Sprite Properties — Scratch L2

Where this arc is heading: a posed kampung open-house with every actor in its place. This lesson gives each sprite a reset-on-flag script so the cast always lines up the same way.

Learning Goals 3 min

By the end of this lesson you will be able to:

Find the sprite info card at the top of the Script Area and name its six fields: name, x, y, direction, size, and shown/hidden.
Read sprite properties from blocks — x position, y position, direction, size — and set them with go to x: () y: (), point in direction (90), and set size to () %.
Rename a sprite from Sprite1 to something meaningful (like Goalie) and explain why renaming makes every future dropdown easier to read.

Warm-Up — read the cat's card 7 min

Open Scratch. New project. Click the cat in the Sprite list. Look just above the Script Area, at the very top — there's a little white panel with text fields. That panel is the cat's info card.

Without doing anything else, see if you can answer these about the cat:

What is the cat's name?
What is its x position?
What is its y position?
What direction is it pointing?
What is its size?
Is it shown or hidden?

Reveal the default answers

For a brand-new project: name = Sprite1 (sometimes localised), x = 0, y = 0, direction = 90 (pointing right), size = 100 (percent of original), and the sprite is shown (the eye icon is open). Every sprite in every Scratch project starts with these exact six values until you change them.

Now drag the cat around the Stage with your mouse. Watch the x and y numbers change in real time. The info card is a live window on what the sprite is doing — it always shows the truth, this very instant.

New Concept — properties, reporters, and renaming 15 min

Every sprite in Scratch carries a small bundle of facts about itself. We call those facts properties. Six of them sit at the top of the Script Area, on the info card. Every property has two faces — a number you can read on the card, and a block you can drop into a script.

The six fields on the info card

From left to right (or top to bottom, depending on screen size):

name — a text field. The default is Sprite1, Sprite2, etc. You can click and edit it.
x — horizontal position. 0 is the middle of the Stage, positive is right, negative is left. The Stage runs roughly −240 to 240.
y — vertical position. 0 is the middle, positive is up, negative is down. Runs roughly −180 to 180.
direction — which way the sprite is pointing, in degrees. 0 = up, 90 = right, −90 (or 270) = left, 180 = down.
size — how big the sprite is, as a percentage of its original costume size. 100 means actual size, 50 half, 200 double.
shown/hidden — an eye icon. Open eye = visible on the Stage, slashed eye = invisible. (You can also toggle this with show and hide in scripts.)

Reading properties — the round reporter blocks

Scratch gives you a block for each of the first four properties. They live in the palettes you'd expect:

Motion palette: x position, y position, direction
Looks palette: size

These are round reporter blocks — they fit inside the round holes of other blocks. Drag x position into the white slot of say [ ] for (2) seconds and you get a cat that announces its current x. Try it:


when flag clicked
say (x position) for (2) seconds

Cat says its current x. Drag the cat first, click the flag, watch the bubble.

Setting properties — the action blocks

Reading isn't enough — you want to change properties too. The matching action blocks are:

go to x: (0) y: (0) — sets both x and y at once.
set x to (0) / set y to (0) — change just one axis.
point in direction (90) — sets the direction. Type 0 for up, -90 for left.
set size to (100) % — sets the size in percent.
show / hide — toggles visibility.

Watch the info card while you run any of these — the number updates the instant the block runs. The info card is just a window onto the same numbers the blocks are pushing around.

Renaming a sprite

The name field at the top-left of the info card is editable. Click it, type a new name, hit Enter. The new name shows up in three other places:

Under the sprite's icon in the Sprite list (replaces Sprite1).
In every dropdown that lists sprites — for example touching [Cat v]? will now show your new name instead of Sprite1.
In this sprite's own scripts, anywhere a dropdown references it.

This sounds boring but it's huge. A goalie called Sprite3 tells you nothing when you come back to the project two weeks later. A goalie called Goalie tells you everything. Names are notes-to-future-you.

Worked Example — arrange guest Aisyah on the Stage 12 min

Open your Kampung-Stage-Scene project. Right now the guests sit wherever they were dragged. We give guest Aisyah a reset-on-flag script so she always stands in the right spot, the right size, facing the host. Eight steps.

Stage plan. You script guest Aisyah this lesson (see the ✏️ badge): a reset-on-flag that snaps her to her spot, at the right size, facing the host — no matter where she was dragged.

Step 1 — Open the arc project

Open Kampung-Stage-Scene. The cat host and guest Aisyah are both in the Sprite list from last lesson.

Step 2 — Select the guest

Click Aisyah in the Sprite list. The blue outline appears and her info card shows at the top of the Script Area.

Step 3 — Check her name on the info card

The info card name field should read Aisyah from last lesson. If it still says Sprite2, click it and rename it now — a guest called Sprite2 tells you nothing two weeks later.

Step 4 — Set her starting position with a script

From Events: when ⚑ clicked. Snap below it:

Motion: go to x: (60) y: (-60) — her spot in the yard, beside the host.

Step 5 — Set her size

Snap on: set size to (80) %. Most library sprites are too big at 100% for a crowded scene — 80 leaves room for the rest of the cast.

Step 6 — Face her toward the host

Snap on: point in direction (-90). The host is on her left, so facing −90 turns her to look at him.

Step 7 — Make her read her own card aloud

Snap on: say (size) for (2) seconds. Drag the round size reporter from Looks into the white slot. Then add say (direction) for (2) seconds with the round direction reporter inside.

Step 8 — Click the flag

Aisyah snaps to (60, −60), shrinks to 80%, turns to face the host, says "80" for two seconds, then "−90" for two seconds. Open her info card while it runs — the four numbers march along with the blocks.

