Young Inventor Challenge Rules
By submitting an entry to the Young Inventor Challenge (YIC), participants and their parents/guardians/teachers agree to abide by the rules and entry criteria listed on our website.
Young Inventor Challenge
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In person pitching, judging, and awards will be held Saturday, November 4, 2023 in Rosemont, IL
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Deadline to register is October 15, 2023
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Early-Bird Registration Discount if registration is complete by October 1, 2023
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Deadline to submit all entry materials is by 12pm CT on October 25, 2023
The mission of the Young Inventor Challenge is to inspire the next generation to use creativity, critical thinking, and STEAM skills in the invention and innovation process and to connect professionals within the toy industry to mentor these young innovators in their design process.
The 17th Annual Young Inventor Challenge, provides an opportunity for children ages 6 to18 to develop and pitch their original inventions to major toy companies, industry professionals, members of the media and general public. This unique and educational experience ignites imagination, creativity and presentation skills like no other, providing a means of taking these inventions to greater heights, with professional critiques from our industry experts.
We are the only young inventor program that has sponsorship and mentoring participation from top toy and game manufacturers around the world. Many of the winning inventions have been licensed by these global companies and can be found on store shelves today!
2023 In-Person Judging and Awards
Saturday, November 4th
Preliminary Schedule:
- 8am-9am: Participant check in and setup
- 9am-9:15am: Opening ceremony
- 9:30am-11:15am: Pitches and judging
- 11:30am-2:00pm: Break & Public viewing of projects
- 2:00pm: Awards ceremony
Mentor/Judge Criteria
Judging & Awarding of Prizes
The goal of this event is to inspire creativity and innovation and to provide mentorship to students in the process! It is a competition, but our hope is that the focus will be on the experience, not the outcome. People of Play mentors are all professionals in product development, innovation, invention, marketing, etc and their feedback is meant to teach and inspire our contestants, and encourage them to further develop their ideas and come up with new ones!
All entrants will receive their scores and written feedback at the conclusion of the event.
One Junior and one Senior Winner will be selected in several categories. Judging categories for 2023 TBA.
All entries will have two opportunities to be judged:
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Pre-Event. All entrants will enter and upload project information to the registration site. A brief project description, photos, and a pitch video are required. These items will be reviewed by the People of Play mentors.
***NOTE this also allows participants to enter the contest even if they can't be present for the live event.
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Live Event. All participatants will pitch their project to peers and judges in-person (OPTIONAL event). Each participant will be given time for pitching and Q&A after which mentors will score and make notes on the project, and then move onto the next student presentation.
***NOTE this is a time for participants to present their project to mentors. In fairness to all contestants, parents are not allowed to participate in any way.
A combination of scores will determine overall winners. Students will receive their scores and mentor comments at the conclusion of the event.