USA | YIC

The Young Inventor Challenge  is going to be held in Chicago on 19 November 2016 under IFIA’s support. It provides an opportunity for children ages 6 to 18 to showcase their original toy & game inventions to toy & game industry professionals, members of media and the general public. The judging is split into two categories, usually 6-11 (junior) and 12-18 (senior) but are sometimes adjusted slightly based on the number of participants and ages so that everyone has a fair chance to win. 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 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 Young 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.

Registration

Read the Rules & Requirements so you’ll know what is expected of you and how to prepare for the fair.

Save and/or print our Inventor Workbook (PDF). 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.

Besides great prizes to be won, and fun give-aways, 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!

Please keep in mind that not winning the Young Inventor Challenge does not necessarily mean that your invention is of no interest to the toy and game industry. Toy and game company representatives will be looking at invention entries throughout the day to give feedback on the originality, creativity and appeal of the invention, as well as the presentation of the marketing message. Some toy and game companies have found non-winning entries of great interest and our young inventors have been interviewed about their inventions by media outlets across the USA such as The Steve Harvey Show, Conan O’Brien, ABC, NBC, FOX, CBS and more!