Finalists of CSN Stores’ Imagination Nation Contest. (Cont.).

Hey everyone!

Welcome to the Finalist Stage of the ‘Imagination Nation Contest: the Search for the Country’s Most Creative Kid.’ Below you will see the 30 amazing finalists. Browse the list and be sure to vote for your favorite entry at the top right of the blog. The entry with the most votes will be automatically slotted into the Top Five. Also, please feel free to leave encouraging notes in the comments section under each entry. Congratulations to all of these creative kids and to everyone that entered!
(Few things to note. This is a continuation of the Facebook voting. All of those votes have been tallied and registered and these votes will be added on to that total. Unfortunately, Facebook has experienced some technical difficulties recently and we had to move this stage of the contest to the Blog. The deadline for voting is still June 15th. Keep in mind that the numbers assigned to the entries below are slightly different than they were on the Facebook page. Please leave a comment under the post with any questions and concerns).

ENTRY #30

My son, Chase, is six years old and already has big plans for his future. Chase's "when I grow up I want to be ..." statement doesn't change from one occupation to the next. Instead, the new career choice gets added to his list. He is going to be one busy boy because while he's training for NASA, he will also be cooking at a restaurant, teaching school, treating the sick, building houses and serving as a veteran.

The one occupation however, that he thinks about and discusses many times throughout each day is being an inventor. His inventions range from creating a new food such as "banana casserole" to curing diseases. One of my favorite inventions was a rocket that will fly him to Europa, one of Jupiter's moons. When he arrives, he will use another invention to melt through the icy surface of Europa. Chase hopes to discover an ocean under the ice that has life in it. In my son's world there are no limits; anything and everything can be repaired, created, healed or discovered.

(This is a video of Chase displaying his creativity): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BZAhwgp95J8.

ENTRY #29

Ty Collins is the most creative child for his age that I have ever met. Yes, I may be partial, because he is my son, but he is genuinely funny and creative for 21 months. He may not be able to make things like an older child, but he does know how to use his imagination.

Every night before he goes to bed, he has to feed and water his play animals. He has many horses, cows, sheep, birds, dogs, etc. and a barn on a farm floor matt. I purchased some fake hay that he feeds them with and we used a play dough container as a watering barrel. He lines all the animals up and feeds them every day, just like his daddy and paw paw does on the farm.

It’s so cute to watch and you can just see his mind working when he does it. Sometimes the animals bite him and he puts them in time out. He also gets out our tupperware containers and makes us get down like a dog on all fours and pretend like we are eating from the dishes. He’s so much fun! His mind just goes with creativity and I hope that continues to do this throughout his entire life, because an imagination is so important.

(This is a picture of Ty and his ‘farm’).

ENTRY #28

My 4 year old, since the last Presidential election, has been so intrigued by President Obama, that he knows he won the election, who he beat, and why he beat him (because he got more votes). So over the spring and into the summer, my son says when he grows up, he’s going to be President Obama and live in the white house. He said we needed to make a video for Rock Obama (as he calls him) so he can ask him if he can come to the white house and visit.... and so we did just that. My son made a video where he asked Rock Obama if he could come to the white house and visit. We sent it off to our congressman, and while we didn’t get to met President Obama, we did get to take our boys on a white house tour this past summer.

My son still says he will met Rock Obama one day, and I have no doubt with how creative he is, he will find a way.

(This is a video of the boy asking Rock Obama if he can come visit):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b_0S8G1xg7M

ENTRY #27

My son Nathan creates has little tike action figures he calls Knight Brothers. He turns our downstairs basement into elaborate mazes or challenges for the knights to battle through. Using blocks, legos, lincoln logs and other building toys, these cities cover our entire playroom, over the ping pong table, around the TV and under the coffee table. His favorite game is Knight Brothers Survivor. Nathan is the host and the toys are the competitors. They complete challenges and vote off the losers.

(The picture is of a city Nathan created for Knight Brothers).

ENTRY #26

My son (currently age 10) created a special week to celebrate animals entitled, Celebranimal Day (Celebrate Animal). Starting on Monday morning, the first animal cartoon character that he saw on TV. was the animal to celebrate. We then created party gear (think banana hats for monkeys!) and learned more about the animals on-line.

