At 5:30 am, bright and early on February 7, my son stood beside my bed, and said, “Mom, it's time.” For what? What could 5:30 a.m. possibly bring to a cold Ohio Tuesday morning? Before I had the chance to roll over and go back to sleep, he said, “Do you have my pictures ready for the LEGO contest?”
Right. That's what this is all about. I had forgotten. On Friday evening, we learned about the LEGO Contest, Build Your Best Ohio. That same night, he pulled out the LEGO tub, and he began an exhaustive Internet search for Ohio landmarks. After learning that the Sears Tower, the Burj Khalifa, and the Golden Gate Bridge would disqualify him, he built three, born-and-raised-in Ohio sculptures: Apollo 11, (Neil Armstrong) The Huntington Center (in downtown Columbus), and The Wright Brother’s Airplane.
He was ready to go last Friday night. However, entries could not be uploaded into the Facebook page until February 7; apparently, at 5:30 am., according to my son. Fortunately, for him, his creations were still "intact."
There's still time to enter your own or your little LEGO builder's creation into Ohio's best -- the contest runs until 11:59 pm. (E.T) on Wednesday, March 7, 2012. To enter, you'll need to “like” the Ohio Tourism Page via your Facebook page. (What?! You aren't a fan yet?! Now's the time.) Then, follow the link to enter the contest here to upload your Lego entry photo. Then, start spreading the word to get votes! The 10 people with the most votes will enter the final judging round to be selected and win prizes.
Kids ages 5-12 years old qualify for the "Little Kids Prize" and 13 and older qualify to win the "Big Kids Prize." However, kids under 13 must be entered by their parents because of Facebook rules. So, parents enter their birthday in the age filed, but should include the child's age in the notes section.
Entries can be your favorite Ohio Attraction, Ohio Monument, Ohio Mascot, Ohio Destination or anything Ohio themed! Check out the official rules here.
The best part? Once you've voted – you're done. No more 5:30 a.m. nudgings from little feet telling me it's time to get out of bed to vote again! One vote and that's it. However, I did notice one other element to the voting restrictions. While you are not permitted to re-vote for the same entry, you can still vote for other participants.
The final judging criteria will be based on the creativity of the LEGO creation which best represents Ohio. In each of the two categories, one Grand Prize Winner and three First Prize Winners will be selected in the final judging round.
The prizes involve tickets (and VIP treatment) to the LEGO KidsFest, “special events” in Cincinnati, and a night at the Hyatt Regency, which my son has already figured out occur during our spring break. “We'll already be out of school anyway... so it looks like I won't get an extra day off from school.” There's a big "if" with that dream, kiddo!
Enter, and good luck to all you Ohio LEGO Builders out there!
This is a fun contest for kids to enter. It's nice that children of all ages can participated in the contest. Good luck to everyone who enters!
Posted by: Amandah | 03/06/2012 at 11:35 AM