Youth pen contests opinions wanted!

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mredburn

mredburn

IAP Activities Manager
Staff member
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Location
Fort Myers FL
Im looking for input for the youth pen contests Im planning on running. What Im looking for are suggestions for improving the contests for the kids.

Should we have an advanced/freestyle, kitless, open type class as well as the ball point competitions? Would there be enough entries to make it worth doing? Would you as parents/sponsoring adults be willing to donate the time and expense to more elaborate pen contests?
Without any real history its difficult to project particpation but if it continues to be supported I can see breaking the age groups down a little farther.
Possibly Under 12, 12-13, 14-15, and 16-17.

Im adding prize awards for best pen by a young lady and young man along with Best Pen this contest in the current under 14 category.
14-16 will have the usual 3 places awarded.

Im also debating the timing and number or contests. We could have a youth contest every 4 months. February (the B Bash) June and October. OR twice a year, February and then a summer month. Is June the start of vacations a good month? August? just before school starts?

What are your thoughts? Opionons?
 
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Who are these contests for? The kids or the parents? I think it is just great when someones child makes a pen and we all jump on and really can't wait to praise and just make them feel great about their accomplishment. This happens because we are fathers and mothers. Not so sure about a contest I have seen too many fathers and mothers around sports and other events for children.
 
I think it is easier to start slow and build rather than start big and cut back. In my opinion you should stick with your current structure and run 2 per year. After the next Birthday bash (at which time you will have 3 under your belt) you can reevaluate and adjust. It's a lot of work to run an activity such as this (more than most people realize) so THANK YOU for doing this. Just don't burn yourself out!
 
I sent a PM, but I will put the basic idea here. There should be a $10 limit or so on the contest for the kids. Because let's be honest how many people are going to cut a 7 year old (in my case) loose with a alligator Jaw blank on a rhodium plated Jr Gent? These sort of things quickly turn into the pine wood derby races that "kids" do.
 
Mike for almost 20 years I umpired Little League baseball for fun and relaxation. I only stopped because of an ankle injury and cant run well anymore. This is a piece of cake!:biggrin:
 
Thank you Ed for posting your thoughts its a very valid point. We want these to be fun for both the adults and kids.
 
When we went to MAPG my 7 year old made a pen. The parts I did were cut the blank, drill it, glue the tubes, square the ends, and put it on the lathe. She turned it down, sanded, did a CA glue finish (I talked her through these parts). And together we put it on the pen press. That was her first pen she did. She was VERY proud of it. Was it perfect? No, but that pen will always be on my dresser (until she graduates college).
 
We have a limit of "ball Point" kit for the contests right now. And Kids under 14 have to have "hands on" in making the pen but as in your case, parent participation for the safety of the child is a must. We leave it up to the adult to decide the skill level and involvement of the child. We had some great feed back from the Bash that the kids really enjoyed participating and when was the next one. The thought on the advanced pen making was in addition to the basic competitions. I do not plan on adding or changing much for the one that will start tomorrow. We have some pretty amazing kids making pens.
 
Mike,

I mentioned the contest to my 12 year old daughter yesterday - and her first question was "does it have to be a ball point or can it be a capped pen?". At this point she has turned somewhere around 20+ pens (guessing). She has given some to teachers, sold a couple, and a local art gallery has asked her to make a batch of polyclay pens. I mention this because I suspect there are at least a handful of youth that would be able to participate in an advanced/freestyle contest.

I like the idea of more age groupings - of course that means more work and more prize donations.

Contests twice a year are probably enough.

Thanks for your work on this!
 
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