We had to eat food that we thought that animal would enjoy (ants on a log was one tasty treat) and we printed out a picture of the special animal to put on our fridge. He was very particular about starting and ending times of the celebration. The party was over at midnight!

(The picture shows “panda day,” when they investigated China, ate rice, and used chopsticks).

ENTRY #25

My daughter, Riley, is 2 years old and has done the most creative thing any child could do. She’s actually inspired an invention that we’ve since had patented and are building our own family business upon. One day, I saw Riley sitting on the bathroom floor with two different sized tubes of toothpaste in her hand. One of them was a small empty travel-sized toothpaste tube and the other was a full regular sized toothpaste tube.

She kept trying to squeeze the full tube into the smaller empty tube. After watching her for a few minutes, the invention hit me! We could create an adapter between two tubes of toothpaste so that people could make their own travel-sized toothpaste tubes from regular sized ones, thus saving themselves both time and money when it was time to travel. I couldn’t believe an invention like that had never been thought of before and I have my own baby Edison to thank for the idea!

(The picture is of Riley wearing the t-shirt of the company she helped create / inspire).

ENTRY #24

While camping in the indoor wilderness of our rain bound house, four-year-old Jade has braved the wilds of the dining room to build a blanket-curtained tent and practice her wilderness survival skills. After setting up camp, which included a make-shift sleeping bag and pillow, Jade invited all of her unseen friends for a “roast” in which white puffs of poly-fill stuffing turned into perfectly toasted ‘marshmallows’.

No “roast” is complete in Jade’s book without some campfire songs and the famed “Broccoli Clap” she learned over the summer. After turning a good dozen gorgeous ‘marshmallows,’ Jade found herself fending off wild creatures bent on invading her camp’s safe haven. After wrestling down the ‘wolves’ – namely her Chihuahua – Jade was able to enjoy a peaceable pretend night in her imaginary tent kingdom.

(The picture is of Jade in ‘camp’).

ENTRY #23

Both of my girls are extremely creative, but one day in particular my 3 year old at the time was drawing on one of those magnetic sketch boards. I was doing the dishes when she said to me Mommy I made you a pretty picture. I turned from the sink to look at what she had made and I thought to myself ‘WOW, that is the perfect picture of a rose.’ Thorns and all. Surely that’s not what she meant to draw.

I said to her, “oh baby that’s beautiful,” what do you call it and she said, “You’re silly Mommy, it’s a rose flower.” I know my eyes were the size of half dollars!! I went on to praise her for the wonderful job she had done and what a wonderful artist she is. It amazed me so much that I had to take a picture and show everyone I knew. I was so proud and clearly so was she!

(The picture is of the entrant’s rose flower).

ENTRY #22

My 8 year old child loves to sing and dance. Last week she put on a Ballet for our family with her friend. She had signs posted that no pets or flash photos are allowed. She had costume changes and a blanket as the curtain. She had music picked out for every scene. It was so beautiful and creative to watch. She opened with a beautiful ballet holding a stuffed animal wrapped in a blanket in her arms and dancing around a little Build-a-Bear bed. She was a fairy and the child (the stuffed animal) was just born. She was giving it her fairy gift and a kiss on the forehead to save her from evil. The kiss was a butterfly sticker that stayed on the Childs forehead. It was so well done. After the Ballet she let us know this was a rehearsal and that to come to the opening, it would cost us all 5. Today is her 9th birthday and I am already in trouble.

(No video or pictures were taken of the ballet, but attached is a clip of a cooking show the girls put on. Here’s a description of the segment from their mom: “Rachael Ray watch out! Two new cooking show stars are taking over. A quick, fun and yummy video on what you need to bake some brownies. Written, scripted, directed and staring my clever girls... Enjoy the show...”).

http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=117925918225608#!/photo.php?pid=849108&op=1&o=all&view=all&subj=117925918225608&aid=-1&oid=117925918225608&id=1617330127

ENTRY #21

Creative play is what my girls love to do, pretending to be moms, teachers, or animals in a zoo. They draw and paint pictures that need to be explained. Trying to figure them out yourself, might drive you insane.

