March 2018

“Average people learn from their mistakes.  Smart people learn from other’s people’s mistakes.” –Neil Patel

Top 5 Trophy Mistakes

Don't be Homer...learn from other's mistakes so your award presentation is perfect!

Misspellings.  Don’t ruin your gorgeous engraved award with a simple misspelling.
-  Read the text backwards – bottom to top – you won’t have context for the words, so it’s easier to find mistakes.
-  Double and triple check the spelling of the name.  Spelling the person’s name correctly is EXTREMELY important for obvious reasons.

Broken awards.  Many customers don’t open their shipping box until the day of the event and to their surprise, find awards damaged during shipping. Because our items are fragile, be sure to open the box and check your awards as soon as they arrive.  In case of breakage, contact us immediately so we can send a replacement.

Trophy doesn’t match the accomplishment.  Be mindful of what you are celebrating and have the price and stature of the award match the achievement.

Too much text.  Many of our awards have a very limited space for etching.  Too much text on this small space creates tiny letters that are impossible to read.  If you have a lot of text, choose a wall plaque or other award with adequate space for your message.

Not presenting it.  The worst is not presenting the award to your honoree; just handing it to them in a box loses the impact of the accomplishment.  For more tips, read my blog post How to Present an Award.

Be smart - learn from past customer’s mistakes and make your award count!

With flowers blooming, days getting longer, and birds singing, spring is here, finally!  It has been a long, wet, dark winter here in the Pacific Northwest.  Spring really can't come soon enough!

The quintessential spring holiday is Easter and it's just around the corner!  Many communities have a tradition of an Easter Egg hunt either the Saturday before Easter or on Easter Sunday.  Here's how to make your egg hunt a success!

Easter Egg Hunt Ideas

Easter medals make great prizes for fun runs and egg hunts!

Want to have an Easter Egg hunt but don't know where to start?  Let me help!

Step 1:  Figure out who's coming to your hunt.  An easter egg hunt for toddlers is much different than a hunt for teens.  Decide who the hunt is for.

Step 2:  Determine the location.  Outside or inside?  For little kids, they may need help finding eggs, so a wide open space where the eggs are easy to see may be a good choice.  For older kids and teens, make it hard by hiding eggs in tricky spots.  This may require a location with lots of nooks and crannies where eggs can be hidden out of sight.

Step 3:  The Eggs.  First you need to have enough eggs so that everyone feels successful.  The age of the kids will determine what treasures you put inside your plastic easter eggs.  For little kids, it may be a small piece of candy, a little toy or a coin.  For older kids, you may want dollar bills and more candy.  Get creative!

Step 4:  Hiding the eggs.  Adults hide the eggs before the event.  Again, depending on the age of the kids, you can make them easier or harder to find.  And NO PEEKING!

Step 5:  Once it's time to hunt, let the kids loose with their baskets!  My teens still LOVE Easter egg hunts!

Additional tips:

- if you have a number of different age groups, you can separate by egg location (for example, only the little kids are allowed to get eggs on the grass).

-Assign each child a color and they are only allowed to find eggs of that particular color.

-Pair little kids and big kids together on "teams" where they split the loot at the end of the hunt.

-Create an egg scavenger hunt with clues leading from one egg to the next.

-Award the top egg collector a Bunny Trophy!

-Give personalized medals to all the kids at your hunt.

I hope these tips help you plan an epic hunt.  Check out our Easter Awards for the perfect prize for your hunt.  Wishing you a wonderful Easter and a great time making memories with your favorite kiddos!

Cheers!
Jessica

Editor's note:  This post was originally posted in April 2017.  It has been updated for content.

Is your school hosting a Science Fair?  If so, it's probably just around the corner, as spring is prime time for experiments and showing what was learned at the Science Fair! Kids gain experience with the scientific process including asking a question, making a hypothesis, testing it, and then analyzing the results.

This project is ready to blow!

At my daughters' elementary school, the Science Fair is a multi-night event, as there are so many kids that participate, all of the projects won't fit in the gym!  Since my college degree is in Fisheries, I love science and think Science Fairs are a great experience for kids. In fact, I volunteered on my daughter's school's Science Fair committee for 5 years, including Co-Chairing the fair for 2 years.

