Imagination Fair 2018

Of all the things that I do for my local homeschool community, the Imagination Fair is by far my favorite — it is such a wonderful event that it is hard to describe in words, but I’m going to try!

My most favorite thing about the Imagination Fair is the 5-Minute Talk — as a “mentor,” I find these brief conversations inspiring, exhilarating, energizing, awesome, amazing, and just downright wonderful (in the literal sense of the word). I am seeking community members (meaning homeschooling parents and grandparents, homeschool graduates, homeschool teachers, homeschool tutors, etc.) willing to volunteer to spend Saturday morning having their minds blown by the over-the-top creativity of our young exhibitors! These “mentors” sit down and have short talks with the exhibitors about their big ideas — what they created, why they created it, how they created it, what problems they encountered creating it, how they solved those problems, what they discovered while creating it, what they want to create next, and more! Find out more about “mentoring” at imaginationfair.org/mentors.

Then … (and another thing I just love about the Imagination Fair) at the end of that talk, the “mentor” gives the exhibitor a custom-designed colorful and unique “button sticker” to commemorate their chat — this goes on the exhibitor’s keepsake-quality frame-worthy Participation Certificate, creating a unique one-of-a-kind keepsake for each Exhibitor. Of course, designing, proofing, and printing all these delightfully fun “button stickers” takes time, so I ask that “mentors” sign up about 2-weeks in advance so that I can get that done! Check out past examples at imaginationfair.org/certificates.

Since the Imagination Fair is all about conversation, participants came up with the idea of Exhibit Bingo to encourage younger guests to ask questions! While it was created for younger guests, anyone can play! Visit an exhibit, ask a question, then get your answer and a stamp on your Exhibit Bingo card. When you get 5 stamps (all in a row or more creativity arranged) then you can visit the prize basket for a small prize! You can learn more about Exhibit Bingo at imaginationfair.org/bingo.

The Imagination Fair is a fantastic opportunity to showcase your outside-the-box creativity — your exhibit can be ANYTHING — and they have been!

