Making faces using everyday objects and objects of significance to make portraits is an idea that comes from the artist Hanoch Piven. Hanoch Piven is an artist and author who has a beautiful practice of making highly expressive portraits using found objects! You can learn more here. Once you have created a face, try bringing them to life in Scratch using stop motion techniques. Moving from unplugged to digital provides the opportunity to expand your creative expression and transform your original creation.
To start this activity, first you’ll want to gather items you feel could make up parts of a face. The items can either have special meaning and/or represent something about you or your life, or they can simply be fun and interesting objects.
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The Scratch sprite library is full of a variety of characters. You can use sprites from the library or create your own original sprite using the Scratch paint editor tools, by remixing and reimagining the sprites in the library, or uploading a drawing.
Make a story project with your own characters, scenes, and dialogue.
Use the text to speech extension to have your words heard.
This lesson presents multiple pathways for students to share their identity, voice, and creativity through development of a unique asset (a “sprite” in Scratch) that is meaningful to them. Using a combination of written and verbal reflection, digital design, and classroom discourse, learners will practice communication, coding, presentation, and feedback skills that provide an important base for establishing a positive learning community.
Use the Face Sensing blocks in Scratch Lab to create games, interactive stories, and accessible projects. Try our lesson plan to explore and reflect on both the opportunities and the limitations of these new technologies through topics for classroom discourse.
Is Face Sensing private? When you are using the Face Sensing blocks, only your computer can sense your face. None of your data is stored or sent to Scratch or any other site.
Why doesn’t it always sense my face? The technology behind the Face Sensing blocks is not perfect. It is best at seeing faces that are brightly lit and close to the camera. It will often recognize faces even if they are partly hidden by a mask, glasses, hat, headscarf, or other covering. It does not do well at seeing faces that are far away, in the dark, or hidden.
Does it work with photos or drawings of faces? The Face Sensing blocks can detect faces in photos, and even in drawings. You can try making a smiley face drawing and holding it up to the camera to see if it works.
Is it learning? The Face Sensing blocks detect faces using a technology called “machine learning, ” but it is not learning while you use it. It has already been trained to see faces using a large number of photos of faces.
What if my camera is not working? When you load the Face Sensing blocks, you should see video from your computer camera on the Scratch stage. If it doesn’t appear, you may need to give Scratch permission to use your camera. Click “allow” when Scratch prompts for permission to use the camera, or check your web browser’s settings.