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What is the Pen Extension?

PictoBlox has a special set of blocks called the Pen Extension. These blocks allow a sprite to draw on the Stage as it moves — just like holding a pen to paper!

The Pen Extension is not available by default. You need to add it by clicking the Extension button at the bottom left of the Code tab.

Key Pen Blocks

Pen Extension Blocks

Block	Palette	What it Does
Pen Down	Pen	Starts drawing as the sprite moves
Pen Up	Pen	Stops drawing
Erase All	Pen	Clears all drawings from the Stage
Set Pen Color to ()	Pen	Changes the color of the pen
Set Pen Size to ()	Pen	Changes the thickness of the pen line
Stamp	Pen	Stamps the sprite's image onto the Stage

Drawing Shapes

By combining Pen blocks with Motion blocks, you can draw shapes on the Stage. The key idea is that a sprite moves in straight lines and turns at angles to form the sides and corners of a shape.

To draw a closed shape, the total turning angle of the sprite must add up to 360°.

Shapes and Their Properties

Shape	Number of Sides	Turning Angle
Triangle	3	120°
Square	4	90°
Pentagon	5	72°
Hexagon	6	60°
Circle (approx.)	360	1°

Activity: Drawing a Square

Let's draw a square using the Pen Extension. A square has 4 equal sides and 4 corners, each turning 90°.

Open PictoBlox and create a New File.
Add the Pen Extension from the Extensions menu.
Place the sprite at the center of the Stage using the 'Go to x: 0 y: 0' block.
Add the 'Erase All' block to clear any previous drawings.
Add the 'Pen Down' block to start drawing.
Use a 'Repeat 4' loop containing 'Move 100 steps' and 'Turn 90 degrees' to draw the square.
Add the 'Pen Up' block at the end to stop drawing.
Click the green flag to run the script and see your square!

Block coding script in PictoBlox showing when flag clicked, erase all, go to x 0 y 0, pen down, repeat 4 with move 100 steps and turn 90 degrees, then pen up — Script to draw a square using the Pen Extension

A white square drawn on the PictoBlox stage by the sprite using the pen extension — A square drawn on the Stage using the Pen Extension

Try changing the number of sides and the turning angle to draw different shapes like a triangle or hexagon!