Get your Code Club coding with AI and ML

Artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) are transforming the world around us, and it’s more important than ever for young people to understand this technology.

By introducing AI and ML concepts in your Code Club, you can equip your members with essential skills for the future, spark their creativity, and empower them to become responsible users of AI technologies.

Code Club’s AI projects make exploring AI and ML a blast. You can learn more about the projects in our ‘Taking your first steps into AI’ blog. With hands-on activities and fun challenges, they’re the perfect way to spark a passion for these exciting technologies.

“The AI learning path gives kids an understanding of the different ways AI fits into our world, whether they’re looking at photo recognition or my favourite project ‘Doodle detector’, where we get to draw and decide what our picture is. All of these feed into how young people understand the way AI works, and getting in early gives them a deep understanding of how that can work to help them in the future, and what to look for so that they don’t get caught out by it.”
– Kaye North, Code Club Australia

Project options for every club

New to AI? Start with the ‘Doodle detector’

If you’re new to AI, the Doodle detector is a great project to start with. You don’t need any special kit, just a computer. Creators draw different objects, then train an ML model to recognise their drawings. It’s a fun way for creators to see for themselves how model training works.

Can the model detect an apple? A banana? A cat? A caterpillar? Gather your Code Club and put it to the test!

Limited connectivity? No problem!

In our unplugged Dinosaur decision tree project, creators explore how ML models use decision trees to sort things into groups.

This project uses a paper-based decision tree to classify dinosaurs, but you could classify anything.

Short on time? Create an AI image

Need a quick and creative activity? Try our ‘AI-generated images’ project and produce amazing AI images with Adobe Firefly. Your creators will learn how to write text prompts and then watch as generative AI brings their creations to life.

This project uses Adobe Firefly, which requires an Adobe ID. You must be 13 or older to register for an individual Adobe ID.

Got a microphone? Use your voice!

In the Fish food project, creators train an ML model to recognise voice commands and then play a fun fish-feeding game using their commands. You’ll need a microphone for this one. Want to feed a giraffe or a penguin instead? Go for it!

More advanced coders? Level up with a large language model

Your more advanced Code Club creators can learn how to run a large language model on their Raspberry Pi and create a powerful AI assistant using Ollama.

This project is not recommended for learners below the age of 13 and we encourage Code Club creators to engage with this material responsibly.

New AI safety resources

The Raspberry Pi Foundation has released new AI safety resources that equip educators with the tools to empower learners to question AI technologies, think critically, and use AI technologies responsibly. The AI safety resources allow for flexible learning and have been built around three key components: animations, unplugged activities, and discussion questions.

Head to the Code Club projects page to find these projects and more! Don’t be afraid to experiment and have fun. Who knows? Your Code Club might just create the next big thing in AI!

People gathered in a group holding Code Club signs.

Fundació Bofill: Creating inclusive Code Clubs across Catalonia

Fundació Bofill is a non-profit organisation dedicated to fostering equity through education. They partner with Code Club to promote digital skills to young learners across Catalonia (an autonomous community in Spain) who might otherwise miss out.

Ellie Proffitt, Global Partnerships Manager at the Raspberry Pi Foundation, recently chatted to Ana Holschuh Heras, Code Club Community & Research Coordinator at Fundació Bofill, to learn more about how Fundació Bofill’s Code Club network in Catalonia has grown. Read on to learn what Ellie discovered.

Why Code Club matters

In Catalonia, only 5% of the extracurricular activities that children participate in are technology-related. What’s more, due to financial barriers, 34% of children from low-income families do not participate in any extracurricular activities, which sharply limits their access to learning opportunities.

Fundació Bofill is determined to change this. Code Club stood out to them as a brilliant way to drive such change with its free, accessible projects in a format that would suit young learners. It seemed the perfect fit — not only to bridge the digital skills gap, but also to build a community in which young people would feel empowered to shift from passive consumers of technology to active creators.

“We believe every child has the right to learn programming creatively, giving shape to their imagination.” — Claudia Iannicelli, Code Club Regional Coordinator

A glimpse into Catalonian Code Clubs

Ana and her team chose to set up their clubs in schools and communities in under-resourced neighbourhoods where access to afterschool clubs is often limited.

Fundacio Bofill now supports an incredible 110 Code Clubs across 21 municipalities. That’s over 1,518 children who are benefiting from the opportunity to learn to code, who may otherwise have been excluded.

Three young people sat in a row looking at laptops. — Creators attending a Code Club led by **Fundació Bofill**

A typical club session begins with a warm welcome and a recap of the day, followed by unplugged activities that spark critical discussions on technology and its many uses. Learners then dive into programming challenges, often working in pairs, to develop their problem-solving and coding skills. Reflections and previews of upcoming activities close the session.