My favorite game that the girls like to play, is pretending their bed is a boat, sailing away. They are two captains, in our Great Lake. Facing the weather, and the trouble it makes.

Sometimes their boat will start taking on water. Sometimes it won’t go in the direction it ought to. Sometimes they’re surrounded by sharks, alligators, and moats. (Not real life problems with Lake Erie boats!) They hop around the room without touching the floor. Between the bed, desk, and ladder trying to get to the door. One might fall in, but the other will save her, By tossing a pillow (life-jacket) and fighting the monster!

When they’re both safe they’ll get back to the norm. Preparing dinner and cleaning after the storm. They find their way back to where ever they were going, Regardless of whether it was sunny or snowing. When they arrive, they’ll teach a class, draw or paint. Dress up as a princess, sing or play a game. They always amaze me with their creativity, Especially considering they don’t watch much TV.

I am always amazed at the creative minds of my girls. If they can maintain it, they can conquer the world!

(This is a picture of the girls in costume and some of their paintings).

ENTRY #20

My son, Jeremy, is autistic and takes medicine twice a day so he can attend regular public school. He is getting good grades and attends some advanced math and reading classes. Because of his condition, he is very detailed when it comes to drawing things he imagines in his mind. He loves to build Lego sets and often builds a set, puts it away in plastic bags (to keep the set together) and then makes drawings of how he would modify the set or expand upon the set (even though he does not have the parts to expand it). A year ago he drew a picture of a factory based on Legos but imagined an assembly line with details on each machine as well as new types of Lego pieces unknown to us. We hope he can work for a company like Lego some day.

(These are two pictures that display Jeremy’s creativity. 1st one: “In the first grade, Jeremy’s teacher asked her students to write the sentence, “Quack is in a sack”, then draw a picture to go with it. Jeremy imagined a duck trapped in a sack of flour in a processing plant. Note the conveyor belt, hanging light, overhead chute, and spilt flour.” 2nd one: “Jeremy drew this after playing the Mouse Trap game and watching Wallace and Grommet episodes. He wanted to make his own contraption that acted like a catapult driven by the steam from a tea pot”).

(These are some pictures of Jeremy's creative drawings)

ENTRY #19

Jack is three years old and has the wildest imagination of any kid I know. Almost since he was born, he has been read to daily. He now has an uncanny ability to combine stories he has heard to weave tales that defy science and the laws of nature, yet somehow seem possible. He bolsters these fantastic stories with costumes he puts together from a chest of random outfits found at garage sales and second-hand stores - knight’s armor, cowboy Woody’s hat, a homemade Dash Incredible mask or pirate’s patch, an oversized carrot wielded as a sword, pillows used as shields, etc. And what epic hero is complete without an equally epic stuffed-animal pet for backup or comedic relief.

And costumes are only half of the story. Entire environments are created (thanks to the support of mom!) and our living room and bedrooms become home to legendary battles between soldiers and monsters, awesome scenes of animal-rescue, and death-defying sagas of exploration. And do I have space to relay the potential Jack sees outside our home? Every puddle is a vast lake, easily avoided by a bounding leap, but deep enough to house the scariest of dinosaurs. Every rock or piece of asphalt is a boulder, with the potential to wipe out an entire army of green foot soldiers a mound of snow the cold tunnels filled with treasures are endless, as are the fun times that can be had when spending a day with Jack – the most creative kid in the Zargon Gallaxy!

(The picture is of several of jack’s costumes).

ENTRY #18

My daughter Clare created a restaurant for her father and me. She researched Irish food, and got her sister to take her to the store. She made us cod with fennel and potato leek soup, all on her own. She decorated the back deck to look like an Irish pub, complete with signage and table decor. She played an Irish music CD all throughout the dinner.

(This is a picture of Clare in her Irish hat holding her handmade restaurant sign and cookbook).

ENTRY #17

When my six year old daughter announced that it was her stuffed animals birthday, her sister (8) went into full party-planner mode...beginning, of course, with the treats. The girls fashioned cupcakes out of clay, decorated with the letters in the critters name. Then it was on to the decorations...Since we didn’t have any around, they created long chains from colorful scraps of old wrapping paper.

