Child Commission.

[Domino44]

I don't know if this is something anyone would want to try or not but I've had this idea for a while. There could be a challenge where either a kid would commission a map or the mapmakers participating in the challenge could let their childlike imagination run free. I got this idea when my little brother designed a map he wanted me to make, it had one island that had 20 suns! In this challenge the normal "rules" of mapmaking can be broken. For example a river could act against the rules of nature, they could swirl all over the map or simply break off wherever they wanted to. I would name this river 'Anti River Police" .

I don't know if anyone would want to try this but I thought it was a cool enough idea to post.

[madcowchef]

I really like the idea of doing some work for kids especially. Have to spread the love and joy of map making to hook the youngin's early.

[Slylok]

Now this is a good idea! I'd love to see it / participate.

[Lingon]

This would be really fun! Great idea. I would participate.

[jkat718]

Count me in, if you do end up doing this!

[Pineapple]

I'm a middle school teacher and mapping newb. I would love to take a stab at this. I think it would be most fun to actually have a child "commission" the art, if that ends up being possible.

[Slylok]

I'm a middle school teacher and mapping newb. I would love to take a stab at this. I think it would be most fun to actually have a child "commission" the art, if that ends up being possible.

I'm not sure what type of class you teach, but if it's along the lines of art, history, science, creative writing or something where this could be applied then you may be in a perfect spot to offer some extra credit for students who want to be creative, learn to communicate thier ideas to an artist, and see their creations come to life. Or they might want to make it themselves.

For this to work we'd have to have enough cartographer's willing to set aside time and commit to the challenge for each child that wants to participate. Then you would take that list of committed cartographers and assign them to a student or let them go through the process of choosing the one they want. After that they would communicate their vision to their cartographer by starting a thread on this site. (This would be a great way to see how other cartographers handle their workflow.) The thread continues until the student gives their stamp of approval for the map or the time expires.

Potential problems:
- internet access for the kids. (are school computers and scanners available for use?)
- parents may be skeptical of online communication with strangers. (communication should take place on a public forum like this one.)
- not enough cartographers for students who want to participate or vice versa.
- a child or cartographer may give up mid contest for whatever reason.

It has a lot of moving parts, but if it could be pulled off i think it would be really fun and a great learning experience for students/ future cartographers/ artists.
Just thought i'd throw this out there since it popped into my head.

[madcowchef]

I like Slylok's idea, ts is really interesting. Perhaps too complicated for an easy contest its a great overview for a the logistics of one method to do this, and I don't myself have any quick ways to simplify it.

[Pineapple]

I love that as a way to get the kids involved in mapping Slylok. I would love to do that with anyone willing. I'm sure I could find a group of kids. I'm the middle school math teacher, but our school prides itself on arts-integration, meaning we try to bring the arts into all the core content areas to improve the learning.

I think there are some pitfalls in terms of using it as a challenge. It would be hard for anyone who was paired with a student who had poor communication skills or was just finicky or slow to respond. Or, as you pointed out, either the kid or the cartographer may give up mid-challenge, which would be disappointing.

We do have internet access at the school and enough computers to make it possible for kids to post here. Maybe we could just try to organize it as a fun activity the school/forum, not so much as a contest.

[madcowchef]

We need a new badge for jr. cartographers and their map buddies.