Scratch

Kick off a World Cup coding challenge at your Code Club!

Football fever is spreading across the globe, and your Code Club can join in the fun too.

We’ve rounded up 3 football-inspired projects that let creators score goals, design kits, and predict winners — all while building their coding skills. Which one will you set as a challenge in your Code Club?

A young girl wearing headphones smiles and raises her fist in celebration while working on a laptop, with a light bulb and gears illustration in the background.

Beat the goalie

Can you beat the keeper? In ‘Beat the goalie’, you build a Scratch football game where you aim, kick, and try to score a goal before time runs out. Add sounds and scoring as you explore key presses, sprite interactions, sensing, variables, and game logic.

A cartoon robot goalkeeper wearing a green jersey with the number 1 stands in front of a soccer goal on a light green background.

Kit chooser

Create the ultimate team look in ‘Kit chooser’, where you design your own football strip in Scratch using colours, patterns, and custom styling. Turn kit design into code as you work with sprites, costumes, broadcasts, variables, loops, and conditionals.

Two purple sports jerseys displayed, one facing front and the other back, with a color palette on the side.

Match predictor

Who will win the World Cup? In ‘Match predictor’, you use a micro:bit to build a gadget that randomly predicts the winner of a football match. Choose your teams, test your code in MakeCode, and explore button input, lists, randomness, strings, and transferring code onto physical hardware.

A playful illustration featuring a soccer player, scoreboards showing '2-1' and '3-0', a trophy labeled '#1 Champion', and character expressions suggesting excitement and inquiry.

Celebrate success with certificates

Every great tournament ends with a celebration! Encourage club members to share their completed projects and award certificates to recognise their creativity, teamwork, and problem-solving.  

We have a selection of ‘recognition certificates’ perfect for these football themed projects: 

Four colorful certificate templates from Code Club featuring space for a child's name, project name, and accomplishments like problem-solving and coding skills.

Enjoyed these football-inspired projects? Discover even more sports-themed activities on our projects site.

Bring environmental topics into your Code Club

Did you know World Environment Day has been marked by the United Nations since 1972? It takes place every year on 5 June to raise awareness of the environmental challenges facing our planet.

It’s a great opportunity to give young people space to explore the issues that matter to them, and to see how technology can be part of the solution, while building skills and sharing their ideas about the planet

A cheerful cartoon panda holding a recycling symbol in one hand and a globe in the other, set against a bright yellow background with clouds.

Coding for creativity, conversation, and change

Our ‘Protect our planet’ project collection is designed to do just that — encourage exploration, spark discussion, and support learners at every level.

Whether your club includes beginners or more experienced coders, there’s something for everyone to create, experiment with, and make their own.

A young man and a girl collaborate on a project at a computer, pointing at the screen. The words 'Make your ideas' are prominently displayed with light bulb graphics.

Projects to try in your club

Here are a few projects you can explore with your learners:

Green goals
Create an animation while learning about the United Nations’ environment-focused Sustainable Development Goals.

Save the shark
Build a game to help a shark survive plastic pollution, highlighting the impact of waste on ocean habitats.

Electricity generation
Create a data visualisation using real-world data to compare how countries generate electricity.

Explore the full project collection in your Code Club.

Meet creator April! 

April is a creator from Code Club Australia, and invites you to try ‘Drone planting’ — a beginner Scratch project inspired by real drones used to restore forests and bushland lost to fires in Australia.

Through the project, young people can explore how technology can help tackle real-world environmental challenges.

Starting the conversation in your Code Club

Code Clubs are a great space to start conversations about issues that matter to young people, and to explore how technology can help address them.

The ‘Protect our planet’ projects are a great conversation starter. You could ask your learners:

  • What do you think are the biggest challenges facing the natural world?
  • What small actions can we take to help the environment?
  • How could technology be used to solve environmental problems?