The table was decorated with the finest old baby blankets and coordinating mats woven of construction paper (wow)! After disappearing to their room for a long time, they emerged in their finest mismatched fashions, little brother and all...and it was showtime! Once the guest of honor (a lemur) was seated, they performed an original musical number titled, “Here We Go, To Lemurtown.” A grand time was had by all, and the entire rainy day passed by like a dream! A little imagination can even bring the most ornery siblings together!

(Here is a picture from the stuffed animal’s birthday party).

ENTRY #16

For Christmas, my son made for me a folder full of movie posters some for real movies, the others for sequels he imagined himself. Best. Present. Ever!

(The video of the present is on photobucket. Check it out: http://s229.photobucket.com/albums/ee70/CalebAndCo/?action=view&current=100_0510.flv).

ENTRY #15

My daughter, Ashley, loves guinea pigs. One Halloween she carved out a pumpkin and
turned it into carriage along with 4 plastic horses, drawing the Cinderella princess "Ginger" to the ball.

On another Halloween, she dressed up our other guinea pig Oreo as a hippie.

(This picture is of Ashley’s guinea pigs in the carved pumpkin and dressed up as a hippie).

ENTRY #14

Although Emily (10 years old) has always wanted to take a dance class, she never has had the opportunity. That is why when she started teaching ballet to my day care children, I was stunned by her ability and creativity!

There was Emily, with her arms formed gracefully above her head, her legs bending open at the knees, her feet pointed outwards, demonstrating what looked like a perfect dance motion, while counting 1,2 3, and down 2, 3. My three year old day care girls followed with obvious adoration and belief that Emily knew what she was doing. Emily had their attention and their complete willingness to follow her every move.

The girls were even dressed for their practice session. One girl had a scarf around her waist, one had my old high heels on, another an old material book cover for a headpiece, and yet another with a pillow sham around her shoulders. Emily led the bunch with the tierra from a baby’s dress-up clothes.

I love that Emily is never bored and can make her dreams come true through her imagination!

(The picture is of Emily in action).

ENTRY #13

The son, Daniel, who is four years old has always been the most creative child of mine. He is always living in a daydream state where anything is imaginable. The most creative memory that I have of my son is him taking several empty boxes that we had left over from house moving. He would line the boxes up in a row, made to color each box differently to imagine them as being a train and each box was a different style train car.

He would have one being the caboose, another being a flatbed where he would put his toy cars, and another box would be for livestock such as putting his plastic farm animals in. He would then sit in the front box to be the Train Engineer and take himself to anywhere he wanted with his imagination.

(The picture is of Daniel’s ‘train’)

ENTRY #12

My daughter was going through her 8 year old sons clothes to wash. She found 30 in the pockets. She called Trey in and questioned him about where he had gotten the money. He said he had sold his comic books at school. She told him he didn’t have any.

He said yes I do, I made them. Sure enough he had wrote small stories and drew pictures and made them into little books. He took them to school and sold them. I can’t help but wonder what he will do when he is grown.

(This is the picture of a cover of one of Trey’s comic books).

ENTRY #11

My 9 yr old son built the entire cast of Sponge Bob out of legos and didn’t even use any pictures of the characters. They turned out better than I could have ever imagined and he did it all in one day! Each one was about a foot tall and looked like he used a lego kit to make them but he did it all by memory!

(The picture is of the entrant with a lego model of a character from Sponge Bob).

ENTRY #10

My seven year old daughter, Vivian, is incredibly artistic. While her art, in all its forms, is truly creative, the most amazing aspect of her creativity is her ability to make things with paper. Using ordinary white printer paper, she makes people and animals that can move, houses with working windows and doors and three dimensional cut-outs that are a wonder to look upon.

Every day, she comes to me to ask for some paper, then disappears for an hour or so. When she returns, she is usually holding a complex paper sculpture or a delightful three dimensional drawing. Each one is unique and beautiful and each one is a piece of art.

(The picture is evidence of Vivian’s creativity. It is a photo of one of her paper creations; a water slide, complete with a rider and a splash at the bottom! (The rider actually moves!) In the background, you can also catch a glimpse of one of her many fantastic pieces of wall art).

