playsafe competition for children
Playsafe is a safe toy drawing design competion for children. Designed by the Trading Standards Institute in conjunction with the British Toy and Hobby Association (BTHA) it encourages a greater awareness of safety features in the design of toys.
Pupils from Maltby Academy in Rotherham produced the winning entry for the 2012 Playsafe competition:
The winner of the 12-17 category and overall winner, Trickii Twistd Pod, was created by pupils from Maltby Academy in Rotherham, Martha Gregory, Leigh Roberts, Casey Turner and Darcie Lacey, aged 14-15.
The winner in the 6-11 category was Ray Extreme created by Lloyd Cox aged 11 from St George's RC High School in Worsley, Manchester.
The winner in the special schools category was won by Mitch Rock, 17, from Grove Park 6th Form Centre in Crowborough, East Sussex.
TSI’s chief executive Ron Gainsford said: “This competition is a great way to engage children and young people in a fun way while raising awareness about the importance of safety features in the design of toys. The key elements the judges are looking for in the entries are a fun and different design and clear attention to the safety of it in use."
“Roland Earl, director general of BTHA, said: “Yet again we received some fantastically inventive entries – every year I am impressed by the creativity of the design. As ever selecting a winner was very difficult!”
The Playsafe Project is part of the TSI’s Young Consumers initiative, to interest young people in consumer affairs and to raise their awareness of consumer issues and aspects of the world of work.
Who can enter?
Playsafe is suitable for students aged 6-11 and 12-17 (on 1 March 2013).
It allows pupils to study an interesting and worthwhile topic as well as promoting innovative individual or team work in the classroom.
How to enter: details on how to enter are available here, there is further information available on the BTHA website.
Closing date
The closing date for receipt of entries for the current 2013 competition is
1 June 2013. 
Entries should be sent to:
Playsafe Competition
Trading Standards Institute
1 Sylvan Court, Sylvan Way
Southfields Business Park
Basildon
Essex SS15 6TH
Rules
- suitable for students aged 6-11 and 12-17
the toy needs to be for a child aged between 3 and 7 years
the toy can be educational
it can use high technology or it can just as easily be a simple toy
it should be a toy that a child would love to play with – and be able to play with safely
relevant safety and conformity symbols must be shown, e.g. CE Mark, Lion Mark and 0-3 age symbol
Pupils entering the competition can be as creative as their imaginations allow! Teachers can join in the fun and provide guidance, but it will be the pupils’ creative ideas that we will be looking for during judging.
A category for special schools runs alongside the main Playsafe competition, the above rules apply.
Judging
Final judging will take place at the TSI's Annual Consumer Affairs and Trading Standards Conference and Exhibition in June 2013 in Brighton.
Further information about this competition and toy safety factsheets are available from the BTHA website.
