We’re two weeks into the second cycle of Pioneers, our programme to give teenagers a taste of digital making. Teenagers make amazing, ridiculous, awesome things when they are challenged to unleash their creativity using technology. In the first cycle, we had everything from a disco pen to a crotch-soaking water trap. Families and friends can take part, as well as clubs and schools: we call these informal Pioneers teams squads, and we’re hoping that lots will join this second round of the competition.

The creativity on display comes from allowing teenagers to approach a problem from whatever angle they choose. Pioneers has been designed so that it’s flexible and people can take part however they like. As well as making sure the challenge we set is as open as possible, we’re also pretty chilled about how teams participate: when and where the making gets done.

We are as chilled as a polar bear in a bucket hat

We’re delighted to see that lots of teenagers have been getting together with their mates, hanging out, and working out how they can best freak out their mum.

https://youtu.be/jmHBOxOTkRo

Some of the groups told us that they met at a regular time, and while there was a lot of chat, they’d also find some time to make some cool stuff. Others had some intense sessions over a couple of weekends (certain team members may or may not have been involved with extra bits of tinkering between sessions).

Getting involved in Pioneers

If you’ve got some teenagers lying about the house, why not see if they’d like to challenge themselves to make something linked to the outdoors? We’ve got some starter projects to give them a bit of inspiration, but they can respond to the challenge however they like, as long as they are using tech.

Our challenge for this round of Pioneers: get outdoors!

If you’re mentoring one of these informal Pioneers squads, you are probably mostly there to remind that they might want to meet up, and to prompt them to make their video in time for the deadline. You don’t need to be a tech expert in order to be a mentor, but if you’d like a confidence-booster, you could watch some of our videos to level up your skills. And if you do get stuck on something technical, you can ask for help on the Raspberry Pi forums.

For more information about working as a squad, or about mentoring one, check out our Pioneers page. We can’t wait to see what you come up with!