Help & FAQs

Registration for the Coolest Projects online showcase opens 14 January 2025. Take a look at registration dates for in-person events too.

It's never too early to start thinking about digital projects you'd like to submit. Get inspired by checking out the 2024 project gallery to see what others have made, and be sure to save any tech projects you make that you're proud of to enter next year.

Almost anything you like! Coolest Projects is a showcase for digital making, so your project must use code, computers, or digital technology in some way, but your project can be about anything you like. It could be a solution to a problem in your community like an app to help you recycle. Or it could be something made just for fun, like a platformer game.

Examples of digital technology projects include those made in Scratch, using a micro:bit, using an app emulator, or coded using Python. Explore the six submission categories to find out more and get some ideas.

We won’t accept projects that depict graphic violence, harm, or use bad language, as outlined in our community guidelines.

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)

Projects should be presented in English (written English for Scratch projects, and spoken or written English for video submissions). You can ask someone to present or translate for you, or you can use subtitles. If you need help translating your project, email [email protected] and we’ll see if we can help you.

First, our team moderate every project we receive to check that it works and we have all the information we need. If you’ve entered the online showcase, your project will then appear in the online showcase gallery for the world to see! Next, judges review every project and give personalised feedback. Projects are shortlisted and we invite special VIP judges to pick some favourite projects to highlight.

Judges review projects based on the criteria of Coolness, Complexity, Presentation and Communication, and Design and Usability. For the Presentation and Communication scores, they will take into account that Scratch projects will be presented differently to projects in all other categories.

At in-person events, judges talk to every participant about their project, give feedback and choose some favourites to highlight on event day.

Every participant will receive a personalised certificate, feedback on their project and fun digital swag to celebrate their brilliant creations!

Sign up to the Coolest Projects newsletter to be the first to know about any in-person events in your country.

And if there’s not an in-person Coolest Projects event near you, you can still join in the fun: the Coolest Projects online showcase will always be open to any young creator aged up to 18, from anywhere in the world.