Intel Asks: What Inspires You to Learn? #Contest

Wednesday, June 29, 2011 Posted by BusyWorkingMama

How do you inspire your child to learn?
Lily has always been an inquisitive child. In fact, one of the ways I got her to try so many different foods is by introducing her to new words. I would tell her, "guess what, I have asparagus, do you want to see what it looks like and tastes like" and you could see the intrigue in her eyes. These days as a near-4 year old, we have moved on to other inspirations. Every day after work/daycare, I present Lily with something creative or educational to tackle while I grapple with getting dinner ready. Here are some of my favorite ways to inspire learning and creativity in my child:

Glue projects. Keep a bag filled with colorful goodies that can be used in glue projects. Our contains buttons, cut up ribbons, bows, colorful tissue paper, random packing materials. I ask Lily to draw a picture first, then decorate it, or simply have her decorate a page out of a coloring book.

Sticker projects. Self explanatory - plain paper and lots of stickers! I give her birthday cards or old holiday cards to decorate with stickers, too.

Blocks & building projects. I ask Lily to build a little farm, playground or zoo out of blocks, then we use her little plastic animals/toys to play on the playground.

Writing projects. Lily loves to color several pictures on plain paper, "write" out some words and string them together into a little book. Then she "reads" me the story that she wrote and drew.

What do you do to inspire your children to learn? Intel wants to know what inspires your children and is hosting a contest. Read below to find out more!

Details about the Intel Contest:
- Open to students 14 – 18. If student is 14 – 17 years of age, please have parent submit on student’s behalf.

- Contest is open until August 15. Winners will be announced Sept. 15.

- Winner will receive a laptop with Intel 2nd Generation Core i5 technology for themselves, plus a Sony Internet TV for their school!

- To enter, students should e-mail their name, age, state, telephone number and answer to the question, “What inspires you to learn?” to studentinspiration@intel.com (minimum 50 words)

- Students can also include links to original photos, videos or other multimedia content that will add to their entry. Please only submit content that is appropriate at school and that the student would submit to their teacher. If the entry includes content with someone in it, be sure that you have their written permission.

- Students cannot use copyrighted material in their entry, unless they have specific written permission from the copyrighted material owner.

- Entries will be judged by a panel of Intel and education experts based upon: (1) Relevance to the question, “What inspires you to learn?” (80%), (2) compelling nature of entry, including supplementary materials submitted (20%).

Note: the entries will not be made public unless they are selected as one of the finalists. View the complete contest rules http://bit.ly/IdeaJamEducationRules

Disclosure: This is a sponsored post in conjunction with Intel and the Mom Bloggers Club. All opinions are my own and you can refer to my full Disclosure Policy under the Advertising section in my menu header.