we are doing our first cookbook this year. We spent several months collecting reciepes from families of our school, teachers and community. We used art from our children telling stories of cooking.
We bound it and had our school district print shop print them up at cost.
The contest was a lot of fun. Since it was a directory, we could use a winner from each grade as a section divider for info for that grade, plus a grand prize winner for the cover, plus a few others here and there. With a cookbook, you could probably do something similar. Or you could even pre-plan categories and have a different grade assigned for each section so they drew something representative (dessert, beverages, main dishes, etc.)
We always had good response since the teachers pushed it and the kids would get excited. Some teachers even incorporated the drawing into a class project.
The hard part came in choosing the winners. The name and contact info was spaced down a bit from the rectangle where they made the drawing. So the committee chair would fold back the pages so no one could tell who drew what. Then the pages would be laid out and we'd have some system of voting. Sometimes it was by section or sometimes in iterations, like narrowing it down to the favorite 12, then voting from that smaller set.
Sometimes we'd also photo copy them to double check how well the artwork would reproduce.
I can't remember if the winners got prizes beyond "bragging rights". Probably. Most likely something small.
Great idea to do a contest for drawings. We sent out a notice/call for pictures and didn't get a good response. It ended up that pcicgtures were all done by kids of people on the cookbook committee- LOL. Kinda defeated the purpose. I think having a range of drawings from all kinds of kids helps with cookbook sales... so grandma can see her grandkids artwork, etc.
We did a similar art contest for the school directory. The important thing is to figure out your exact specifications for printing the artwork and include those requirements in the instructions. Ours included:
Page 1: Instructions (see below)
Page 2: Entry Form - simply a black rectangle 7.5" wide and 4.25" tall and then at the bottom, lines for the name, grade, teacher name.
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Drawing Contest !
Your drawing or design could be used in the PTO Student Directory!
We would like to give you, the XYZ Elementary Students, the opportunity to design and draw the artwork for this year's student directory. The 1st place design will be chosen from each grade level, pre-K through 5th and used somewhere in the Directory.
We hope every student will enter.
The guidelines must be followed EXACTLY in order to be included in the contest.
GUIDELINES
1. Drawing or design MUST FIT within the black rectangle on the entry form. (7 ½ inches wide and 4 ¼ inches high.
2. Design MUST BE BLACK AND WHITE. You may use a #2 pencil, black pen, or black marker. Please do not use any color other than black or pencil.
3. Be sure to include STUDENT NAME, TEACHER NAME, and GRADE.
4. All entries must be returned to your teacher no later than {date}
If you use your own paper, remember that the design must fit within a 7-1/2 inch X 4 ¼ inch rectangle.
Please draw your design within the rectangle on the attached entry form and return it to your teacher.
