Young Inventor Challenge
"The Young Inventor Challenge was an opportunity of a lifetime for a kid like me, because the competition allowed me to create an original game, develop it, and show it off to top executives and companies. Victory and the prizes that came along with winning were overwhelming and full of valuable information and experience."- Nick Metzler, after his first Senior Category win in 2010.
"My main goal at the moment is to gain acceptance into Stanford University." "It's my hope that a second win in the YIC, as well as working on having my game licensed will be a couple of strong positive factors influencing my acceptance and future career (in the professional world of the game industry)." - Nick Metzler, after his second win in 2011. Read more about Nick in Global Toy News.
Registration for the 2012 Young Inventor Challenge will open in March
John Ratzenberger
View more videos at: http://nbcchicago.com.
Congratulations to the past winners of the Young Inventor Challenge!
2011 Senior Category Winner
Nick Metzler for Squashed!
Nick Metzler for Squashed!
2011 Junior Category Winner
Isabella Miller and Simon Shifrin
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2010 Senior Category Winner
Nick Metzler for That's Cheating!
2010 Junior Category Winner
Adrik Herbert for Nutterz
Read about it in Global Toy News
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2009 Winner
Isabella Miller and Madison Yang
for Bento Box Fortune
Read about it in Inventor's Digest
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2008 Senior Category Winner
Joe Basile for King of Kingdoms
2008 Junior Category Winner
Hannah Allen and Ella Lambert for
Lemonade Stand Game
Read about it on Games for Educators
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2007 Winner
Lenny Brahin for Spiderman Game
Nick Metzler for That's Cheating!
2010 Junior Category Winner
Adrik Herbert for Nutterz
Read about it in Global Toy News
______________________
2009 Winner
Isabella Miller and Madison Yang
for Bento Box Fortune
Read about it in Inventor's Digest
______________________
2008 Senior Category Winner
Joe Basile for King of Kingdoms
2008 Junior Category Winner
Hannah Allen and Ella Lambert for
Lemonade Stand Game
Read about it on Games for Educators
______________________
2007 Winner
Lenny Brahin for Spiderman Game
Calling all kid inventors! The Chicago Toy & Game Fair (ChiTAG) brings together imagination, play and inventive thinking with their fifth annual Young Inventor Challenge (YIC), to be held at the Fair on Saturday, November 18 at Chicago's Navy Pier.
Open to boys and girls ages 6 to 18, participants create their own original toy or game inventions to be judged by popular vote by the Fair's 20,000+ attendees. Besides great prizes to be won, top toy and game industry representatives will be on hand to provide advice, recognition and encouragement to all young inventors to dream big and discover the possibilities of play!
As always, there is no fee to participate in the Young Inventor Challenge. Participants and their immediate families are invited to be our guests with complimentary admission to ChiTAG for the whole weekend!
As always, there is no fee to participate in the Young Inventor Challenge. Participants and their immediate families are invited to be our guests with complimentary admission to ChiTAG for the whole weekend!
Young Inventor Challenge Prize Package*
- Dinner for the winner(s) and their parents with Mike Hirtle, Head of Global Product Acquisition and Inventor Relations for Hasbro
- A feature in Inventor's Digest
- A one-year subscription to Inventor's Digest
- A VIP tour given by Bruce Lund of the Chicago workshop and offices of Lund and Company Invention LLC - a peek into Santa's Workshop!
Bonus Prize
Opportunity to present at the Toy of the Year (TOTY) Awards at New York Toy Fair in 2012 (courtesy of the Toy Industry Association). Opportunity includes:
- 2 night hotel stay in New York City
- Pre-show tour of New York Toy Fair
- Tickets to the Toy of The Year Awards
- The honor of presenting an award at the TOTY Awards
- *Prize package subject to availability.
Get Started Now - It's EASY!
- Registration for the 2012 Young Inventor Challenge will be open in March.
- Print out our Inventor Workbook. In it you'll find easy-to-understand, step-by-step instructions on how to take part in the Challenge, plus guidelines on how to brainstorm and record your ideas, design and develop your prototype, and how to put your presentation together for display at the Chicago Toy & Game Fair.
- Don't forget to read the Rules & Requirements so you'll know how to prepare for the fair.
- Get tips from two-time YIC Senior Category winner Nick Metzler. Read Here about how he prepared for the Challenges and how his wins have inspired him on to a career in the toy industry.
Organize Your Own Inventor Workshop!
YIC2011_Inventor_Workbook (1186 KB)
Inventor Workshops are ideal for a classroom activity, school-wide competition, after-school program, summer challenge, scout merit badge-earning activity, even for library programming.
Use our Inventor Workbook as a Guide to help kids imagine, design, test, and create their own toy or game inventions. Whether you hold a one-day workshop or a series of workshops, use it to engage kids in a positive and challenging endeavor.
Once the toy and game are complete, don't stop there! The Young Inventor Challenge can then provide a means of taking their inventions to even greater heights, with professional critiques from our industry experts and the opportunity to show their work off to the public, toy industry, and members of the press.
Contact Us
If you have questions about the Young Inventor Challenge please contact us at yic@chitag.com.
"The Young Inventor Challenge is an excellent enrichment opportunity. Designing requires a combination of skills. Children must brainstorm, write, revise, edit, use critical and strategic thinking, and incorporate artistic skills. The result is a product that impresses, inspires and humbles teachers, parents and executives in the toy and game industry." - Karen Luciana, 5th Grade Teacher - Lincolnwod Elementary School, Evanston, IL
