5 steps to independent project making 

Develop learners skills, creativity and independence in five steps; using Coolest Projects Global as their motivation! The online project showcase and live-streamed ceremony celebrates all levels of websites, games, apps, hardware, and Scratch projects by young creators up to 18 years of age.

If it’s possible for you to run some online or in-person sessions between now and 11 May, use Coolest Projects Global to inspire their creativity! You could also email the parents of your Dojo attendees about this opportunity.

Imagine

Encourage young people to start thinking about project ideas. To help them decide what to make, you could: 

  • Suggest topics that they are interested in
  • Ask them about other projects they have made 
  • Talk about the skills they already have

Use our design workbook to help your Ninjas think about how they can contribute to their community or express themselves with technology. 

Remember: No idea is too small or too big and all skill levels are welcome.

Make

Once they have their idea, our free step-by-step project resources are a great place to help young creators get coding. When coding a Coolest Project entry, participants can work by themselves or within a team of up to five young people. 

Scratch Rocket gameVrishank from a Dojo in India created this “Rocket Blaster” game in Scratch

Test, debug and iterate

Testing your code regularly is important for young coders. Running the code each time you add in a new line or segment of code is good practice. This helps to identify where any issue is in the code quickly.

Our new project paths offer tips for debugging. They highlight common coding issues and the solutions to them that young people can follow. 

Once young people have the initial or “Alpha” version of their project made, encourage them to share it. Have their family or peers try it out. This “user-testing” can provide useful feedback for Ninjas to iterate and improve their projects.

Debugging example from the projects site

Present

While the young people complete their projects, ask them to share what they have done at the end of a session so they can practise talking about what they’ve made. 

For Coolest Projects, creators write a description of their Scratch project or record a two-minute video to demonstrate their project, to be included in the online showcase gallery. You can register projects on the Coolest Projects website until Wednesday 11 May 2022

Remember: Projects don’t need to be finished to be entered into the showcase.

Rocío from a Dojo in Spain demonstrates her “Glofe” project

Celebrate

Recognising young people’s achievements empowers them to continue their learning journey. Young people will see their project among hundreds of others in the showcase gallery. This enables them to feel connected to and inspired by other creators around the world. Each participant is rewarded with digital and physical swag, including a certificate of participation. Their work is also recognised with direct feedback about their project from the judges. Join the live online event in mid-June to celebrate the community and find out which projects our world-renowned judges chose as their favourites!

Inspire your Ninjas for a chance to win!

We’ve developed a series of social media and email banners to help you encourage participants in your Dojo to enter Coolest Projects Global. Between now and mid-March each time you share these banners on social media ( FacebookTwitter or Instagram) and tag @CoderDojo and we’ll enter you into our prize draw to win some cool swag!

Download  banners

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