| Here is a list of contests and competitions recommended by teachers of gifted students. If you know of others, or if you notice dead links, please send a MESSAGE to share! Please SUBSCRIBE or join our Facebook group to receive updates to the site, sent about twice a month. Watch this 5-minute video tour to learn more about this site. |
HERE is a PLANNING CALENDAR with contests listed by month
Critical Thinking/ Creative Problem Solving / Design
DESTINATION IMAGINATION – “Project-based challenges that are designed to build confidence and develop extraordinary creativity, critical thinking, communication, and teamwork skills“
ODYSSEY OF THE MIND – Creative problem solving for students / Odyssey of the Mind Membership Packet $135: Includes 5 long-term problems, a non-competitive Primary problem, rules for competition, coaching tips and other informational materials. This annual membership is needed to be eligible to compete in Odyssey of the Mind tournaments.
FUTURE PROBLEM SOLVING – “Developed in 1974 by creativity pioneer Dr. E. Paul Torrance, Future Problem Solving (FPS) provides competitive and non-competitive components for today’s curriculum via a six-step model which teaches critical and creative thinking, problem-solving, and decision making.” Levels: Junior (grades 4-6), Middle (grades 7-9), and Senior (grades 10-12)
SCIENCE OLYMPIAD – “Science Olympiad competitions are like academic track meets, consisting of a series of 23 team events …[which] are rotated to reflect the ever-changing nature of genetics, earth science, chemistry, anatomy, physics, geology, mechanical engineering, and technology. The Elementary Science Olympiad (ESO) can come in the form of a competitive tournament, a hands-on Science Fun Day, or an expert-filled Science Olympiad Fun Night. In grades 6-12, Science Olympiad functions much like a football or soccer team, requiring preparation, commitment, coaching, and practice throughout the year.“
SCIENCE BUDDIES ENGINEERING CHALLENGE (K-12) ~ “Announced every January, the Science Buddies Engineering Challenge lets students use their problem-solving skills to design, build, and test contraptions. The challenges use simple materials and is free for all to participate.”
3 M YOUNG SCIENTISTS CHALLENGE – for students in grades 5 – 8 / contestants “submit a 1-2 minute video describing a unique solution to an everyday problem.”
EXPLORAVISION – for students K – 12, “a science competition that goes beyond the typical student science competition and into what it takes to bring ideas to reality. A teacher will sponsor and lead his/her students as they work in groups of 2 – 4 to simulate real research and development.”
LEGO STEM COMPETITIONS – for students as young as 6 yrs., “FIRST® LEGO® League Jr. and FIRST® LEGO® League …bring the fun to STEM learning, with hands-on, creative challenges that promote collaboration, problem-solving, and team spirit.“
FUTURE CITY COMPETITION – “a project-based learning program where students in 6th, 7th, and 8th grades imagine, research, design, and build cities of the future.” Students work during the fall semester in order to compete in regional competitions (times and dates vary).
BIOMIMICRY YOUTH DESIGN CHALLENGE ~ for middle and high schoolers: “a project-based learning experience that asks middle and high school teams to design bio-inspired ideas that can provide solutions to the climate crisis. It provides a framework for formal and informal educators to introduce biomimicry as an engineering design strategy, to integrate relevant purposeful STEM experiences, and to provide engaging instruction aligned to the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS).”
KIDWIND CHALLENGE – “a hands-on design celebration that engages students through the lens of wind and solar energy. Student teams design, construct, and test small-scale wind turbines and solar structures at events all over the world.”
BRIDGE DESIGN CONTEST – for grades 6 – 12 / “an internet-based competition that provides middle school and high school students with a realistic, engaging introduction to engineering.”
DESIGN for GOOGLE – students K – 12 are invited to “use their creativity to create [a unique] interpretation of the Google logo” with a specific theme in mind. Runs from January to March. Educator resources here.
YOUNG INVENTOR CHALLENGE – students (6 to 18 years old) “develop and pitch their original inventions to major toy and game companies, industry professionals, members of the media, and the general public. This unique and educational experience ignites imagination, creativity, and presentation skills.” Check the site for registration fees and guidelines. This one may not be ideal for a class as the fee is per participant.
BATTLE of the BRAINS – open only to K-12 students residing in specific Kansas and Missouri counties – posted here for reference. Such a cool contest – it needs to be in every state and country! “Area schools can earn a grant for STEM education by dreaming up an exhibit concept for Science City — and one student team sees its idea come to life in a big way!”
90-SECOND NEWBERY ~ open to students of all ages -“The 90-Second Newbery Film Festival is an annual video contest in which young filmmakers create weird short movies that tell the entire stories of Newbery-winning books in about 90 seconds.” You can participate as a group, as a class, as a school, or as a family. Resources for students here. (also listed in the Creativity/ Arts category). Read about one teacher’s experience with this HERE.
Verbal Challenges
WORDMASTERS CHALLENGE – analogies and verbal reasoning / “Unlike other language arts competitions for this age group – which focus on grammar, punctuation, spelling and other language mechanics – the WordMasters Challenge™ helps students to think both analytically and metaphorically.” ~ Find tips for helping students with the WMC HERE.
NPR STUDENT PODCAST CHALLENGE – students in grades 5 – 12 are “invited to create a podcast, then — with the help of a teacher — compete for a chance to win the grand prize and have their work appear on NPR.”
