Comping With Kids

Good morning compers!  Well it’s here, the time you have either been waiting for or dreading if you have small children – the Summer Holidays!  The 6 weeks break always comes with mixed emotions for me – I love having my children home, having a break from the routine of school runs and homework, and enjoy getting organised with activities and trips planned.  But, I also struggle to fit in everything else with the children home – work, housework, a bit of sacred “me time”.  How about you, how do the Summer Holidays make you feel?

No matter how busy I get though, there always seem to be plenty of time still to get comping, even during the summer.  It may mean being a bit more creative with my time like getting up an hour before the children to work and comp, or sneaking in some 5pm closing twitter comps or writing some postcard entries while dinner is cooking, but there is always time!  Luckily for me, my children also love a good comp!  My eldest has won a few things over the years including a trip to a local petting farm from a spot the difference comp in a local magazine, some Disney Fairies mini dolls from a photo comp on the UKMums.tv website, and some Playmobil toys from an online comp they ran.  Even my youngest has had her first win at the age of 4 – a Disney Junior goody bag from their Facebook page – she had to sing the theme tune to one of their shows in a video and was 1 of 50 winners!  My children are always delighted when mummy gets a win - especially if I hold it back for a surprise for them - but they like winning things themselves even more!   If your children are like mine, or they would like to have a go at comps, here are some tips on how to get started:

• Enter the fantastic kids competitions in every issue of Compers News!  There is a whole section dedicated to Komping Kids offering a host of online, paper and phone entry comps that your kids can enter. 
• Keep your eyes peeled in local libraries and children’s centres, especially over the holidays.  There are often some nice colouring or craft based competitions running that are good to enter, and keep them busy too!
• Don’t forget about local shows, events and days out too – our local shows and fairs always have some nice comping opportunities for the kids.
• Check your local paper for summer comps too – these sources usually offer great local days out vouchers for prizes too, which always helps over the long summer months!
• Register your child an account with National Geographic Kids and Fun Kids Radio – they always have lots of great easy entry kids competitions, and the websites themselves are safe, fun and informative, so parents can rest easy.
• Buy your little ones an inexpensive digital camera and let them snap away over the summer – there are often some nice photo entry comps for kids so never miss an opportunity for a great shot.  When you are on the beach or they see something that really sparks their imagination, take a photo – you never know when it might come in handy for a future comp!
• Check out our sister site www.theprizefinder.com where we have a section for creative comps just for kids! 

To get you going here are some of the best kids comps for your Little Compers to get stuck into this summer:

• Do you children like building indoor dens and camps?  Mine certainly do!  The Fine Bedding Company have launched the perfect competition for them – build a duvet den, take a picture and you could win an overnight family activity break at the Carden Park Hotel.  There is a step by step guide to building a duvet den on their blog, and when you have finished your creation simply snap a picture and upload it to the Facebook page app by 23:59 on 8^th September 2014.  Not only is this a great comp, but it is a really fun activity for all involved too – win:win!  
• Do your children enjoy making up stories, and drawing pictures to go with them?  Why not let them enter the John Lewis “My Splendid Story” competition for 3-11 year olds.  Simply download a blank storyboard template from their website, allow your child to draw and write text to describe their own interesting story, and upload a photo of the completed storyboard by midnight on 19^th September 2014.  3 winners will be chosen (age 3-5, age 6-8 and age 9-11) and each will win an iPad Mini and £150 of books for their primary school.  So get your thinking caps on and your pencils out!
• Does your little one (aged under 10) enjoy the Milkshake programmes on Channel 5?  If they would like to draw a picture of their favourite character having fun in the sun and send it into the competition, they could be 1 of 5 lucky winners to receive a Lazy Town goody bag.  Entries must be in by 17:00 on 30^th July 2014.
• Do your children play with Sylvanian Families?  Mine have TONS of the things, and I knew they would come in handy one day!  The Sylvanian Families website are giving away a £1,000 Forest Holidays voucher, plus lots of lovely Sylvanian goodies as runners up prizes in their summer comp.  Simply photograph your Sylvanian Families enjoying their summer, add a caption and enter via Twitter, Instagram or Facebook by 31^st August 2014 for a chance to win.  We will definitely be having a go at this one I think!

So keep your little ones busy this summer by having some great fun entering some rewarding competitions – we would love to know if they win, do let us know!

Happy comping, and lots of Lucky Dust to you all!

Kirsty x