Wouldn’t it be awesome if you did the thing…
Scroll through some example inspiration below.
…turned a vacant lot into a garden?
You saw the corner turn into a dumping ground. You convinced two neighbors. Now there's tomatoes.
No idea yet? Start with what bugs you.
Real ideas start as complaints. Pick one question, say your answer out loud — that’s the seed of an entry.
What do kids at your school complain about every single week?
What's broken, ugly, or unsafe on your way to school?
Who gets left out — and what would include them?
What does your grandma, little cousin, or neighbor struggle with?
What do you wish existed within walking distance of your house?
What made you mad this month?
Stuck? Talk it through with a real person — free.
Not everyone has an adult to brainstorm with. Our helpers are volunteers who’ll spend 15 minutes with you — Zoom, phone, or email. They ask questions and give honest notes. They won’t write your idea (that’s yours), and talking to one never affects judging.
To get one, email hello@ideachallengenc.org with your idea so far and one thing you’re stuck on.
We score the thinking, not just the polish.
The rubric is built so a parent’s editing skill can’t win the prize. Your own thinking can. Two trained judges watch your video and score two things:
Is the need real and specific, in a community you actually know? A specific person, a specific block, a specific town beats a generic pitch about world hunger.
Are there logical first steps? You don't need a business plan — you need to show you've thought about what it would actually take to start.
Judges also confirm the idea is genuinely yours — real personal stakes, your own thinking. And they’re explicitly told not to judge production quality, vocabulary, accent, or how comfortable you look on camera. A shaky video of an original idea beats a slick video of a generic one.
$1,000 to get started. When your idea wins, you get $1,000 right away to bring it to life — and we don’t tell you how to spend it.
Up to $10,000 to keep going. Make real progress on your idea in the world — show us you actually ran it — and you can earn up to $10,000 more.
The hardest part is pressing record.
You don’t need an essay. You don’t need a presentation deck. You don’t need a parent to help you write it. You need a phone or laptop and the thing you keep thinking about. That’s the entry.
Know a kid who should do this?
Counselors, librarians, club leaders, parents, friends — the kids who are most likely to enter are the ones a trusted adult forwarded the link to. Be that adult.