You might also:

  • Encourage learners to create a project about an issue they care about
  • Support them to share their ideas through storytelling and design
  • Give them time to reflect and discuss their perspectives
Young people in a classroom engaged in a coding session, with several raising their hands to answer questions. A teacher or mentor is seen in the foreground, wearing a 'Code Club' shirt.

World Environment Day isn’t about having all the answers — it’s about giving young people the chance to explore, create, and be heard.

Inspire your learners to take action — explore the ‘Protect our planet’ project collection and start building projects that make a difference.

The coding projects that empowered creators in 2025

Code Clubs are unique learning communities where young people get hands-on experience with a wide range of tools, from drag-and-drop Scratch blocks to text-based Python, from micro:bit to emerging AI tools.

It’s no surprise that in 2025 the biggest hits were the projects that build key skills and give creators a solid foundation to grow from, all while sparking curiosity, boosting confidence, and supporting steady progression — let’s explore the projects you enjoyed most last year!

A young girl and an adult man smiling and working together at a laptop, with the text 'Make your ideas' displayed above them.

Scratch: Building foundations through play

For many creators joining Code Club, the journey begins with Scratch. Here, they learn the building blocks of programming. 

The top three Scratch projects that inspired young coders in 2025 were

  1. Boat race – Steer your boat to the island and avoid the obstacles
  2. Space talk – Code a space scene with characters that emote
  3. Catch the bus – Create an animation with sprites that run or fly to catch a bus

These projects are quick to start, easy to personalise, and full of opportunities for added challenges. Creators build skills in sequencing events, switching costumes to simulate movement, and synchronising actions to tell simple stories — all core storytelling and animation techniques in Scratch.

A child in a green sweater interacts with a large screen displaying a coding interface, likely for a game or animation project. Various coding blocks and character animations can be seen on the screen.

Python: Turning ideas into real-world programs

As young people grow in confidence, many are keen to try text-based coding to express more complex ideas.

The top three Python projects that inspired young coders in 2025 were

  1. Astro Pi: Mission Zero – Have your code run onboard the ISS
  2. Hello world – Write an interactive project that uses emojis
  3. About me – Write a program telling people all about you

Each of these projects builds confidence by showing creators that they can write code, that their work can have real-world impact and simple scripts can express personal creativity.

A young boy using a computer mouse while focused on the screen, with an adult man seated beside him, in a room with other people working on computers.

BBC micro:bit: Making code tangible

Nothing builds confidence like making something physical work, like buzzers, lights or sensors. We all love to see that “aha!” moment in a Code Club session!

The top three micro:bit projects that inspired young coders in 2025 were

  1. Music player – Create a mood-matching tune picker
  2. Sound level meter –Track and log sound levels, with an alarm for high noise!
  3. Fortune teller – Use your micro:bit to read the future!

These projects are valuable because they combine instant physical feedback, real-world relevance, and opportunities for tinkering and customisation.

Two children sitting at computer desks, engaged in programming or gaming activities on their screens in a classroom setting.

AI projects: Empowering creators to shape the future

In 2025, many Code Club members became curious about artificial intelligence (AI). By introducing AI safely and accessibly, we help young people see themselves not as consumers of technology, but as creators who can shape how modern tools work.

The top three AI projects that inspired young coders in 2025 were

  1. Chomp the cheese – Make a mouth-powered, cheese-chomping game. Silliness for everyone!
  2. Doodle detector – Train a machine learning model to recognise your drawing
  3. Run an AI image generator on a Raspberry Pi – An introduction to the world of AI image generation

These projects are powerful because they combine playful creativity and hands-on experimentation.

Two girls holding large green signs that read 'Be Cool' and 'code club', smiling at the camera in a creative workspace.

Code Club as a launchpad

From Scratch animations to Python adventures, from micro:bit inventions to AI explorations, 2025’s most popular projects show us that young people are keen to create, experiment, and express themselves.

As we look ahead to 2026, Code Club remains a launchpad for confident creators… and the best is yet to come!

Explore the rest of our projects and help creators spark their next big idea at Code Club.