Code Club creators shine at Coolest Projects 2026 events in Ireland and the UK

Coolest Projects brings together young digital makers from around the world to share the things they have imagined, designed, coded, and created. Young creators all over the world can take part in the annual Coolest Projects online showcase, and in-person Coolest Projects events also run in several countries.

From Scratch games and websites to AI experiments and physical computing builds, the projects on display reflect young people’s incredible curiosity and creativity. However, for many young people, Coolest Projects is more than a showcase. It’s a chance to build confidence, talk proudly about something they have made, and see that they are part of a global community of creators.

Coolest Projects 2026 events in Ireland and the UK

This year, Coolest Projects returned to Ireland in April, and the UK in May. The atmosphere across both events was full of energy — tables covered in projects, conversations buzzing between creators and mentors, families cheering each other on, and young people proudly explaining how they solved problems, fixed bugs, or brought an idea to life.

“The biggest impact on our Code Club creators is the belief that they can do it. A couple of the children were so nervous about coming here and speaking to the judges, and now one of them has been filmed by the big TV crew, and she wouldn’t stop talking! It’s lovely to see.”
– Rachael Coultart, Code Club leader, St Nicholas Primary School, UK

Creators were excited to showcase their ideas, meet other young makers, and celebrate what they had learned along the way. They demonstrated projects, swapped ideas, and encouraged each other to try something new.

“Coolest Projects has not only allowed our young people to showcase a project within the coding community and at our school, but also to get feedback from the young people there. It has inspired them to try different things… and now these young people will go back to Code Club and tell the rest of the children what they’ve seen.”
– Fiona, Code Club leader, Hillside School, UK

Project spotlight: Sun Safe Skin – Coolest Projects Ireland 

At Coolest Projects Ireland, one standout project came from sisters Winter-Rose (11), Summer-Nova (9), and Autumn-Grace (7) from Code Club Kilkenny.

Their hardware project, Sun Safe Skin, used UV sensors to track the strength of the UV light from the sun or other light sources.

The creators explained the inspiration behind their idea:

“Our mum would all be telling us to put on sunscreen and take care of our skin, so we came up with this project.”

Like many projects at Coolest Projects, the journey wasn’t always straightforward. The team shared some of the challenges they faced while building and refining their idea:

“It was only reading one of the UVs, so we had to figure out how to get it to read all of them, which was quite difficult, but in the end we got it.”

Their hard work paid off — and their incredible creation was even selected as the Coolest Projects judges’ favourite project in the hardware category.

Project spotlight: The Emotions Radio – Coolest Projects UK

Before the Coolest Projects UK event, Code Club creators from St Nicholas Primary School had shared what they were planning to showcase, from early project ideas to the skills they hoped to develop along the way.

At the event, it was brilliant to catch up with them again and see those ideas fully brought to life. One of the creators, Mathea, spoke to us about her project, The Emotions Radio.

The Emotions Radio is a hardware project designed to help people manage feelings of anxiety or anger through music. Each button plays a different musical note when pressed, encouraging users to express their emotions and feel calmer through sound and interaction.

Before the event, Mathea had said:

“I’ve been working on making some sounds and music to show how you’re feeling each day. Most of the time I just want to be in my own world and use music to express how I feel, and I know some people who also struggle with this, and so my project might help them as well.”

At Coolest Projects UK, she reflected on the experience of building her project:

“Programming the micro:bits with different tunes was tricky, and then sticking them into the box lid was a challenge, because they kept falling off!”

She also shared her highlight from the event:

“My favourite moment from today is seeing everyone else’s projects. The Hogwarts one was really interesting to find out what house I was in.” 

Get involved

Coolest Projects is a great reminder that there’s no single way to be a creator. Whether it’s a first Scratch animation, an AI experiment, or a project built over months at Code Club, every idea deserves to be shared and celebrated.

Entries for the Coolest Projects global online showcase have now closed, but you can explore the project gallery to see young creators’ amazing projects, and join the special livestream on 24 June to celebrate their incredible achievements. There are also still a number of Coolest Projects in-person events taking place this year, so young creators in some countries can still get involved in their local events too.

“Coming to Coolest Projects has really helped inspire our children to get more creative. There is such an array of amazing young people here that will help our children at Code Club Haringey to reach for the stars.”
– Marie, Code Club leader, Breadline London, UK

Find out more about taking part in Coolest Projects: rpf.io/enter-now