ENTRY #9

Katherine wants to be an engineer when she grows up. She is always looking at the world around her and thinking of ways to make it better. (Especially for kids!) One morning, when she was 3, she was on her way to preschool with her Dad driving in a bad rainstorm and she could not really see out her window.

She said, “why don’t they have windshield wipers for the side windows of cars? When I grow up and become an engineer, I am going to invent that.” When she came home later that day, she focused on where they would be placed and how they would work. It has been 2 years since and she still talks about this idea and thinks about how to make it happen.

(This is a video of Katherine explaining her idea: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=117925918225608#!/photo.php?pid=849053&op=2&o=all&view=all&subj=117925918225608&aid=-1&oid=117925918225608&id=1617330127)

ENTRY #8

This past Christmas 2009, our son at 11 years old, performed a version of Carol of the Bells by the Trans-siberian orchestra for his Christmas performance. He was wonderful for his first time and has only a solid year of guitar lessons. He is just a natural.

Most of the other children were doing traditional songs with many years of lessons. We were so proud of our son, we even put in the guitar he wanted into layaway because he is ready and deserves it.

(This is a video of the entrant’s performance).
http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.channel&ContributorID=41718210

ENTRY #7

My 5 children are always making movies and newscasts with our video camera. They go to a lot of work to make sure all of the costumes and props are just perfect. Their father and I get quite a chuckle when we watch these with them. Oh, the imagination and creativity they have!!

(The picture is of Addyson dressed up as a princess for one of their movies).

ENTRY #6

Aiden did not start talking until he was 3. We sought help before he was two and had speech therapists coming to the home to work with him until he was 3. Since he was not responding to the therapy much that 1st year, I often sought help and advice online and one person suggested the Dr. Seuss Dictionary. Aiden loved that book and would sit on my lap as I read word after word to him, but the one that captured his attention and imagination was the word dinosaur.

Of course, this led to us buying every kind of dinosaur book and toy imaginable. He would look through the books and play with the toys and loved to draw pictures of dinosaurs, but still no words on his part. Just before he turned 3 he started using the word 'd' to mean dinosaur. This progressed into d-saur.


Soon words were coming fast and furious and that summer it was determined he no longer needed in-home speech services. From 3 to 4 he would go to speech therapy at the public school once a week to work on the clarity of his speech. This past year he started preschool and he has flourished, it was determined in the early Fall that he no longer needed speech services. He is reading and writing and is incredibly imaginative and creative. I just had the progress meeting with his teacher yesterday and she praised not only his abilities and development, but also his empathy and kindness toward the other children in the class who need special attention. I could not be more proud as a mother.

(This is one of the many dinosaur pictures that Aiden drew over the years).

ENTRY #5

My 11 year son Mitchell has always been extremely creative. One of his favorite pastimes is creating his own Halloween costumes. Two years ago, he decided to dress up as a shrub. I thought this was a little bizarre but decided to go a long with it. He asked me to buy him some silk plant garland.

He then put on a camouflage hooded shirt and attached the leaves all over the shirt and hood. He painted his face green and then, with the help of his Dad, put a huge pot around his midsection with two holes cut out for each of his legs. The best part was that he could crouch down in the planter and he looked like a plant. Then he would jump out and scare people. He actually wore the costume to a party and won the most creative costume award!

(The picture is of Mitchell’s shrub costume).

ENTRY #4

My seven year old boy amazes me with his talent and creativity. He loves to play with Legos and knex and his paintings are unique and beautiful with a meaning behind every line and color that he selects. Once, when he was 5 1/2, he was playing with his legos and knex, I went to call him for dinner but he was so absorbed in his play that I stood quietly watching him while he worked on his little project with love and passion.

It took him another 15-20min. and, when he was done, he raised his master-piece in the air with his eyes gleaming with the look of accomplishment. That’s when he noticed me and came running to me and said, “Mama look, I made a car which can be transformed into a plane!” To my surprise, he had covered all the basics, plus much more and told me all about the car, steering wheel, engine, and then about the plane with wings and how they need to be placed to work correctly and why he picked up red for the lights and what other colors stand for. His creation was not just any lego knex pieces put together but a beautiful, modern, sleek design.