Hats of the West • My Quilts • LARP Armory • Homemade Spot Welder • The SCIENCE Behind SLIME • ‘CLASH ROYAL’ Board Game • Lightning Minecraft Mods • Creativity In Game Design • Interest Exhibit • Creations by Me • Dr. Evil’s “Laser” Engraving • Fashion • Astronomy • Gymnastics • LEGO® Dinosaur Paddock • Toy Envy • My Explanation of the NFL • LEGO® Creations: Building beyond our sets • Metal Mayhem and Knights in Shiny Armor • Metalwork and Weaponry • Animalia Card Game • Origami Geometry • LEGO® Gears: Car Mechanics • My Art Show • Titans, Olympians and the Underworld • Becoming a Naturalist! • Sherlock Holmes and The Phantom of the Opera • How Earth was Born • Building with Nature • Russian/Spanish Fairytale • Business Sketch • Tim’s Magic • Hats of the World • Terran Astromech Droid Assembly Works • Miniature Metal Foundry • To the Pointe • Kendama Tricks • Are you smarter than a sixth-grader? • Manga-style Drawing • Crochet and Origami • Cool Tech 2.0 • Origami • Video Game Creation • Early Anglo-Saxon life • Let’s Makey-Make Music • Fairy House • Programming • Carpentry • Harry Potter inspired LEGO® Creations • Just Put One Brick on Top of the Other • Dinosaur Index and Display • My Jurassic Park Volcano • Costume Designs • Fly Tying • Big Art, Big LEGO®, Big Loom • Art and Weaponry • Historical Trivia Game • Alchemy Spell Book • Shockwave costume • Tinkering • Super Suits • Watercolor Techniques • Lover of Learning • Do you know who Araminta Ross is? • Olympians Rule! • Why is Kohl Cool? Ancient Egyptian Makeup Vs. Modern Makeup • The Pipe Cleaner Undead • Futuristic Builds • Countries and Continents • Where in the World is Home? • Book: Why Girls Are Crazy About Horses? • How to Make Carbon Dioxide • Gaming Table • Fire Sword • The Amazing Monarch • What’s Your Flavor? • The Art Factory: A Focus on Soft Pastels • What’s red & white? • Buzzies • Sacagawea • Self-Portraits • LEGO® Heavy Weapons • Lawn Mowers • Medicinal Herbs • 3D Printers • LEGO® Mixels plus Stuffed Animals • Short Stories • Handmade weapons • Card Landing • Cardboard Creations • Shifty-Eyed Owl Hat • Hobart’s Funnies, Inventive, Silly-looking tanks and vehicles used in WWII • Buttonland • Fairy exhibit • Music Production 101 • Go-Kart • Fairy Awesome Slideshow • Backyard Chickens • Art Perspectives • Fairy Gardens • Guardians of the City • 13 Planets . . . . And Counting!? • Fabulous Fashion: Creating Doll Fashions and Costumes with Fabric Scraps and Playdough • DIY Ghostbusters • Animatronic Sketches • Yarn Art • Clay — Mount Rushmore • OILS in Art • Going, Going, Gone … Flight Distance • Zip-line Zoo • Myth Busters Experiment • iMovie • My YouTube Channel • The Hawk & The Wolf, A Reimagined Viking Game • Vertical Rush • Speed Demon Race Car • Adventure Fest! • Quickest Animal in Minnesota, the White-tailed Deer • Spirograph • Steampunk Axe • Structure of a Techno Set • Ollivanders — Makers of Fine Wands • Cats • Knots • The Victorian Era • Codes • “Meet the artist” Henri Matisse • “Meet the artist” Georgia O’Keefe • Cardboard Arcade • Soap Carving • LEGO® Creations • Three Fighter Planes from WW2 • A Long Time Ago in a Galaxy Far, Far Away . . . • LEGO® Mania

You can find more information and check out past exhibits at imaginationfair.org/exhibits.

The Exhibit Catalog gives our young exhibitors a wonderful place to highlight their unique talents and original ideas with a brief bio or project description and photo — plus photos and bios of our volunteer “mentors”! It’s also a good place for you to reach the local homeschool community. Creating the awesome awesomeness that is the zero-profit Imagination Fair takes cold, hard cash. I fund a good chunk out of it out of my own pocket — because I think all of its amazingness is worth every dime — but you can help keep it awesome (or even make it more awesome) by placing an ad in the Exhibit Catalog — which includes a website ad and social media exposure, too! Prices start at just $12. Learn more at imaginationfair.org/advertise.

And, when it’s all done, we all go out for pizza together! Details at imaginationfair.org/lunch (with gluten-free options).

All in all, a most perfectly wonderful Saturday!

The essential details:

Imagination Fair 2018
Saturday 9 June 2018

Exhibitor Set Up: 9:30 AM – 10:00 AM
Imagination Fair: 10:00 AM – 12:30 PM
Exhibitor Clean Up: 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM
Lunch at Sammy Perrella’s Pizza & Restaurant: 1:00 PM – 2:00 PM

in the Fellowship Hall at Peace Lutheran Church
20 Northdale Blvd NW, Coon Rapids, MN 55448

Exhibitor sign up at imaginationfair.org/2018

Posted on March 26, 2018April 8, 2018 by Nic 0

Seeking mentors for the 2015 Imagination Fair

We are aware that mentor is not the right word for this, but we couldn’t come up with a better one — suggestions are welcome.

The Imagination Fair does not rank projects. Instead we invite community members from all walks of life to sign up to talk to the children about their projects.

Qualifications: The only requirement to volunteer as a mentor is that you be comfortable with talking to children about their big ideas.