The full assembled stack


when flag clicked
go to x: (60) y: (-60)
set size to (80) %
point in direction (-90)
say (size) for (2) seconds
say (direction) for (2) seconds

Six blocks on guest Aisyah. Sets all four readable properties, then reads two of them back.

What you just built: a guest that arranges herself the moment the flag is clicked. Every well-built scene works this way — each sprite sets its own starting position, size and direction, so the open house always opens with the cast in place, no matter what was last dragged. This is resetting on flag, and the host and every guest will now use it.

Try It Yourself — three property drills 15 min

🟢 Easy

Goal: Add a basketball sprite, rename it to Ball, and write a flag script that puts it at (−180, 0) at half size (50%). No movement yet — just self-configure.


when flag clicked
go to x: (-180) y: (0)
set size to (50) %

On the sprite named Ball. Three blocks.

Think: Click the flag, then drag the ball with your mouse — the info card x changes. Click the flag again — the ball snaps back to (−180, 0). The script overrides any dragging, every time.

🟡 Medium

Goal: Add the Cat. Rename it to Walker. When the flag is clicked, the cat should start at (−200, 0), face right (90), be 75% size, and then announce its current x position out loud using x position. Then walk 100 steps and announce again.


when flag clicked
go to x: (-200) y: (0)
point in direction (90)
set size to (75) %
say (x position) for (2) seconds
move (100) steps
say (x position) for (2) seconds

On the sprite named Walker. The two say-blocks read the live x.

Think: The first bubble says "−200". The second says "−100". The reporter is asking the same question both times — but the property has changed because the sprite moved.

🔴 Stretch

Goal: A sprite called Pulsar (use a star or ball from the library). When the flag is clicked, the sprite should appear at the centre, then grow from 50% to 150% in steps of 10 every 0.1 seconds, then shrink back. Use the round size reporter inside () + () to keep adding to the current size.


when flag clicked
go to x: (0) y: (0)
set size to (50) %
repeat (10)
  set size to ((size) + (10)) %
  wait (0.1) seconds
end
repeat (10)
  set size to ((size) - (10)) %
  wait (0.1) seconds
end

The size reporter is asked fresh every loop — so each set is relative to the current size, not the starting size.

Think: You're reading a property (size), doing arithmetic on it (() + ()), and writing the result back. That read-do-write pattern is half of programming, in any language.

Mini-Challenge — Priya's upside-down goalie 5 min

"Why is the goalie standing on its head?"

Priya is building a football scene. She adds a person sprite, renames it Goalie, and writes:


when flag clicked
go to x: (0) y: (-130)
set size to (80) %
point in direction (180)

Priya's stack. She wants the goalie to face up.

She clicks the flag. The goalie zips to the bottom-centre, shrinks — and stands on its head. What did Priya mix up?

Reveal the fix

Priya confused the direction numbers. 180 is down, not up. The number she wants is 0 (or, equivalently, 360). The fix is one digit:


when flag clicked
go to x: (0) y: (-130)
set size to (80) %
point in direction (0)

Quick reference card for the rest of Level 2:

0 — up
90 — right (Scratch default)
180 — down
-90 (same as 270) — left

Most students get this wrong at least once. Now you've watched someone else get it wrong, you'll remember.

Recap 3 min

Every sprite carries six properties on its info card at the top of the Script Area: name, x, y, direction, size, and shown/hidden. The first four have matching round reporter blocks (x position, y position, direction, size) and matching action blocks to set them (go to x: () y: (), point in direction (90), set size to () %). The info card is a live mirror — drag the sprite, the numbers update; run a block, the numbers update. Renaming a sprite from Sprite1 to something meaningful like Goalie updates every dropdown in the whole project and turns nonsense into clarity. Every Level 2 game starts with a "reset on flag" script that nails each sprite's starting properties, so the project always opens predictably.

Sprite info card: The small panel above the Script Area showing the selected sprite's name, x, y, direction, size, and visibility. Updates live as the sprite moves or scripts run.
Property: A fact about a sprite — its position, direction, size, or name. Every sprite has the same properties; the values differ.
Reporter block (round): A round-edged block that returns a value instead of doing an action. x position, size, and direction are all reporters — drop them into the round holes of other blocks.
Direction: The angle the sprite is pointing, in degrees. 0 = up, 90 = right (default), 180 = down, -90 = left.
Reset on flag: A short script under when ⚑ clicked that sets a sprite's starting position, size, and direction so the project always begins from a known state.

Homework 2 min

The Three-Named-Sprites Project. Build a project with three sprites, all properly named and all with reset-on-flag scripts.

Start a new Scratch project. Delete the cat.
Add three sprites from the library. Rename them Player, Ball, and Goalie. (Pick whichever library sprites you like — the names are what matter.)
On Player: write a flag script that goes to (-180, 0), faces 90, sets size to 70%.
On Ball: flag script that goes to (0, 0), sets size to 40%.
On Goalie: flag script that goes to (180, 0), faces -90, sets size to 70%.
Drag any sprite around the Stage with your mouse to mess up the positions. Click the flag — all three should snap back into formation.

Save as HW-L2-03-Three-Named-Sprites.sb3.

Bring back next class:

The .sb3 file.
Your answer to: "What is the direction number for the Goalie facing left? Write it as a positive number AND as a negative number — Scratch accepts both."

Heads up for next class: SCR-L02-04 opens the Costumes tab — every sprite can have multiple costumes (different poses, animation frames, colour variants). You'll meet switch costume to [ v] and next costume for the first time as a serious tool, not just something the basketball did in lesson 2.