Coolest Projects 2026 Showcases 15,000+ Young Creators Worldwide

A Global Celebration of Young Makers

If you ever need a reminder of why we get excited about accessible computing, look no further than Coolest Projects 2026. On June 24, 2026, the Raspberry Pi Foundation held its annual online showcase with a worldwide livestream, and the following day it shared the numbers — which are, frankly, fantastic.

This year's showcase drew more than 15,000 young creators who submitted over 4,500 projects from 40 countries. As someone who spends most of my time benchmarking hardware, I find this the most encouraging kind of metric: not teraflops, but the sheer number of kids picking up a board, a sensor, or a code editor and building something real.

Inclusion by the Numbers

One figure stands out and deserves a spotlight: 47% of participants were girls, an excellent and hard-won balance in a field that has historically skewed otherwise. The projects spanned seven categories — Scratch, Web, Games, Mobile Apps, Hardware, Advanced Programming, and a dedicated AI category — which neatly mirrors how broad "computing" has become for this generation.

Hardware Projects That Punch Above Their Age

Naturally, the Hardware category is where my attention lands. A standout was "Ornimetrics," a smart bird feeder built around a Raspberry Pi with AI-powered vision to identify visiting birds — exactly the kind of single-board-computer project that blends a tiny, affordable SBC with real machine learning. It's a perfect example of how approachable the hardware has become: a credit-card-sized computer, a camera, and a curious mind are enough to build something genuinely clever.

Recognizing Purpose-Driven Builds

The showcase also highlighted projects built to do good. The "Coding with Commitment" award, supported by Broadcom, went to a young creator from Türkiye for "Viridia – Back to the World," an educational game about water conservation. I love seeing this — it signals that the next wave of makers cares not only about *what* they can build, but *why* it's worth building.

Why Accessible Hardware Drives This

None of this happens without cheap, capable, well-documented hardware underneath it. The Raspberry Pi ecosystem — low-cost boards, an enormous library of tutorials, and a welcoming community — is precisely what lets a 12-year-old go from idea to working prototype. Every affordable SBC and microcontroller that ships into a classroom is a potential entry point for a future engineer.

The Takeaway

Coolest Projects 2026 is a feel-good story with substance behind it: thousands of kids, a near-even gender balance, 40 countries, and projects ranging from games to AI-powered hardware. It's a vivid demonstration that accessible mini computers aren't just tools for hobbyists — they're launchpads for the next generation of makers. That's worth celebrating loudly.

Sources: Raspberry Pi Foundation — "Celebrating over 15,000 young creators at the Coolest Projects 2026 online showcase" — June 25, 2026; Coolest Projects 2026 livestream — June 24, 2026.