K12 Talent Showdown
Who can participate?
All U.S. students in grades K-12, who attend a K12-powered school, are eligible to participate in the 2025 K12 Talent Showdown.
How do students who are 13 years old or under enter?
Parents or guardians of students under age 13 must register on behalf of their student.
What music is acceptable in the K12 Talent Showdown?
Music must be original (written by you) or in the public domain. Copyrighted songs and performances are NOT permitted.
How do I know if a song is copyrighted?
A simple web search can usually tell you if a song is under copyright. You can also explore lists such as List of Public Domain Music to check if a song is in the public domain. If you have a question about whether or not a song is copyrighted, please email us at: competitions@K12.com
When is my entry due?
To enter the competition, you must submit your talent video by November 17, 2025, at 5 PM (ET).
I have a question about the K12 Talent Showdown. Who should I reach out to?
The best way to contact our competition team is to email competitions@K12.com.
K12 Robotics Competition
The registration page says my birthdate is invalid. What should I do?
Students under 13 years old need a parent or legal guardian to register on their behalf. If your student is under 13, the parent/legal guardian should use their date of birth for registration. Please be sure to follow the correct format for the birthdate on the age verification pop-up form, DD/MM/YY.
What is a Robotics Instructor and why does each team require one?
Each team is required to have one adult instructor—this is often a parent/legal guardian, Learning Coach, teacher, or other trusted adult. Please confirm with your instructor before listing their name. Instructors have on demand access to training resources and weekly support sessions to help their teams succeed.
Am I able to register for the K12 Robotics League if I do not have a team?
Yes! Students may compete as a solo team of 1, or can create a team of up to 3 members. All team members must fall into the same grade bands (grades 4-6,7-9, or 10-12). Please be aware that students are responsible for creating their own teams.
I purchased the Virtual Robotics Toolkit software, now what?
After you have the VRT software, students should start exploring the software and begin coding the virtual robot in different virtual scenarios. We have a K12 Robotics League newsletter K12 Robotics League | Smore Newsletters which has videos to get started, and different tasks to practice your coding.
Between the time students have the software and the competition begins, students will work on their own in VRT to master different programming skills such as: coding the virtual robot to detect a color, following a line, moving a certain number of degrees left/right, etc. There is a video tutorial for everything teams may come across in a competition.
Which devices are compatible with the VRT Software?
Participants should download the VRT software to a Windows computer, as the software is not fully compatible on Mac computers. The minimal specifications are:
- Intel processors (i3, i5), AMD processors (A8, A10)
- 4 GB of RAM
- Integrated graphics card
- Windows 7 or better
- 64 bit Operating System
- Internet Connection (for initial one-time activation, competition and the Learning Environment)
Please be aware the access codes are one-time use per device. If you need to update your computer, please contact the K12 Robotics League team at competitions@K12.com to have your code released and ready to be applied to your new device.