Contests
Entering contests is a fun activity for kids. They can practice their writing skills, learn about new subjects, and may even end up winning a great prize. We've collected some of the most interesting, challenging, and fun contests available for kids to enter.
Contests for Kids
ExploraVision
ExploraVision is a competition for all students in grades K-12 attending a school in the U.S., Canada, U.S. Territory or a Department of Defense school. Homeschooled students are eligible to enter. It is designed to encourage students to combine their imagination with their knowledge of science and technology to explore visions of the future. Teams of students select a technology, research how it works and why it was invented, and then project how that technology may change in the future. They must then identify what breakthroughs are required for their vision to become a reality and describe the positive and negative consequences of their technology on society. Winning ideas have focused on things as simple as ballpoint pens and as complex as satellite communications. The student teams write a paper and draw a series of Web page graphics to describe their idea. Regional winners make a Web site and a prototype of their future vision.
Intel International Science and Engineering Fair
The Intel International Science and Engineering Fair (Intel ISEF) is the world's largest pre-college celebration of science. Held annually in May, the Intel ISEF brings together over 1,400 students from more than 40 nations to compete for scholarships, tuition grants, internships, scientific field trips and the grand prize: a $50,000 college scholarship. Science Service founded the ISEF in 1950 and is very proud to have Intel as the title sponsor of this prestigious, international competition.
Let's Get Real
Let's Get Real™ is an academic competition and an opportunity for teams of students to gain experience working on real business challenges. Corporate sponsors supply real challenges for which teams submit solutions in business format. Each team chooses from the list of challenges the one(s) it finds most interesting. Challenges might include areas such as environmental issues, manufacturing, distribution, engineering, software creation, human resources, health and safety, facilities design, public relations, or any other areas deemed important to the corporations involved. There is no entry fee for teams.
MATHCOUNTS®
MATHCOUNTS® is a national math enrichment, coaching and competition program that promotes middle school mathematics achievement through grassroots involvement in every U.S. state and territory. After several months of coaching, participating schools select students to compete individually or as part of a team in one of the more than 500 written and oral competitions held nationwide and in U.S. schools overseas. Winners at the local level proceed to state competitions, where the top 4 Mathletes® and top coach earn the right to represent their state or territory at the national level. At all levels, MATHCOUNTS challenges students' math skills, develops their self-confidence and rewards them for their achievements. Students enrolled in the 6th, 7th, or 8th grades are eligible to participate in MATHCOUNTS competitions.
Scripps National Spelling Bee
Scripps National Spelling Bee is the most widely known spelling bee organizer in the world. In general, the program is open to students who have not reached their 16th birthday on or before the date of the national finals and who have not passed beyond the eighth grade at the time of their school finals.
What IFFF? Kids Film Competition
The International Family Film Festival offers a kids film competition, designed to promote and encourage the creation and sharing of family film product through film exhibition, professional and children's hands-on workshops, seminars, forums and engaging post-film discussions. Film competition categories are individual or class projects for grades 3-6, 7-9, and 10-12. Film categories include Drama, Comedy, Animation-Computer & Animation-Classic, Documentary, and Educational.
Final projection film/video has to be on VHS.
Global Virtual Classroom Contest
The Global Virtual Classroom Contest is a global team cooperation and website-building activity for students from 7 to 18 years of age. Using Internet technologies to communicate, up to 100 teams of three schools each will build Websites on topics of their choosing. Each team will consist of three schools from three different countries. Team websites will be judged by a panel of VIP judges.
UCTheFuture - Life in the Year 2047
This contest involves electronically or manually submitting a graphic depiction (drawing, photo or other image) along with a 50 to 100-word description of what an aspect of the world will look like in the year 2047.
A $1,000 prize will be awarded to the winning entry chosen from the first 50 entries submitted and selected for viewing on the UCTheFuture web site.
ThinkQuest
ThinkQuest is an international student competition, sponsored by the Oracle Education Foundation. Students work in teams to build creative and educational websites that explore globally relevant subjects. Diverse teams made up of members from more than one school, community, or country are encouraged.
Competitions are open to students and teachers from anywhere in the world. Teams must have 3 to 6 students who are between the ages of 9 and 19, and one adult Coach who is a school employee. Homeschooled students may participate so long as they are part of a team that is associated with an accredited public, private, or parochial school (i.e., Primary Coach is an employee of an accredited public, private or parochial school and other team members are affiliated with an accredited school). Homeschooled students might consider forming a team with students from another country. Being a member of a multi-country team presents a great opportunity for all students to learn about other cultures and to learn valuable collaboration skills.
The completed websites are published in the ThinkQuest Library, a rich learning resource used by millions.
Shankar's International Children's Competition (SICC)
K. Shankar Pillai (July 31, 1902–December 26, 1989) was a famous cartoonist. He brought out a political magazine called ‘Shankar’s Weekly’. Under the auspices of this magazine, a competition called the Shankar’s International Children’s Competition was organized in 1949. It invited paintings and writings from children in India. Children sent about 3,000 entries. The following year the competition was thrown open to children from all over the world.
Today, the competition has grown and about 1,60,000 entries are received from over 130 countries. The entries are judged by an international jury. The prizewinning entries are compiled in a volume called the ‘Shankar’s Children’s Art Number’. The competition is open to children all over the world below the age of 16 years. There is no entry fee and competitors are free to choose the theme/subject they are interested in, or like most, for their paintings/ drawings/writings.
Making Contests a Part of Home Learning
Contests in Your Curriculum
Contests offer a new educational experience for the homeschooled child. Entering a contest increases motivation, develops research skills, adds excitement to assignments, develops character, and enriches your curriculum choices. Learn how to choose which contests to enter, which contests to avoid, and how to get the most out of entering contests.
Featured Resources
As an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases. We get commissions for purchases made through links on this site.
Pass Your New York DMV Test Guaranteed! 50 Real Test Questions! New York DMV Practice Test Questions
This book is written by a former DMV classroom instructor. He shares the 50 most common questions and answers to the New York DMV written test. A great guide to help your teen pass the DMV test on their first try.
100+ New Jersey Drivers Licensing Exam Facts That You Need To Know: Quick Review for the Written Test
Prepare for the New Jersey's Driver's Written Exam. Know the 100+ important facts for the test. Be prepared to ace the exam!
Learning Adventures
Each book in the Learning Adventures series covers skills and concepts for grades 4-8, with a history-based approach. Each contains a year's worth of lesson plans in a daily format. All subjects except math are covered.
Dumbing Us Down: The Hidden Curriculum of Compulsory Schooling
This radical treatise on public education has been a New Society Publishers' bestseller for 10 years! Thirty years of award-winning teaching in New York City's public schools led John Gatto to the sad conclusion that compulsory governmental schooling does little but teach young people to follow orders as cogs in the industrial machine. In celebration of the ten-year anniversary of Dumbing Us Down and to keep this classic current, we are renewing the cover art, adding new material about John and ...
Conquering Chronic Disorganization
The real-life stories of chronically disorganized people and the ground breaking, easy-to-learn organizing methods used to end their chronic disorganization in the area of residential clutter, office organizing, paper management, storage, and time management. Conquerings pages includes an extensive index, user-friendly summaries, quick tips, helpful photographs, and a resource section of products and organizations.