A group of young creators around two computers and two sewing machines

Resources for mentors

Help young people bring their ideas to life and test their creations before they share them with the world.

Using AI in your entries

Using artificial intelligence (AI) tools is welcome in Coolest Projects. AI can be a great helper when you’re brainstorming ideas, learning something new, debugging code, or improving your writing.

For Coolest Projects, what matters most is your creativity, understanding, and effort. We want to celebrate what you made and learned, not just what an AI tool has generated.

So if you use AI while developing your project, please:

Make it your own — Start with your own idea and do meaningful work yourself. You can use AI assistance, but we won’t accept projects that are entirely AI-generated.

Tell us how you used it — In your submission form, let us know:

  • Which AI tool(s) you used
  • What you used them for
  • Why you chose to use AI for that part of your project

As a minimum, your project must include code you have written yourself.

A mentor's story

Meet Marie, a Code Club leader in Tottenham, UK, who helps young people discover the joy of creating with technology.

When Marie brought her club to Coolest Projects, she saw that it is more than a showcase: it is a celebration of creativity, curiosity, and possibility. From first-time coders to seasoned makers, every young person finds inspiration in seeing what others have built. For many, it is their first chance to share something they have created with the world, and that experience can spark confidence that lasts a lifetime.

A mentor and a young girl look at a bag of prizes at an event.

Webinars and make-alongs

If you’re brand new to Coolest Projects, need some inspiration, or just want to have fun making, you can catch up with our community webinars, make-alongs and calls. Recordings are available to watch now, with hands-on sessions, guidance and in-depth info on how to get involved with Coolest Projects.

Find out more

Keeping Coolest Projects safe and open to all

Coolest Projects is the technology showcase for all young creators, and we want to make it fun, safe, and inclusive for everyone. Here are some top tips for adult mentors supporting young people to get involved.

  • Make sure you’re familiar with the Raspberry Pi Foundation’s safeguarding policy and our safeguarding resources. If you’re working directly with children, young people, and vulnerable adults, and you have any safeguarding concerns, you should report them to us immediately.
  • Have a quick check of the projects your young people are submitting — we can’t accept any projects that depict graphic violence or use bad language, for example. See our Community Guidelines for details.
  • If you volunteer to work with young people, try our free, 30 minute interactive safeguarding training, which will help you create a safe learning environment for all young people you engage with.


Community guidelines

We are unable to accept projects that include:

  • Bad language such as swearing
  • Graphic depictions of violence in games featuring a war setting
  • Violence towards people and animals, including:
  • Scenes that depict physical abuse such as hitting, throwing objects, or other forms of physical punishment
  • Scenes that depict or promote deliberate harm
  • Any other realistic act of violence
  • Suggestive or mature content, such as nudity or exposure
  • Shocking or graphic content
  • Discrimination of any kind, including discrimination against race, religion, sexuality, gender, or national origin
  • Scams, projects that request money, collect personal data, or are intended for commercial use
  • Projects duplicated directly from the original with no attempts to remix or edit
  • Non-digital projects (such as crafts, drawings, science projects, or projects made with basic LEGO only)

Youth workbook

This youth workbook will help young creators explore ideas, develop their design thinking, and stay focused on making a super cool project they can share with others.

Download the workbook
Example pages from the Youth workbook

Session plans

These slides are designed to support mentors to lead awesome young people through their Coolest Projects journey.

Stage 1: Introduction to Coolest Projects and Idea Generation
Learn more about Coolest Projects and start to generate some project ideas with these helpful tips. View our guide to stage one.

Stage 2: Design and Create
Think back on your ideas and get started with your chosen project. View our guide to stage two.

Stage 3: Test and Debug
Testing is an important part of the design process. Find and fix those sneaky bugs in your code! View our guide to stage three.

Stage 4: Present and Register
It's your time to shine and share your project with the world. Tell us all about your project and register it to appear in our global creator's gallery. View our guide to stage four.

A group of girls and boys work on a project at a laptop at a table.

Mentor plan

We've created a mentor guidance plan to help you support young people who participate in Coolest Projects.

Download the workbook
Example page from mentor plan

Any feedback?

We'd love to hear your ideas and feedback on our guidance materials, so that we can improve the resources we provide in the future.

If you have any feedback you'd like to share with us, please email us at [email protected].