Competition terms
Competition Terms
1. Who runs the competition
Design a Toy for the World is organised by Sharing is Learning Ltd. (“SiL”), Room 4, 30 Edgarley Terrace, London, United Kingdom SW6 6QD. All competition communications and payments are handled directly by the SiL Headquarters in the United Kingdom. For any questions about these terms or the competition, contact us at Hi@SharingisLearning.com.
2. Eligibility
The competition is open to children aged 5 to 12 on the date of registration. Entries must be submitted by a parent or legal guardian on the child's behalf. Children themselves cannot create accounts, submit entries or make payments. Age divisions are Little Creators (5–8) and Young Designers (9–12), decided by the child's age on the registration date.
3. Countries
Entry is open internationally, from any country where participation is permitted by local law. It is the responsibility of the entrant's parent or legal guardian to ensure entry complies with the laws of their own country. If a jurisdiction prohibits participation in promotions of this kind, entries from that jurisdiction cannot be accepted.
4. Entry periods
There are two editions each calendar year: the Spring edition, which closes on 15 March, and the Autumn edition, which closes on 1 October. The exact current year, opening and closing dates for each edition are published on the website. The organiser may adjust published dates where necessary; any change will be shown on the website in advance.
5. Entry fee
The entry fee is £10 GBP per submitted entry. One paid submission covers one artwork and its description. The fee contributes to competition administration, judging and the professional production of winning plush toys. Fees are quoted and charged in GBP, and payments are taken directly by the SiL Headquarters in the United Kingdom (Sharing is Learning Ltd.).
6. Parent authority
The person submitting an entry confirms that they are the child's parent or legal guardian and have the authority to submit the entry and agree to these terms on the child's behalf. We may ask you to confirm your relationship to the child. Entries submitted by children themselves, or by anyone else without parental authority, will be removed.
7. Originality
The artwork must be the child's own, original work, created by hand by the child. Entries made or materially altered using generative artificial intelligence, traced from or copied from existing characters, or based on copyrighted characters owned by others are not eligible. Adults may help with photographing and uploading the artwork but must not draw, colour or design the character.
8. Prohibited content
Entries must not contain content that is offensive, violent, unsafe, discriminatory, sexual, or that infringes the rights of any third party, including copyright, trademark or privacy rights. The organiser may reject or remove any entry that breaches this rule and may disqualify the entry from the competition.
9. Judging
Entries are judged anonymously against a published-style rubric covering creativity, originality, storytelling and suitability for transformation into a soft toy, by an independent judging panel. Judges do not see the child's surname, contact details or payment information. The panel's decisions are final and no correspondence about the outcome will be entered into.
10. Tie procedure
If two or more entries in the same age division receive equal scores, the judging panel will discuss and re-vote on the tied entries. If the panel remains tied, the chair of the judging panel makes the final decision. The result of the tie procedure is final.
11. Prizes
Winning designs are professionally transformed by the organiser's design team into real, made plush toys, as described on the website for the current edition. Prizes may vary between editions; the prize description published for that edition applies. There is no cash alternative and prizes cannot be transferred or exchanged.
12. Manufacturing differences
Plush toys are hand-made interpretations of a child's drawing, not exact replicas. Colours, proportions, materials and details may differ from the original artwork for safety, manufacturing and design reasons. All toys are designed with child-safety in mind, but winners and guardians must review the finished design before it is accepted.
13. Winner communications
Winners and their parents or guardians are contacted only through the parent or guardian's email address provided at registration. The child is never contacted directly. Please keep your contact email accurate and up to date so winners can be reached.
14. Inability to contact winner
If a winning parent or guardian does not respond within 30 days of the first notification, the organiser may, at its discretion, treat the prize as declined and select an alternate winning entry. The organiser will attempt contact through the email address provided at registration.
15. Publication
Entries and winning designs are published in the online gallery and in related materials only with the separate, explicit consent of the child's parent or guardian, given during submission or afterwards. Published information is limited to the child's first name, age, country and the character's name. Surnames, addresses, contact details and school information are never published.
16. IP licence
The artwork remains the intellectual property of the child and family. By winning, the child's parent or guardian grants the organiser a licence to use, reproduce, adapt and translate the winning design solely to produce, display and promote the plush toy and the competition, including in photos, videos and press materials, worldwide for the duration of the promotion of that edition. This licence does not remove the family's ownership of the drawing.
17. Commercialisation of winning toys
Winning plush toys are produced as prizes and for promotion. The organiser will not sell winning plush toys commercially without a separate written agreement signed by the child's parent or guardian. Any such agreement will set out how the design is used and how the family shares in any proceeds.
18. Video adaptation
Winning characters may be brought to life as short animated or live-action videos, produced by or for the organiser and published on the competition's official channels, including YouTube. Video production and publication take place only with the parent or guardian's consent, given as part of the winner agreement.
19. Social media
With the parent or guardian's consent, entries and winning designs may be shared on the competition's official social media channels. Sharing is always credited with the child's first name, age and country only, consistent with the publication rules above. Consent can be withdrawn at any time by contacting us.
20. Refunds
Entry fees are non-refundable in the ordinary case, because each paid submission is judged and processed. Refunds are available only in the circumstances described in the Refund Policy below.
21. Disqualification
An entry may be disqualified if it breaks these terms, including: false or misleading information about the child's age or identity, plagiarism or non-original artwork, prohibited content, fraudulent payment, or attempts to submit more than one paid entry per artwork. The organiser may disqualify an entry at any time before or after judging, and may withhold prizes that were awarded in error.
22. Privacy
How we collect, use and protect personal information, including information about children, is described in our Privacy Policy. The privacy commitments in that policy form part of these terms.
23. Governing law
These terms, and the competition, are governed by the laws of England and Wales. The courts of England and Wales have exclusive jurisdiction over any dispute arising out of or in connection with the competition, without affecting any mandatory consumer rights in the entrant's country of residence.
24. Cookie Policy
This website uses only essential cookies needed for the site to function and for sign-in. We do not use behavioural advertising or cross-site tracking cookies, and we do not sell data to advertising networks.
25. Refund Policy
If an edition is cancelled or materially changed by the organiser, every affected entrant may request a full refund of the entry fee. Refunds may also be given, at the organiser's discretion, where a payment was made in error, a duplicate payment was taken, or the entry was rejected before judging for a technical reason. To request a refund, contact Hi@SharingisLearning.com within 14 days of the relevant event with your entry reference.
26. Winner Licence / Agreement framework
Before a winning plush toy is made, the winner's parent or guardian signs a separate winner agreement confirming publication consent, the intellectual-property licence described above, and any arrangements for the toy, videos and promotion. The agreement will be sent to the parent or guardian's email and must be returned before production begins.