50 Engaging CAS Project Ideas for IB Students
Feeling overwhelmed by the CAS project? Don't worry, you're not alone. It’s one of the most open-ended parts of the IB Diploma, which is both exciting and a little daunting. Think of it less as a hurdle to clear and more as your chance to do something genuinely cool, meaningful, and completely your own.
This guide is your complete toolkit. We'll break down the official requirements, spark your imagination with over 50 project ideas, and show you exactly how to write reflections and gather evidence that will impress any CAS coordinator.
First, A Quick Recap: The CAS Project Rules
Before diving into ideas, let's quickly cover the non-negotiables. Your CAS project must:
- Last at least one month: This covers everything from the initial planning stages to the final reflection.
- Be collaborative: You need to work with at least one other person. This could be fellow IB students or people from the wider community.
- Involve one or more CAS strands: Your project can focus on Creativity, Activity, Service, or a combination of them.
- Follow the 5 CAS Stages: Your project should show clear evidence of Investigation, Preparation, Action, Reflection, and Demonstration.
- Help you meet the 7 Learning Outcomes: More on this later, but your project is a huge opportunity to tick off these essential goals.
The Lanterna Tip: The best CAS projects often come from a simple place: What's a problem in your community you want to solve? Or what's a skill you've always wanted to learn? Start there, and build your project around it.
50+ CAS Project Ideas to Get You Started
Here are some ideas broken down by strand. Remember, the most memorable projects often combine two or even all three strands!
🎨 Creativity Projects
This is all about exploring your creative side and producing something original. Think beyond just painting a picture.
- Visual & Performing Arts: Organize a school art exhibition, create a community mural, produce a short film on a social issue, or direct a play with proceeds going to charity.
- Digital Media: Start a podcast on student life or mental health, develop a website for a local non-profit, or create an educational YouTube channel teaching a skill you've mastered.
- Writing & Publishing: Launch a student-led online magazine, write and illustrate a children's book to donate to a local library, or host a creative writing workshop and publish an anthology of the work.
- Design & Innovation: Design and sew costumes for a school production, create and sell eco-friendly merchandise for a cause, or host a workshop teaching graphic design for awareness campaigns.
🏃 Activity Projects
This strand is about physical exertion and promoting a healthy lifestyle. It’s not just for the star athletes!
- Community Fitness: Organize a charity 5k fun run, a dance-a-thon fundraiser, or a community sports day for local families.
- Skill Development: Start a school fitness club (like yoga, running, or martial arts), volunteer to coach a junior sports team, or lead a marathon training program for your peers.
- Outdoor & Adventure: Plan and lead a series of weekend hiking trips for students, organize a beach or park clean-up that involves a fitness challenge (like plogging), or arrange a long-distance cycling event for charity.
- Wellness Initiatives: Develop a gentle fitness program for residents at a local nursing home, or lead weekly yoga and mindfulness classes at your school to help students de-stress.
🤝 Service Projects
Service is about collaborative and reciprocal engagement with the community in response to an authentic need.
- Community Support: Start a tutoring program for younger students, organize a drive to create care packages for the homeless, volunteer at an animal shelter, or build a community garden to provide fresh produce for a food bank.
- Environmental Initiatives: Launch a school-wide recycling or composting program, organize a community tree-planting day, or form a "clean-up club" to maintain a local park or river.
- Education & Awareness: Lead a campaign to raise awareness about mental health resources, run an environmental education workshop for primary school students, or organize a blood donation drive.
- Global & Tech Support: Host a book or tech drive to collect items for students in need, provide free language lessons for immigrants, or teach basic computer skills to the elderly in your community.
🌟 Combined Projects: The Ultimate CAS Experience
- Charity Arts Festival: Organize a festival featuring student music (Creativity), dance performances (Activity), and fundraising stalls for a local charity (Service).
- Recycled Backpacks: Identify a need for backpacks at a local school (Service), design them (Creativity), and make them from recycled materials (Service/Creativity).
- Charity Video Game Tournament: Host a gaming tournament (Creativity/Activity) where the entry fees are donated to a cause you care about (Service).
Nailing Your CAS Reflections: It's Not a Diary Entry
Your reflections are where you prove what you've learned. Just describing what you did isn't enough. You need to show growth. A simple but powerful framework is DEAL:
- Describe: What happened, factually? What did you do?
- Examine: What worked well? What challenges did you face? How does this connect to your initial goals?
- Articulate Learning: What did you learn about yourself, your team, or the issue you were addressing? How did you develop a new skill? This is the most important part!
- Link: How does this experience connect to the bigger picture, like one of the 7 Learning Outcomes or a global issue?
The 7 Learning Outcomes: Your Official Checklist
Every reflection you write and every piece of evidence you submit should be aimed at proving you've met these seven outcomes. You need to hit all seven by the end of your IB journey.
LO1: Strengths & Growth
Identify your skills and areas where you need to improve.
LO2: Challenges & Skills
Show you've taken on challenges and developed new skills.
LO3: Initiative & Planning
Demonstrate how you initiated and planned a CAS experience.
LO4: Commitment & Perseverance
Show you can stick with something and solve problems along the way.
LO5: Collaboration
Recognize the benefits and challenges of working with others.
LO6: Global Engagement
Connect your work to issues of global significance.
LO7: Ethics of Actions
Consider the ethical implications of your choices and actions.
Building Your Portfolio: The Evidence Locker
Your CAS portfolio is the collection of proof that you did the work. It’s not just about reflections. Think multimedia!
Good evidence includes:
- Photos and videos of you in action (the most powerful evidence!).
- Planning documents, timelines, and meeting notes.
- Screenshots of websites you built or social media campaigns you ran.
- Feedback emails from supervisors or community partners.
- Certificates of participation or letters of recommendation.
Use this table to stay organized and ensure you're hitting all your goals for each project and experience.
| CAS Project / Experience | Strand(s) (C/A/S) | Learning Outcomes Targeted | Evidence Logged (e.g., Photos, Video, Reflection) |
|---|
| Charity Fun Run | Activity, Service | LO3, LO5, LO7 | Planning spreadsheet, photos from the event, final reflection video. |
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CAS is your opportunity to step outside the classroom and make a real impact—on your community and on yourself. Choose a project that genuinely excites you, document your journey thoughtfully, and you won't just pass a requirement; you'll create one of the most memorable experiences of your entire IB Diploma.
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