Balagokulam Annual Children's Contest

First grade and below:

• Artwork - Any paintaing/drawing/sketch. Suggested Topic - Bhagvans' Vahan i.e., God's vehicle.
• Essay - Suggested topic - "Temple visit - This is how I feel during a temple visit ---". (limit 200 words). Any other topic is also accepted for this age group.

Second and third grade:

• Artwork - Any paintaing/drawing/sketch. Suggested Topic - Bhagvans' Vahan i.e., God's vehicle.
• Essay - Suggested topic - "Temple visit - This is how I feel during a temple visit ---". (limit 200 words). Any other topic is also accepted for this age group.
• Poem - Any poem. Suggested topic - My country, my toy or my family. (limit 13 lines)

Fourth and Fifth grade:

• Artwork - Any paintaing/drawing/sketch. Suggested Topic - Bhagvans' Vahan i.e., God's vehicle.
• Essay - Suggested topic - "Temple visit - This is how I feel during a temple visit ---". (limit 200 words)
• Story - Suggested Topic - "In my wildest imagination" or "A gifted boy/girl". (limit 300 words)
• Poem - Any poem. Suggested topic - My country, my toy or my family. (limit 13 lines)
• Creativity Project (participation in teams is also encoouraged) - Create a new song/Hindu Bhajan/Sangh Song or Translate an existing Hindu Bhajan or Sangh Song in English. References - Hindu Songs, Hindu Bhajans

Sixth grade to Eighth grade:

• Artwork - Suggested Topic - "Festival Celebration". However any other drawing/painting/sketch can be entered in the contest.
• Essay - Suggested topic - "Temple visit - This is how I feel during a temple visit ---". (limit 200 words)
• Story - Suggested Topic - "In my wildest imagination" or "A gifted boy/girl". (limit 300 words)
• Poem - Any poem. Suggested topic - My country, my toy or my family. (limit 13 lines)
• Creativity Project (participation in teams is also encoouraged) - Create a new song/Hindu Bhajan/Sangh Song or Translate an existing Hindu Bhajan or Sangh Song in English. References - Hindu Songs, Hindu Bhajans

All other content outside given contest categories: (use category 'Other' while uploading such content).

• You can also upload all other content including but not limited to jokes, puzzles, riddles, and achievements that parents and children would like to contribute to Magazine. These entries would not be evaluated as part of contest. However these would be considered for publication in the magazine.

Prizes:

• Medals to first and second place winners!
• Winners would be announced on Yugadi (March 23) Day in 2012.

Contest Topics Guidelines:

• Why are there suggested topics?
  • Suggested topics are for guidance purpose. In case your balagokulam or children center is planning to organize contests for mass participation in Balagokulam Mgazine contests, you can use these topics to guide thoughts of children.
• Clarification/Difference between story and essay
  • Essays are non-fiction write-ups build around some central idea. A well-written essay should have introduction, body and an ending.
  • Stories are usually fiction write-ups; however they can also describe real life events. A well-written story usually has a description about the setting/place, characters and sequence of events that are referred as a plot.
• What is a creativity project?
  • You can take a printout of the given picture and ask children to complete the picture in whatever they would like. Or children can draw the given simple picture on a paper and then complete the drawing.
  • Encourage children to think freely, apply their conventional as well as non-conventional thinking, and use their imagination to complete the given picture. Children can use any material to complete the picture.