Kids contests are a great way to ward off the damaging effects of non-stop video game playing, something kids are sure to be doing if parents don't step in to intervene. Imagine that, video game intervention. Who thought this would be necessary? Nothing destroys childhood summertime memories more than being holed up in a dark bedroom, hour upon hour, day after day, wasting away before the mind-numbing, non-interactive control of video games.
The quickest and easiest contest is children photography contests. Everyone has access to a digital camera or a cell phone. If you don't have one yourself, I am sure you can borrow one from a friend or neighbor. Then comes the hard part. How to get your child away from the video games and into the real world outside. I would suggest organizing family outings. If not a family vacation to the beach or camping or to some historical town or landmark, then maybe just a day trip somewhere. Just load up the family truckster and go. Along the way, point out all the interesting things your kids could photograph, then compile the best Ansell Adams imitations and upload to the online contests. The memories alone of these trips is worth the price of admission, if any.
Picture contests usually entail a child drawing a picture, scanning it and sending it in. This is a good venue for children who like to draw, and can help encourage them to develop and flourish in a career as an illustrator or painter. Picture contests can also involve sending in pictures of your children or teenagers.
Perhaps your child's talent leans toward the written word? Poetry contests, essay contests and short story contests are wonderful ways to tap into this creative reservoir. I even came across a contest online, where kids wrote short adventure stories which took place in foreign countries. What better way to teach a child about world cultures and geography than to have them enter such a contest, using their imaginations and having fun along the way. There are numerous such contests online. A search using Google will reveal all these wondrous opportunities. These are events that video games cannot hope to teach your child.
If the internet is not your style, or you would like to limit your child's access to it, then by all means, take a trip to the local bookstore or library, and seek out the many contest magazines housed there. There are complete magazines that cater to contests of all sorts, from writing, to drawing to photography. And it would get your kids out of the house once in a while.
There are still cute baby contests you could enter your baby into. Hopefully your cute baby is not addicted to video games yet, so it is not too late to steer the little angel away from these activities and to teach him or her that there are a lot more fun summertime activities. Win a few of these cute baby contests, and you won't have to deal with addictive video game playing, but you will have to work through the self-absorbing attitude that may result.
The possibilities are in endless supply thanks to the internet. The internet does not have to be considered a dangerous device in which your children should be kept away. There are numerous resources that can be used, with proper parental supervision, to explore our world and the people in it, and encourage the blossoming of promising early careers.
Kids contests can be a fun way for a family to spend the summer, building bonds and memories that carry far into their adulthood. I remember all the fun activities of my youth, and they are the most enjoyable memories I have. Fortunately, I have no fond memories of video game playing, although that is not to say I didn't and still don't enjoy the occasional pixelating playtime. I have learned from my parents, however, that other activities away from the game console and flashing television screen provide me with the most long-lasting and deeper-meaning memories of life.
Free and fun baby modeling contest and drawing contests at http://babietrends.com/baby-photo-contest/
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