Begin the lesson by exciting your students about the concept of mazes.

Explain that today, they will be creating their very own maze in Scratch Jr. and then guiding a character through it. The focus of this lesson is on editing the background of their Scratch Jr. project to design the maze.

Accessing the Background Editor:

• Show the students how to select and edit the background in their Scratch Jr. project by tapping the background icon just above the stage area.
• Guide them to choose the "edit (paintbrush)" option in the top right to start drawing their maze.

Creating the Simple Maze:

• Instruct the students to draw a single, horizontal line across the middle of the screen. This line will act as the barrier that the character must navigate around.
• Encourage them to mark a starting point for their character by drawing a small "X" on one side of the line. This will help them know where to begin their code.

Placing the Character:

• Once the maze is drawn, have the students place their character on the "X" to indicate the starting position and a "O" to represent the target.

Show the students how to use the movement blocks to guide the character around the maze.

For this simple maze, they’ll likely only need a few blocks to move their character forward, then turn, and move forward again to reach the other side of the line.

Encourage the students to test their code by pressing the green flag. They should watch to see if their character successfully navigates the line without touching it.If their character doesn’t make it, prompt them to adjust their code until the character moves correctly around the line.

Once the students have successfully navigated the simple maze, challenge them to edit the background again to create a more complex maze. They can add more lines, turns, and obstacles for their character to navigate.

Encourage them to mark new starting points with an "X" and to think creatively about how to make their mazes more challenging.

To wrap up the lesson, invite the students to share their mazes with the class. They can show how their character moves through the maze and explain any challenges they encountered while creating it.

Encourage the students to continue experimenting with background editing and maze creation, reminding them that the skills they’ve developed today will help them tackle even more complex coding challenges in the future. This lesson has not only introduced them to creative design within Scratch Jr. but also reinforced their problem-solving and sequencing abilities.