In my experience, Science Fair ribbons and Science Awards are a big draw for the fair.  Kids love to get something for the effort they put into their projects, and if your fair is judged, the winners definitely deserve recognition for a job well done. If you are involved in planning your school's fair, give some thought towards the awards for the fair.

Science Fair Awards

Reward the hard work that goes into creating epic science projects with Science Fair Awards!  Here are some ideas in a range of budgets.

Certificates: For our fair, we created certificates for each participant.  We formatted the certificates on regular 8 1/2"x11" paper and printed onto brightly colored copy paper on a desktop printer. Very easy and inexpensive.

These projects are ready to be judged!

Ribbons: Ribbons are the quintessential Science Fair award.  At our school's fair, every student received an 8" peaked participation ribbon.  Classes with 100% participation received a large rosette "100% Participation" award, which teachers displayed on their classroom wall year after year.

If you are interested in Science Fair ribbons for your school, we can create ribbons specifically for your fair. This product is not available on our website, so give us a call at 877-926-4700 for more information.

Medals: At many fairs, projects are judged and awards are given to winners. Science medals make great prizes, as they can be engraved with the school name and year on the back.  Kids and parents love medals because they are inexpensive, small in size, easy to store, and are versatile. Kids can wear them, clip them onto a backpack, or easily display in a bedroom.  Options include our Premium Science Medallion and BriteLazer Science Medals.

These science trophies are a great choice for your fair winners!

Trophies:  Science Fair Trophies are another choice for winners.  These are usually larger than ribbons or medals and more expensive, so they may be a good option for older students or for top projects.  We offer many different science trophies including the Resin Science Trophy, a Science Resin Award, and Science Rising Star Award.

Other Prizes:  For a small prize, consider a Science Lapel Pin.  These pins are top rated by our customers, available for many different academic subjects, including science!

Judge Badges:  Even though these are not technically awards, badges make a great way to identify and acknowledge your science fair judges.  Our school had white badges with the school crest and they said "Science Fair Judge".  These look very official and made the judges stand out!

Raffle:  Instead of trophies, our school had a raffle for participants in the fair.  Each grade has an age appropriate science kit or experiment that was raffled off to participants.  Every student who participated in the fair was automatically entered into the raffle.  It was lots of fun shopping for the raffle prizes; one website I shopped at was Steve Spangler Science; they had great experiments that the kids loved!

Science Fairs are a great way to get kids involved in science. They learn about conducting experiments and the scientific process, which is an extremely important skill for understanding how scientific research is done as an adult.

Wishing you a fantastic fair with amazing projects by young scientists!

Cheers,
Jessica

Editor's note:  This post was originally posted in February of 2015.  It has been updated for content.

How to Present your Basketball Trophy in a Meaningful Way

At Trophies2Go, we want the trophy you choose for your child to last a lifetime.  Whether it's a basketball participation trophy for a young player or the State Basketball Championship for a High School team, make the award you choose meaningful with praise, recognition and words of affirmation.

6 Tips for Presenting Awards

Basketball awards given in a thoughtful way from a caring coach solidify a great season.

1. Come From The Coach. Meaningful praise from a mentoring coach lasts a lifetime.

2. Prepare. Spend time thinking about what each player has contributed to the team and the season.

3. Make It A Ceremony. Even if it's on the court, have the coach individually call each player to receive their award.

4. Recap The Season. Before presenting the trophies, briefly recap the highs and lows of the season.

5. Tell A Personal Story. Talk about each players' strengths, team contribution, or most memorable moment. Then give the award with a handshake.

6. Write It Down. A heartfelt note from a caring coach can be cherished for years to come.

Don't let the basketball trophy you buy be a dust collector.  Put some thought into how you can capture the meaning around it through words of praise.  That's what transforms a sports trophy into a cherished keepsake.

Cheers!
Jessica

Editor's note:  This post was originally posted in February of 2015.  It has been updated for content.