Write Your Own Story
Connecticut Public Television is sponsoring its ninth annual Reading Rainbow Young Writers & Illustrators Contest. To enter, children in kindergarten through third grade must write and illustrate their own story. Finalists in each grade level will receive a $150 U.S. Savings Bond and a $50 gift certificate to Barnes & Noble Bookstore. Also, a $100 Barnes & Noble gift certificate will be awarded to each winner’s school or hometown library. The deadline is March 31. For applications or more information, call 800-287-2788, or visit www.cptv.org.
Young Toy Inventors
Kids are encouraged to use their imagination to convert trash to fun and exciting toys in the Rodale Institute’s Kidsregen.org Recycled Into Toys contest. Kids ages 7 to 10 have until Feb. 28 to enter. First prize is a digital camera. The winner will be picked by kids from around the world who will cast their votes online. The sponsors say recycled materials have long been used for inventing toys, starting with Mr. Potato Head, which originally used a real potato. Tinkertoy Construction Sets were born when their inventors observed children’s fascination with empty spools of thread and pencils. For more information, visit the website www. kidsregen.org.
Happy Birthday, Crayola
To celebrate its 100th birthday, Crayola is inviting kids of all ages to help choose a new color crayon for its Crayola boxes of 100 crayons. By visiting www.crayola100.com by July 1, kids can vote for their favorite shade from these five colors: burnt sienna, blizzard blue, teal, mulberry and magic mint. The color that receives the most votes will remain in active duty. The other four will be “retired” to the crayola Hall of Fame, where they’ll join raw umber, maize, lemon yellow and others. At the website, visitors can vote to “save the shade” from the list of five and also enter names for four new colors to replace the four that will be retired.