Repeat

The idea

Think of 'repeat' like a coach saying 'do 10 jumping jacks' - the coach doesn't say the same instruction 10 separate times; they say it once with a number, and you (the blocks inside) do the actual work that many times.

What it actually is

'repeat (10)' is a C-shaped block that runs whatever blocks are snapped INSIDE its mouth a fixed number of times, then continues on to whatever comes after it. It's how you make a sprite hop 4 times or spin in a circle without dragging out the same blocks over and over by hand.

How you write it

repeat (10)
  [blocks to repeat go inside]

A worked example

when 🏳️ clicked
repeat 4
  move 10 steps
  turn ↻ 90 degrees

Everything inside the repeat block's mouth - move 10 steps, then turn 90 degrees - runs 4 times in a row before the script continues. Since turning 90 degrees four times is a full circle, the sprite ends up walking in a square and facing the same way it started.

Mistakes children actually make

Mistake 1: snapping blocks AFTER the repeat block instead of INSIDE its C-shaped mouth - only blocks nested inside actually get repeated; blocks snapped below the whole repeat only run once, after all the repeats finish. Mistake 2: setting the repeat number way too high (like 10,000) for a simple test, making the project feel frozen while it churns through them.

Then they try it

In the app this lesson continues with the animated explanation, spoken aloud, and then the practice: Use a repeat block so your sprite moves more than once automatically. The editor runs your child’s real code and checks the result, with their coding buddy reacting to what they wrote.