Details:

Mentors are asked to plan to arrive at 9:45am in order for the Imagination Fair to start at 10am and to be prepared to stay as late as 12:30pm.
- New this year! We will have a designated volunteer (or two) whose sole job it to greet mentors and ensure that they find their name badges and button stickers and have all their questions answered before the Imagination Fair begins.
Mentors are asked to visit as many exhibits as time allows. We estimate that most mentors will visit about 20 exhibits during the 2-hour Imagination Fair, spending about 5 minutes with each exhibitor.
Mentors are asked to be aware of which exhibitors are in need of more visits so that no exhibitor feels ignored.

Button Stickers

Children receive a “button sticker” on their participation certificate from every mentor who talks to them.

The Imagination Fair sheet will provide each mentor with a sheet of 24 button stickers, but mentors are encouraged to submit their own designs. Designs must fits on an Avery 5293 1⅔-inch round label and must be received by Friday, May 1, 2015. The Imagination Fair will accept (just about) any file format that works for you (bpg, gif, jpg, png, psd, pxm, tif, etc.).

Example of a 2014 certificate of participation

Exhibit Catalog

Mentors are given a quarter-page listing in the Exhibit Catalog for a photo and brief bio about themselves and/or their organizations.

A quarter page is 5-inches wide by 1¾-inches high.

Mentors are asked to submit the following information (as applicable):

Your name
Your organization’s name*
Your title*
Your organization’s contact information (website, email, phone, address)
A brief bio about you and/or a brief description of your organizationNo longer than 300 characters (about 60 words or 3 sentences)
A print-quality digital photo and/or logoThe Imagination Fair will accept (just about) any file format that works for you (bpg, gif, jpg, png, psd, pxm, tif, etc.). Standard image dimensions are 1¼-inches wide by 1¾-inch high, but you may submit a wider or narrower image — changing the width will just change the amount of space available for the text.

“As applicable” means that if something above doesn’t apply to you, just skip it. The only thing that is “required” for the Exhibit Catalog is your name and brief bio. Everything else is optional — although a picture is greatly appreciated!

* A note about title and organization: This can be anything that is important to you. Maybe that’s your job — you’re the artistic director of a local theater or an instructor at a martial arts studio or a tutor for a reading program. Maybe that’s your hobby — you’re a rocketeer or a photographer or a seamstress. Maybe it’s your passion — you’re a philosopher or a homeschool parent or an field trip organizer. It doesn’t matter what you list, as long as it matters to you!

The intent behind listing this information is to both make the button stickers a bit more interesting to read and see and to give the kids a sense of who the mentors are, both now and years later. The hope is that when they look look at their Participation Certificates and Exhibit Catalogs, they don’t wonder, “Who on earth is Nic Rosenau?” Instead, they say, “Oh, I remember Nic Rosenau, she was that mom who organized all those field trips.”

Sample Exhibit Catalog pages featuring 2014 Mentors

Mentors have the option of purchasing a quarter-page advertisement in the Exhibit Catalog for the reduced price of $15, less than the cost of an eighth-page ad.

Mentor prices for Exhibit Catalog Advertisements:

quarter-page – $155-inches wide by 1¾-inches high
half-page – $305-inches wide by 3½-inches high
three-quarter-page – $455-inches wide by 5½-inches high
full-page – $605-inches wide by 7½-inches high
mentor discount price does not include the sponsor web footer ad

Click for more information on advertising in the Exhibit Catalog.

How do I sign up to be a mentor!

To volunteer to participate as a mentor, please send an email to imagine(at)hsadventures.org with the following information, as applicable (please see above for details on the below list):

Your name
Your organization’s name*
Your title*
Your organization’s contact information:
A brief bio about you and/or a brief description of your organization —
no longer than 300 characters
A print-quality photo and/or logo for the Exhibit Catalog
A print-quality “button sticker” design if you are designing your own
Your phone number — unlikely we’ll use it, but just in case we need to get ahold of you and email isn’t working as expected.
Your mailing address — so we can send you a thank you card!