“We help each other and learn as a team because I think without teamwork, you can’t work well.” — Code Club participant

Fundació Bofill’s clubs run in 16-week blocks, with four distinct phases:

Building a Code Club community
Exploring programming concepts
Engaging in collaborative projects
Having a community showcase finale

The community showcase finale is an exciting highlight for everyone. Club members show their coding projects to their families and their wider school community, with attendees also getting to learn about Scratch and programming — often for the first time. It’s a wonderful example of how Code Clubs bring people together, and can inspire everyone to engage with technology in some way.

Representation for the next generation

At the heart of Fundació Bofill’s Code Clubs is a dedicated team of 21 club mentors, who the organisation calls ‘dinamitzadores’. Leaders like these play a pivotal role in creating safe, engaging, and inclusive learning environments where all children feel empowered to explore and innovate.

A group of people sat and standing holding Code Club branded cushions and signs. — Code Club leaders at a training event in Catalonia

Nearly 90% of the dinamitzadores are young women aged 20 to 30. Representation matters — 47.5% of club attendees are girls — and having female leaders in technology is a powerful way to inspire girls to see themselves in tech roles.

“The key role of a leader is to guide rather than teach, allowing children the freedom to develop their own projects and learn from the process and mistakes.” — Marta Salvador, Code Club leader

“When you make a mistake, it’s not a failure — it’s an opportunity to improve.” — Claudia Iannicelli, Code Club Regional Coordinator

What’s next?

Fundació Bofill achieved so much in 2024. What’s in store for 2025?

They have three clear aims:

Increase the number of active clubs and participants
Ensure long-term sustainability by embedding Code Club into local educational policies
Continue to empower children, especially girls, to see themselves as future leaders in technology

A big congratulations to Ana and all those at Fundació Bofill for their work so far. We can’t wait to see Code Club grow even further across Catalonia!

Find out more about our Global Clubs Partnership network and how you can get involved.

A group of young people gather around a table as they work on activity together.

Three icebreaker activities that will build connections within your club

Kickstart your Code Club by using an icebreaker activity! Let us guide you through three icebreakers and how they can help your creators to connect, collaborate, and feel comfortable learning together.

Young people all face the mentor who stands at the front of the classroom — Young people at Linton-on-Ouse Primary School and Nursery getting started at their Code Club.

What is the best way to start your Code Club? There will never be one right answer that will fit everyone: the way you run your sessions will depend on the unique needs of your attendees, their ages, and interests.

But what about those scenarios where you have been thrown a curveball? A new club member is joining, or your creators have all rushed in, and they’re bouncing off the walls! This is where you might want to consider an icebreaker activity.

What is an icebreaker?

An icebreaker is a short activity that takes up to 15 minutes to complete. They can be used at the start of your Code Club session to help everyone get to know each other and warm up. Icebreakers are also a good way to disconnect from whatever activity your creators have come from and turn their focus to Code Club. We recommend choosing an unplugged activity for this.

Let’s explore three icebreaker activities and how they could benefit your Code Club.

New to the club

First up is ‘introduce a teammate’. This icebreaker is excellent for welcoming any newcomers to your Code Club. Led by the creators, it gives them an opportunity to get to know each other in a fun way.

This icebreaker is a low-pressure activity to encourage communication, help new members quickly gain a sense of belonging, and develop public speaking skills, especially in quieter creators. It’s even more of a challenge if creators already know each other: what new facts can they share?

Creating a positive learning environment

Do your creators regularly come charging into the room, buzzing with excitement? Of course they do, and you’re keen to channel this energy into your session, but how do you go about creating a positive learning environment?

The icebreaker ‘robot maze’, works to ease your creators into the session by immediately focusing their energy on an exciting task, as they learn the importance of of being specific when creating their code.

There’s so much flexibility with our icebreaker activities. Why not encourage calm by making this an individual activity. Each creator can try out their instructions on the robot one at a time, getting their brains into gear as they link their learning to the coding project or content you are planning to cover in the session.

Mixing things up

You can use ‘the low-tech social network’ icebreaker to encourage young creators to get to know each other. Creators who regularly attend Code Club may find themselves sitting with the same people at each session.

This icebreaker presents the perfect opportunity to help your creators connect by finding similarities with one another. By encouraging them to chat to lots of different creators, you can build cooperation and teamwork skills to use further down the line.

Check out all of our unplugged activities and try one of these icebreakers in your next Code Club session!

The Code Club Blog

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