SCRIPPS NATIONAL SPELLING BEE – students compete locally with hopes of advancing to the national level. The BEE’s purpose: “to help students improve their spelling, increase their vocabulary and learn concepts and develop correct English usage that will help them all their lives.
HAIKU POETRY CONTEST – for students in grades 3, 4, and 5. Entry deadline November 18, 2022. Prizes for student winners and their teachers. Organized by Kalena Baker of Teaching Made Practical (TPT)
THE AMERICAN LIBRARY OF POETRY CONTEST ~ There are four divisions in this student poetry contest for grades 3-12. Information for educators can be found HERE.
SCHOLASTIC ART & WRITING AWARDS ~ Teens in grades 7–12 (ages 13 and up) can apply in 28 categories of art and writing.
CRICKET MAGAZINE STORY CONTESTS – for budding authors, 14 years or younger. Contests vary throughout the year.
INVEST/WRITE – “an innovative national writing competition … offered exclusively to teachers and students participating in The Stock Market Game™” and open to students in grades 4 – 12. Registration in January and essays submitted
AMERICA’s BATTLE of the BOOKS – “a reading incentive program for students in 3rd through 12th grades. Students read books and come together, usually in groups, to demonstrate their abilities and to test their knowledge of the books they have read.” The contest is similar to a TV quiz show format.
Math Problem Solving Challenges
MATH OLYMPIAD – These math problem-solving contests for teams of up to 35 students in grades 4 through 8 are not your typical math challenges. MOEMS encourages using their contest materials for math enrichment and in after-school programs. Among the goals of the program:
- To develop mathematical flexibility in solving problems
- To strengthen mathematical intuition
- To foster mathematical creativity and ingenuity
PERENNIAL MATH ~ ONLINE and VIRTUAL CHALLENGES – This organization offers competitions in more than one season of the school year with three levels of competition: Rookie (grades 3-4), Intermediate (grades 5-6), and Advanced (grades 7-8). You can get basic information HERE.
MATHCOUNTS COMPETITION – A national middle school mathematics competition that builds problem-solving skills and fosters achievement through four levels of fun, in-person “bee” style contests.
CONTINENTAL MATH LEAGUE ~ grades 2 – 9 – Students participate in 3 – 5 meets throughout the year. Each challenge is composed of 6 – 8 math problems to complete in 30-40 min. There are several divisions to accommodate students with varying abilities.
24 CHALLENGE® ~ Math Club and Tournament Resources ~ This is a landing page for many resources, including links to the official rules for tournaments using the 24 MATH GAME.
NOETIC LEARNING MATH CONTEST (elementary and middle school students) – This is a “semiannual problem-solving contest designed to promote students’ problem-solving skills and math interest. Students have 45 minutes to solve 20 creative problems independently without a calculator,” and there is also an online version of the contest. Find details here.
BEBRAS® CHALLENGE (all ages) – This online contest tests students’ “logic and computational skills through different types of fun and challenging problems.” Find samples here.
CAPITOL HILL CHALLENGE – associated with the Stock Market Game and open to middle and high school teams, by invitation only.
Research / Social Studies- Related Challenges
NATIONAL HISTORY BEE – for elementary, middle, and high school students – “a buzzer-based history quiz for individual students.
NATIONAL HISTORY BOWL – for elementary, middle, and high school students – “a buzzer-based history quiz for teams of up to 6 students.
NATIONAL HISTORY DAY – for grades 6 – 12 (but some affiliates sponsor this for 4th-5th) / “Students choose a historical topic related to the annual theme and then conduct primary and secondary research, [looking] through libraries, archives and museums, [conducting] oral history interviews, and [visiting] historic sites. The final product is presented “as a paper, an exhibit, a performance, a documentary, or a website.”
NATIONAL GEOGRAPHY CHALLENGE ~ for grades 2 – 12 – no limit to the number of students who participate. Students complete a multiple-choice paper-and-pencil challenge with a time limit of 35 minutes. The top 10 scores are submitted as the grade level’s team score.
UNITED STATES GEOGRAPHY CHALLENGE– for primary and secondary students – a nationwide competition to test the geography skills of American students and to help foster geography education throughout the United States.
CAPITOL HILL CHALLENGE – associated with the Stock Market Game and open to middle and high school teams, by invitation only.
Creativity / The Arts
90-SECOND NEWBERRY ~ open to students of all ages -“The 90-Second Newbery Film Festival is an annual video contest in which young filmmakers create weird short movies that tell the entire stories of Newbery-winning books in about 90 seconds. You can participate as a group, as a class, as a school, or as a family. Resources for students here.
MORTON GOULD YOUNG COMPOSER AWARDS – “open to composers of original, classical concert music, the Award encourages developing music creators during the earliest stages of their careers.” Very specific guidelines must be followed for submissions by students under the age of 13.
SCHOLASTIC ART & WRITING AWARDS ~ Teens in grades 7–12 (ages 13 and up) can apply in 28 categories of art and writing.
CELEBRATING ART – open to students K – 12, with three opportunities to submit entries. The contest deadlines are in April, August. and December. Students can enter one piece in each contest.
U.S. KIDS COVER CONTEST – for ages 2 – 12 / students submit artwork to be considered for Humpty Dumpty and Jack and Jill magazine covers.
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