Set up a sibling alarm

Brothers! Sisters! Boo! If your sibling is driving you up the wall by messing with your stuff, then catch them in the act. Using a Raspberry Pi HQ Camera and a cheap magnetic door sensor, you can take a photo or record video whenever the door opens, then send it straight to your phone. Busted! Take a look at this Room Guard project: magpi.cc/roomguardproject.

Fit a dinner klaxon

A really popular project from The MagPi issue 73 (magpi.cc/73), the teenage klaxon is the ultimate solution to yelling up the stairs in frustration at a headphone-clamped offspring. Simply use the web interface on your phone to set the candle light to green, amber, or ‘right, now you’re really in trouble’.

Listen to internet radio

No kid’s sanctuary is complete without some sounds. Why not add to your home audio system (see ‘Living room’) with another device or build an internet radio, capable of reaching thousands of stations across the globe. We really like Pimoroni’s Pirate Radio (magpi.cc/pirateradio) as a great starter kit.

Fit some fun lighting

If you really want to make an impression on your friends, get some LED strips and power them with a Raspberry Pi. You can start with single-colour 5050-type LED strips or move up to individually controllable NeoPixel sets (magpi.cc/neopixels). A project like this can just build and build; how about adding a microphone to create dancing lights? The Pi Hut has a great NeoPixels tutorial (magpi.cc/usingneopixels).