Posted on March 18, 2015March 26, 2018 by imaginationfair 0

Imagination Fair 2015

Saturday, May 9, 2015 — 10am-12pm

Cross of Christ Evangelical Lutheran Church & School

9931 Foley Blvd NW, Coon Rapids, MN 55433-5204

What is an Imagination Fair?

The Imagination Fair was created to accommodate those creations that fall outside conventional categories of the traditional science fairs and art shows: engineering contraptions, board games and video games, music, animations and performances, novels, short stories and comic books, LEGO® masterpieces and MINDSTORMS® marvels, robots, models, architecture, dioramas, and other products of the imagination that either don’t fit into the traditional art show categories or must be distorted to qualify as a traditional science fair project.

The Imagination Fair is more than an art show! More than a science fair! It’s a space for homeschooled children of all ages to display, demonstrate and discuss the products of their creativity.

While the Imagination Fair welcomes traditional artistic endeavors and scientific explorations, it’s also the perfect place to showcase your child’s “outside the box” creativity!

Certificates of Participation

The Imagination Fair does not rank projects, but invites mentors from all walks of life to sign up to talk to the children about their projects.

Children receive a “button sticker” on their participation certificate from every mentor who talks to them.

We are aware that “mentor” is not the right word for this, but we couldn’t come up with a better one — suggestions are welcome.

Who may attend?

Registration is open to homeschooled students of all ages.

The Imagination Fair is an all-volunteer zero-profit secular, inclusive homeschool event. We do not discriminate based on race, color, national origin, ancestry, age, gender, familial status, marital status, sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, disability or handicap, veteran status, economic status, religion, or homeschooling philosophy or style.

The Imagination Fair is serious about inclusivity. All homeschooled children are welcome to participate.

How can I help?

The Imagination Fair Make-It-Happen group is coordinated by Nic Rosenau. She is seeking other homeschool parents (and community members) to help organize the 2015 and 2016 Imagination Fairs. You can volunteer to help organize the Imagination Fair by joining the Yahoo Group at groups.yahoo.com/group/ImaginationFair

Other ways to help:

Volunteer to participate as a mentor!
Spread the word! Start talking to your friends, family, students, and teachers about participating in the event.
Donate small prizes for the Exhibit Bingo game.
Make a cash donation. The Imagination Fair is an all-volunteer zero-profit endeavor, but it is not recognized by the IRS as an official 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. If you’d like contribute to help cover costs, please contact us at imagine(at)hsadventures.org — just understand that any contributions made this year will not be tax deductible..
Help find a no-cost or low-cost location for the 2016 Imagination Fair (please review the space requirements first)

Guests:

The community is invited to come and see all the amazing products of the imagination, and participants are encouraged to invite their friends and family to attend the Imagination Fair as guests. All prospective guests are encouraged to consider volunteering as a mentor.

Exhibit Bingo

Guests can pick up an Exhibit Bingo card and earn one stamp for each exhibit visited! Show your completed bingo card to a game moderator to receive a small prize.

The Imagination Fair will supply stampers, but exhibitors may bring their own provided its impression fits within a 1-inch square.

If you have any small prizes to donate for Exhibit Bingo use, please let us know via an email to imagine(at)hsadventures.org

How does my child sign up?

How much does it cost?

The 2014 Imagination Fest cost $10/exhibitor. We hope to once again defray the cost through donations and exhibit catalog advertising sales.

At this time, the organizers are requesting an initial payment of $5 per half-table to help cover costs, but exhibitors may be asked to contribute up to an additional $5 per half-table to ensure that the organizers do not incur a substantial personal financial loss.

After your initial payment is received, you’ll receive another email with a more detailed questionnaire for information to be included in the Exhibit Catalog and on the participation certificate.

Advertising space in the program catalog will be offered to help offset the cost of the fair.

The Imagination Fair is brought to you by Homeschool Adventures volunteer organizers.

Contact Information: imagine(at)hsadventures.org

Posted on March 18, 2015March 18, 2015 by imaginationfair 1