(This is a picture of one of the entrant’s creations – “The Tallest Amusement Park in the World”).

ENTRY #3

My son recently opened his own store within my house. He had marketing signs and arrows leading potential customers to his bedroom where he was selling his toys. He made his own point of sale material with images and pricing by hand and attached them to choice items leading up the stairs. His prices were high and he managed to bankrupt his sister!

(The picture is of a series of signs that lead to the sale).

ENTRY #2

My 12 year old son was trying to think of a way to bring joy to the less fortunate during the holidays. Growing up he was used to visiting his great grandmother in a nursing home several times a week. He remembered other elderly patients grab on to him as he passed them in the hallway. He realized they were happy to see children and even happier when he stopped to shake their hand and say hello. Most importantly he realized that many of these people never had visitors and were very lonely and depressed.

His idea was to bring his dogs to visit 3 different nursing homes to allow the residents to have the opportunity not only for a visit, but also to have the physical contact with a gentle animal. So far, it has been a highly rewarding experience for all and it has felt extremely good to see smiles light up the faces of so many lonely and sad people. He’s learned that sometimes it takes very little to bring others joy. I am very proud of my son for having the heart and courage to try something that he wasn’t sure would work. Thank you for listening to his story!

(The picture is of the entrant’s dog).

ENTRY #1

Our five year old son Oliver is an inventor and a great entrepreneur. At 3, he came up with the idea for sprinkle vitamins. At 4, he came up with the idea for Tinies -- band aids that are small enough for babies and small kids fingers and toes.

But at age 5, he’s discovered how to earn a lot of money! Oliver really wanted a toy that I told him he didn’t have enough money to buy. So he had a lemonade stand the next morning that earn him up to 32 dollars (that was 2 hours worth of work at 25 cents a pop... he got big tips)!
Since we made him deposit half the money into a savings account that still didn’t leave him enough money for the toy he really wanted.

So..., Oliver came up with the idea to borrow my camera, photograph the flowers in the front yard, email the photos to family and friends and give them the opportunity to purchase them. The photos were shockingly beautiful and the kid made over 300 dollars in one afternoon!
He has big ideas! His kindergarten teacher told me today she thinks he will grow up to be an inventor or architect. I told Oliver she said this. He said Esther (his preschool teacher) thought he’d be President! And now I am off to un-tape all the things he has taped together in our house to build his inventions!

Most Sincerely,
Oliver’s proud mom!

(The picture is of a few flowers that Oliver photographed).

CSN Stores on The Newlywed Game TOMORROW!

Make sure you tune in to The Newlywed Game at 6/5c tomorrow on The Game Show Network to see CSN Stores prizes and other exciting discounts. Carnie Wilson hosts this hilarious and must-see episode!

Plus, We've made sure everyone is a winner, because there may or may not be a 15% discount code good for anything on CSNStores.com during the epsode ;)

Thanks for reading, and have a great day!

-CSN Stores

10 New Fitness Favorites to Resuscitate your Resolution and Buff Up for the Beach

With June – summer’s unofficial start date and the midway point of 2010 - only a few weeks away, now’s the perfect time to resuscitate your flat-lining fitness-focused New Year’s resolution. And even if you didn’t enter the new year looking to shed a few pounds, the fast approaching Beach Season is always enough reason to shape up.

That’s why the specialists at FitnessEquipmentAndMore.com – your online source for, you guessed it, fitness equipment and more – have assembled a Top Ten List of the Latest, Greatest Workout Essentials. From total body trainers to affordable exercise bikes and treadmills, you’ll find the best new items to help you get your Resolution back on track!

10: Cap Barbell - Xodus Chin-Dip - $118.82
9: SPRI - Folding Mat - $28.57
8: Weslo Pursuit E25 Total Body Exercise Bike - $116.99
7: AKROwheels - Total Body Trainer - $39.90
6: AeroMAT - Travel Balance Disc Cushion - $18.95
5: Definity - Pair of Pilates Arm Rings - $19.99
4: Stamina - InMotion II Manual Treadmill - $139
3: Marcy Upright Bike - $109.99
2: Cory Everson 6 Piece Walking Set - $34.99

1: SPT Fitness Swinger - $107