Coaches' Corner
Note for coaches
Being a coach for a TOYchallenge team is a hugely rewarding experience. You're not really there to tell the kids what to do, but your support can help guide a team through the engineering design process from brainstorming to creating a working model to exhibiting their very own toy or game at the Nationals.
To help you on your way and provide additional rules and instructions, we've written a Coaches' Handbook for all coaches.
Depending on the enthusiasm of your team, you can expect to spend a couple of hours each week guiding your team. This could be done during the school lunch hour, after school, or on weekends.
Links for Coaches
- Get all the answers to your questions from our NEW 2009 TOYchallenge Coach Handbook
- TOYchallenge Flyer
- Registration Form (Registration Deadline - December 19, 2008)
- Letter to parents
- TOYchallenge follows the National Standards
Helpful Hints
As your team gets started, keep in mind the following important ingredients for a successful entry.
- Teamwork - Take advantage of every member's talents. Dividing up tasks is fine, but having a team that works together to develop ideas and work out the bugs is essential.
- Excitement - Choose a category that excites your team. Pick a toy category that the whole team will enjoy spending time on.
- Resources - Research your idea. Use the internet, books, and people as resources.
- Log Book - Keep a log book or a journal. Describe your thinking and your process as you're going through it. This will help you remember all the details that are so easy to forget and keep track of those good ideas!
- Engineering - As you develop your idea and design your toy, follow a clear design process.
- Reality check - Good entries present designs that are not only creative and original, but also realistic and safe! Can your toy or game actually be built?