I love The Company Store. Not only do they consistently offer up drool-worthy products in their catalog and website (including an awesome kids’ line), they announced yesterday that they were partnering with Operation Homefront to sponsor a kids’ design contest!
Your kids, 12 and under, can design a comforter (hand drawn or painted), and enter it into the contest by June 22nd, and the top three will win!
From their Facebook page:
Hundreds of thousands of military families feel the effects of war: Post-Traumatic Stress; Traumatic Brain Injury; bodily injuries and death; and financial and emotional struggles. The Kids’ Design Contest is a way for your child’s creativity to brighten the spirits of military families facing difficult financial times by designing a comforter pattern. With the help of Operation Homefront, the top three designs will be made into thousands of comforters to be donated to the families of our servicemen and women around the nation. The three designs with the most votes on Facebook will also win a Company Kids gift card as a token of our appreciation. Enter the designs by June 22nd, 2012 and encourage your friends and family to vote! Winners will be announced on July 4th, 2012.
So far, there are a handful of entries, but I really like these two because they seemed to have thought specifically about pattern and the meaning behind the contest:
For some mysterious reason, my daughter has refused to design a comforter for this contest, but if she were into it, I think I’d do a little online research with her to check out some comforter designs, and have her tell me which ones she was drawn to. Then we’d have a chat about what it means for families when moms and/or dads are away from home, fighting for our country, and vulnerable to dangerous situations. (We covered this part yesterday for Memorial Day.)
I would ask her to think about what images might be (literally) comforting to these families to snuggle up under at night when they go to sleep.
Hey, fellow creative kid-lovers. Why don't you join me on Facebook?
Some links on this site are affiliate links. I will always disclose if I am compensated for a post, but I only write about stuff I love.
I love reading about these great design competitions for kids! Thanks for such a great post! I’ll see if my oldest wants to participate. June 22nd is tight b/c our last day of school is June 15. I hope there are more art contests during the summer.
PragmaticMom recently posted…Best Books for Kids By Kids: The Children’s Choice Book Awards
I am going to look into it too. I know my kids would probably love to enter! Thanks for sharing! And I like your discussion guide at the end – I wouldn’t have though to do that – great idea!
Ann recently posted…And the Flowers and the Trees
i think it’s wonderful when brands offer these kind of great creative opportunities for kids. i like these designs too. wish my teens weren’t bogged down with finals. i think they’d love it.
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Love design contests – anything that keeps them creative! I’m going to the site now – thanks for the great find!
capability recently posted…Smile, a Graphic Novel by Raina Telgemeir
Thanks for posting this info and spreading the word of The Kids Design Contest. Not only does this initiative hosted by The Company Store (in collaboration with Operation Homefront) spark creativity in young children, but it helps brighten the spirits of military families who truly could use a little brightening
We hope that others will help get the word out as well! Contact me (Christina Cozzi) at Christina@camelot-pr.com for further information and/or to see how you or your organization can help spread the word!