Some of the most promising digital talent in the UK and Ireland was rewarded at the inaugural Future 8 Awards in London on Saturday, with winners chosen for their skill in projects spanning web design, video, music and animation.

More than 500 young people between the ages of seven and 17 entered the awards, which were launched by kids marketing company SuperAwesome in partnership with the Guardian.

The winners were split between eight categories: mobile app development, web development, online video, music, animation, games, blogging and a “maker” category for hardware design.

Twelve year-old Faheem Anwar won the mobile app category for his app called The Youth Booth that will help children organise safe days out at theme parks and local events, and earn group discounts.

He was inspired by his father “who told me that I didn’t get out a lot and needed to be more social with my friends, so I decided to make something about this!” He wants to make more apps and release them through app stores. “Even if I don’t make much money from them, it’ll still be a good thing to put on my CV,” he said.

The animation category was won by 15 year-old Jonathan White, whose entry – Recineration – blended 3D animation and live action. “What inspired me to create my entry is I love the way animation can be used in so many different areas,” he said.

“Usually when people think of animation, they think of films that Disney have done, but I love the way animation can be brought into other areas, making things a bit different.”

Natalie Shay, 15, won the music category for a song written for a friend’s birthday, complete with a video. “I thought it was pretty good so I put it on YouTube,” she said. Now Natalie is building an audience through her YouTube channel, and has already released her debut single on iTunes.

“I’m hoping to release my next single in April, and I’m shooting a music video for the first track on that,” she said. Her prize includes time in a professional recording studio, which should help with that.

The web development award was won by 16 year-old James Corneille for his site skizzie.com, which uses animation to help young children learn languages. Its roots lay in a previous site called Tus Gaeilge which he’d developed to teach Irish language. He’s now planning to add more languages and animations to skizzie.com.

Seb Gallop, 17, won the games award with his ambitious concept for a game called Lifeless City, for which he produced a 33-page concept document describing a zombie-infested post-apocalyptic world, where players have to create societies and sanctuaries to survive in, and build relations with other societies.

The online video category was won by 15 year-old Fin Moorhouse, who began making films since he was nine, making more than 50 short films exploring genres including sci-fi, silent films and superheroes. His winning entry, Every Child, focused on the latter, and starred his nine year-old sister.

“It’s about a young girl who dresses up as a superhero, and she walks to a hill, and then something surprising happens,” he said. “I thought maybe the superpower could be the imagination, and I ran with that idea. I thought children maybe have the most fertile imagination, and adults maybe don’t.”

The blogging category was won by 16 year-old Amber Kirk-Ford with her Mile Long Bookshelf site, which focuses on young adult (YA) literature. She’s been blogging since she was seven.

“I originally started blogging to get my opinions out there. My blog is now five years old, and I don’t think I’ll ever stop,” she said. “ One day I would like to work in journalism or publishing, so whichever one I go for, I think this will help a lot.”

Finally, the Maker category was won by 14 year-old Billy Timimi with a product called ConvertaDesk, which doubles as a homework desk and a place to tinker with hardware: it transforms from a writing and DIY desk to a complete workstation by flicking a switch.

“If I want to work on the computer while I’m soldering, so I can look at soldering diagrams online, I have to go downstairs and it’s a real pain. The ConvertaDesk solves all these problems,” he said.

“There’s been a shift in understanding that kids are building things, that kids are creating. And parents are realising that this is something they want to support, rather than just telling them ‘go outside and get some fresh air’,” said SuperAwesome chief executive Dylan Collins.

“The spectrum of entries for these awards was remarkable. And while these creators are talented now, but it’s what they’re going to do in two or three versions time, when they’re 15, 16, 17 that’s key. They’re going to be doing some extremely interesting things in a couple of years’ time.”

Sponsors for the awards, which were held at the Google Campus in London, included Sony Music, Penguin Random House, WeMo, Outfit7, NOW Music, NaturalMotion Games, Stick Sports, Bin Weevils and 55Pixels, many of whom are hosting a winner in their studios for a day and advising them on how to develop their digital creative skills.

• Dylan Collins on children’s media, from YouTube to Minecraft

• The Guardian is media partner for the Future 8 Awards