THE VISUAL DECODER FOR STORIES CONTEST
Check out the winning entries here!
We’ve organised a creative storytelling session too where we show children how to use pictures to present important ideas in a story.
The Visual Decoder for Stories Contest is Organised by
in collaboration with
What is This Contest About?
The objective of the Visual Decoder for Stories Contest is to encourage children to use pictures to aid retelling, exploring and consolidating what they know about a story.
Children tap on the brain’s visual processing ability and draw simple pictures to represent a story’s key elements. In the process, they reflect and engage more deeply with the text to discover insights about the story. This activity strengthens comprehension and develops creativity.
The Visual Decoder template guides what pictures to draw for the ‘Who/What’, ‘How Much”, ‘Where’, ‘When’, and ‘Why’ of a story. It is used for our unique reading programme, which is grounded on the Science of vision and adapted from the visual thinking toolkits developed by Dan Roam, our Principal and author of five international bestselling books on business visualization and communication clarity. His toolkits have been adopted by numerous businesses and organisations around the world.
Children are to complete all five pictures. The contest is open to children 5 to 8 years old. You stand to win attractive prizes! Download the Visual Decoder template here.
Book Titles for the Contest
Popular and well-loved by children all around the world, these books are strong in values and great for character development.
A story about not having to be Grade A perfect!
In this expressively illustrated picture book about acknowledging differences and strengths, an overeager dinosaur school bus causes problems for the city’s transportation system-so the children find a place where oversize is perfect.
A brilliantly funny and sensitive way to understand and deal with tantrums.
Mabel is the best little fly to show readers big and small that there is nothing more important than the power of confidence, and believing in yourself!
A warm and funny tale that proves the best hugs come from the biggest hearts.
It captures the social dynamics of a busy classroom while delivering a gentle message about the importance of listening.
This is the perfect book for children dealing with anxiety or feeling nervous about starting at a new school or nursery.
This book imparts an important life lesson to young children: it’s all very well putting on a brave face but not to the detriment of your own well-being.
Sample for Inspiration
Check out our video guide on what to draw to represent key ideas for the story, ‘The Tortoise and the Hare’.
Sample Pictures for ‘The Tortoise and the Hare’
The Big Takeaway …
Key Information
1. Prizes
Four (4) participants will be selected as the winners, including one (1) grand prize winner.
Each winner will receive:
- A Times Reads Book hamper with an assortment of children’s books worth more than S$100 each.
- A set of drawing and colouring kit
The Grand Prize Winner will also receive a 22 inch Surekuo drawing tablet worth S$95.
2. Duration and Eligibility
The contest ends on 16 December 2023, 23:59pm (SGT). Late submissions will not be considered.
It is open to children 5 to 8 years old (based on Calendar year), residing in Singapore with a valid Singapore residential address.
Each entry must be based on ONE of the contest books.
All five Visual Decoder pictures need to be completed for submission.
Multiple submissions are allowed but each participant will only receive one prize.
3. How to Submit
Take / scan pictures of Pg 2, 3 and 4 of the completed Visual Decoder pictures.
JPEG or PDF format are accepted but PDF is preferred. Ensure the pictures are clear.
Submit entries electronically using the form HERE. (Note: Maximum file size: 10MB per file.)
You can refer to our guide on how to scan the completed Visual Decoder pictures into a PDF file using Adobe Scan app from your mobile phone below.
For queries and support, write to us at contactpicturethink@gmail.com
By submitting, you agree to the full Terms & Conditions of this contest.
4. Judging, Notification and Collection
The winners will be selected based on point of view, as well as the clarity of pictures and words in expressing the moral of the story.
PictureThink will contact all four (4) Winners via email and/or telephone call by 23 December 2023.
The winners’ works will be announced and featured on PictureThink’s social media page(s) by 23 December 2023.
Scan to PDF
The submission requires the drawings (3 pages) to be clear and not greater than 10MB. A PDF file offers the best quality. You can use various applications to do this e.g. Adobe Scan, Office Lens, etc. However if you are unfamiliar with this, you can follow the instructions below using Adobe Scan.
Using Adobe Scan
- Download Adobe Scan app from your phone’s App Store or Play Store.
- Open it, create a free Adobe account or login using your Adobe ID.
- Once logged in, click the ‘camera’ button for a new scan.
- Point your phone’s camera at the laid out drawings and scan the page as a document.
- Hold your phone steady with all four corners of the document in view.
- Wait a few seconds, and Adobe Scan will automatically capture an image of the document. You can do it manually by tapping the capture button.
- On the next screen, tap Retake if the image didn’t pan out correctly; choose Keep scanning for the next page.
- If you are OK with the quality of the image, you can use the blue outline to straighten the edges of your scan.
- After all three pages have been scanned, rename the scanned file according to the contest naming format by tapping the edit button.
- Next, tap Save PDF to save it.
- Store the file at your preferred storage location (e.g. icloud, google drive, etc). You are now ready to fill in the google form and submit the VD drawings.
If you prefer a video guide, please click here to watch this youtube tutorial: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q7tj5IUPhzc&t=38s
Terms and Conditions
1. Use of Personal Data
By participating, participants agree that PictureThink may collect, use and disclose personal data that was voluntarily given to PictureThink for the purpose of contacting participants and administering the Contest.
Photographs, videos and/or any other audio-visual recordings may be taken in relation to this Contest. By participating, participants and/or their parents or legal guardians agree to grant PictureThink and its affiliates full rights to use the resulting images, audios or videos without any claims for payment or royalties. This may include (but is not limited to) use in any printed and online publicity, social media, and press releases.
2. Other Conditions
All decisions made by PictureThink, including but not limited to the eligibility, disqualification and selection of all contest winners are subject to PictureThink’s discretion, which shall be final and binding on all participants.
PictureThink shall assume no responsibility and is not liable for any costs, charges or expenses that the Winner may incur in connection with the use of the prizes. PictureThink also shall not be liable for any loss, mis-delivery or delay in the delivery of the prizes.
PictureThink and its programme supporter shall retain non-exclusive rights to use the submitted Visual Decoders for future promotional, publicity or marketing purposes, without payment or notification to the participants.
Participants undertake to release PictureThink, its programme supporter, staff, volunteers, partners or any other servants or agents from all liabilities, costs and claims for any injury, loss or damage, directly or indirectly caused by themselves or others, in the course of or as a result of participating in this contest.
PictureThink reserves the right at its sole discretion to:
a. amend the shortlisted Winners announcement date and these Terms and Conditions at any time without prior notice; and/or
b. suspend or cancel the Contest by giving notice on the Contest website at https://picturethink.com/visual-decoder-contest/
In the event of any disputes, these Terms and Conditions shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of Singapore.