Learning Goals 3 min
By the end of this lesson you will be able to:
- Find the orange Control category in the Blocks Panel.
- Drag a wait (1) seconds block between two other blocks.
- Click the green flag and see the cat pause between actions, so each step is visible.
Warm-Up 7 min
Last lesson the cat learned to react when clicked — a great trick! Now we slow things down so the audience can see every move.
Quick-fire puzzle
Hafiz built this script. He clicked the green flag. The cat appeared to teleport from x = 0 to x = 200 in one instant. Why didn't he see the cat walk across?
when flag clicked
go to x: (0) y: (0)
go to x: (100) y: (0)
go to x: (200) y: (0)
Reveal the answer
Scratch ran all three blocks in one frame — about 1/30th of a second. Your eyes saw only the last position. The cat did visit (0, 0) and (100, 0), but each was on screen for far too short a time to notice.
To make the journey visible, we need to pause the script between steps. That is exactly what wait (1) seconds does.
New Concept — pause a script with the orange wait block 15 min
Think of the wait block like a traffic light. The script is a row of cars driving forward. Pop a wait block in the middle and the cars stop at the light for one second. Then green — and they continue. The wait creates a small pocket of nothing happens in the middle of a script.
The new block
| Block | Category | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| wait (1) seconds | Control (orange) | Pauses the script for the chosen number of seconds, then continues with the next block. Numbers can be whole (1) or fractions (0.5). |
A new colour — meet Control
Until today, your toolkit has been yellow (Events), blue (Motion), and purple (Looks). Now add a fourth colour: orange — Control. Control blocks decide when and how often the other blocks run. wait (1) seconds is the simplest one — it just pauses.
when flag clicked
say [Ready?] for (2) seconds
wait (1) seconds
move (100) steps
Fractions of a second
The number inside the wait block can be any positive number — including fractions. 0.5 is half a second. 0.1 is one tenth. Big waits like 3 or 5 create long pauses. Useful for dramatic effect.
Why it matters
Without a wait, every animation looks like a flicker. With a wait, you can pace your story: the cat sneaks up (move), pauses (wait), pounces (move), pauses (wait), cheers (say). Each beat lands. Pacing is the difference between a confusing script and a watchable one.
Worked Example — give the cat a paced entrance 15 min
Open Scratch. We will build a script that paces a small performance: the cat says "Ready?", waits one second, runs 100 steps, then says "Done!".
Step 1 — Reset the cat
In the Sprite Properties panel, set x = -150, y = 0, Direction = 90. The cat is now standing on the left side of the Stage, facing right.
Step 2 — Drag the flag-hat
Drag when ⚑ clicked from the yellow Events category into the Script Area.
Step 3 — Add the first say block
From the purple Looks category, drag say [Hello!] for (2) seconds under the hat. Change the message to Ready?.
Step 4 — Find Control and drag a wait
In the Blocks Panel, click the orange dot labelled Control. Drag wait (1) seconds under the say block. Leave the number at 1.
when flag clicked
say [Ready?] for (2) seconds
wait (1) seconds
Step 5 — Add the move
From the blue Motion category, drag move (10) steps under the wait block. Change the number to 100.
Step 6 — Add the final say
From the Looks category again, drag another say [Hello!] for (2) seconds under the move. Change the message to Done! and the seconds to 1.
when flag clicked
say [Ready?] for (2) seconds
wait (1) seconds
move (100) steps
say [Done!] for (1) seconds
Step 7 — Click the green flag
Watch the timing carefully:
- 0–2 s: the cat says "Ready?"
- 2–3 s: silence — the wait is doing its job.
- 3 s: the cat snaps 100 steps to the right.
- 3–4 s: the cat says "Done!"
What changed: without the wait, the move would happen the instant the speech bubble closes. With the wait, you get a beat of anticipation — the audience knows something is about to happen.
The full assembled stack (your reference)
when flag clicked
say [Ready?] for (2) seconds
wait (1) seconds
move (100) steps
say [Done!] for (1) seconds
Try It Yourself — three small builds 12 min
Goal: Make the cat walk three steps in a row, with a one-second pause between each.
when flag clicked
move (50) steps
wait (1) seconds
move (50) steps
wait (1) seconds
move (50) steps
Think: Without the waits, the cat would slide 150 pixels in one instant. With the waits, you see three deliberate hops, one per second.
Goal: Use a half-second pause for a quicker rhythm. Pair the wait with a turn so the cat dances.
when flag clicked
turn cw (45) degrees
wait (0.5) seconds
turn cw (45) degrees
wait (0.5) seconds
turn cw (45) degrees
wait (0.5) seconds
turn cw (45) degrees
Think: Four 45-degree turns make a full 180-degree flip. Half-second pauses make each turn visible without dragging out the dance.
Goal: Build a "traffic light" script. Cat says Red, waits, says Amber, waits, says Green — go!, then runs to the right.
when flag clicked
say [Red] for (1) seconds
wait (1) seconds
say [Amber] for (1) seconds
wait (1) seconds
say [Green — go!] for (1) seconds
move (150) steps
Think: The waits between the colours make the traffic light feel realistic. Speed everything up to 0.3-second waits — it feels frantic. Slow to 2-second waits — it feels patient.
Mini-Challenge — paced glide across the Stage 5 min
"Wei Jie's Cat tours the Stage at a steady pace"
Build a script that takes the cat across the Stage in three deliberate hops, with the cat announcing the city it visits at each hop. The whole journey should feel paced — not a teleport.
It works if:
- The cat starts at the left edge of the Stage (set x =
-200in Sprite Properties). - It visits three positions on the way to the right edge, saying a city name each time.
- Between each hop, there is a clear pause using wait (1) seconds.
- You used the flag-hat exactly once.
Reveal one valid solution
when flag clicked
go to x: (-200) y: (0)
say [Ipoh] for (1) seconds
wait (1) seconds
glide (1) secs to x: (0) y: (0)
say [Kuala Lumpur] for (1) seconds
wait (1) seconds
glide (1) secs to x: (200) y: (0)
say [Johor Bahru] for (1) seconds
Eight blocks. Three cities. Each glide is followed by a one-second pause and a one-second name announcement. The whole trip is about 8 seconds — slow enough to follow easily.
Recap 2 min
Today you met your first Control block — the orange wait (1) seconds. It pauses one script for as many seconds as you ask, so the eye can keep up with the action. Pacing is everything: animations, stories, and games all feel better with the right waits in the right places.
- wait (1) seconds (block)
- A Control block that pauses one script for a chosen number of seconds, then continues.
- Control category
- The orange category in the Blocks Panel. Holds blocks that decide when and how often other blocks run.
- Pacing
- The timing of when actions happen in a script. Good pacing makes scripts feel alive instead of jerky.
- Fraction of a second
- A small wait like
0.5(half a second) or0.1(one tenth). Use these for snappy animations.
Homework 1 min
The countdown. Build a script that counts down from Three to Go! with paced waits.
- Open Scratch.
- Drag when ⚑ clicked into the Script Area.
- Snap a say [Three] for (1) seconds block under it.
- Snap wait (1) seconds.
- Snap say [Two] for (1) seconds, then another wait, then say [One] for (1) seconds, then another wait.
- End with say [Go!] for (1) seconds and a move (200) steps.
- Click the green flag. Time how long the whole script runs.
Bring back next class:
- A screenshot of your countdown script.
- Your written answer: "Roughly how many seconds does the whole script take? How would it look if you removed all the wait blocks?"
Heads up for next class: SCR-L01-19 introduces another orange Control block — repeat (10). Instead of copy-pasting six say-and-wait blocks, you will learn to fit them inside one loop.