ScratchJr was developed by a collaborative team including Marina Umaschi Bers at Tufts University, Mitchel Resnick at the MIT Media Lab, and Paula Bonta and Brian Silverman at the Playful Invention Company.

[2][3] The project was given a $1.3 million grant from the National Science Foundation and raised additional funds on the Kickstarter platform.

[5][6] This version has sprites and backgrounds drawn from popular children's animated series such as Nature Cat and Wild Kratts.

The main coding area is displayed at the bottom of the screen, with the stage in the center, the scene on the right, and the sprites on the left.

ScratchJr is an app for developing computational thinking skills in elementary classrooms, especially in settings with pre-reading students such as Pre-K to 2nd grade.