students).

2. Coaches will distribute usernames and passwords to their students and be equipped to handle any password resets.

   • To change a student’s password or display name, follow these instructions: How to Manage Student Accounts with Passwords ⎋.

Login Instructions

Students can log in by entering their program’s short code on the main login page ⎋ or by clicking the “Student Login” button on their program page. For more detailed instructions, view this page: How to Log in to Student Accounts With Passwords ⎋.

Coaches will continue to log in with their email addresses on the main login page ⎋.

Project Submission Instructions

1. Coaches will first need to have created accounts for their students on the Codecraft platform ⎋ if they have not already. Coaches can do this using the instructions in the “Student Account Creation and Distribution” section above.

2. Students will need to visit their coach’s program on the Codecraft platform. Students can do this using the information in the “Login Instructions” section above.

3. Once they log in, the student will be redirected to the program page. Beginning on October 28, 2024, they should see the “Submit CCPC Project” button on that page. Click this button and fill in the requested information to submit the project. Again, students must have accounts created for them by their coaches and be logged in to see this button. Competition entries must be submitted through the coach’s program page NO LATER​ than 4 pm on November 4, 2024.

4. All students must submit projects using their own Codecraft platform accounts. It is recommended that coaches assist elementary competitors with the submission process. However, coaches should not be logged into the Codecraft platform for project submission; each student’s account should be used to submit their own project.

   The submission form will ask for a link to the student’s project on Scratch. Before they copy the project’s URL and paste it into the form, the student will need to “Share” the project on Scratch. Judges cannot view a project if it is not shared. For help sharing a student’s project, refer to this article.

   Scratch users must confirm their email addresses before they can share their projects. If your student is unable to share their project, check that they have confirmed their email address in their Account Settings at scratch.mit.edu/accounts/settings/ ⎋

Judging

This year’s project prompt is the following:

Create an original game or web story about Earth’s wonders and mysteries. Your project could be about animal conservation, weather prediction, ecosystems, mapping the ocean floor, or another world feature you’re passionate about.

Elementary students will first compete at the school level. Schools may have an unlimited number of teams create Scratch projects and compete within their school, but only 10 teams per school may attend the competition on the day-of. Coaches and/or their schools will determine their first, second and third place winners. We recommend using our Scratch rubric, provided below. Each school’s top three teams will submit their projects on the Codecraft site for final ranking and feedback. These three teams will also be invited to present their projects onstage at the competition.

View more information about project submission in the Project Submission Instructions section above. Each entry submitted to the Codecraft site will be reviewed by a panel of at least two judges and scored for its engagement, artwork, use of digital media, use of computer science concepts, originality, and completeness. The score sheets below will be used by the Judges during the competition.

The decisions of the judging panel are final and no correspondence will be entered into. The scorecard sample below will be online as a digital form and made available to each judge for use as they review the projects.

Scratch Rubric

Scratch Tips for New Competitors

Are you or your students new to Scratch? Read this article for helpful tips on sharing Scratch projects: How to Share a Scratch Project for a Competition