This contest is all about organization—the skill of putting steps in a clear, logical order so someone else could actually follow them. Writers will pick one wildly imaginative scenario and turn it into a step-by-step how-to guide.

Step 1: Choose Your Challenge. You must pick one of these four options:

• How to survive an alien abduction
• How to throw a birthday party for a unicorn
• How to get treasure away from a dragon
• How to become a wizard’s apprentice

Step 2: Brainstorm your solutions. Before writing anything formal, think creatively about how your character would actually solve the problem. Bonus points for creative, clever, funny, or silly problem solving.

Step 3: Organize it into a procedure. Now take your best ideas and arrange them into a clear, ordered how-to guide. Sequence the steps so they make sense from beginning to end, and use order and transition words to move from step to step.

Requirements

• Must choose one of the four listed scenarios
• Must be written as a step-by-step how-to guide
• Must have at least 5 steps
• Must use order words to guide the reader through the sequence (words like first, next, then, after that, finally)

PRIZES:

First, second, and third place winners in each age group will be printed in The Utah Homeschooler magazine. Other entries may be but are not guaranteed to be published.

Please note that beginning with the August 2026 contest, The Utah Homeschooler will no longer award cash prizes for the Wordsmiths writing contest. Our focus moving forward will be on celebrating and showcasing student writers through certificates of achievement, publication in The Utah Homeschooler magazine, and public recognition.

RULES:

Submission of entry into this contest constitutes acceptance of all rules and conditions.

• Entrants must be residents of Utah and must be must be between the ages of 5–17 as of Sept. 1, 2026 (Turning 18 during the school year is OK). Entrants must be participating in homeschool during the 2026-2027 school year.
• Only one writing contest entry is allowed per student per contest. Students MAY submit student spotlights, book reviews, big wins, AND one entry in the writing contest.
• No vulgarity, profanity, gratuitous violence, or “adult themes” are allowed. Entries must be “family friendly” and suitable for reading by children and adults of all ages.
• AI is strictly prohibited and may NOT be used in any form at any stage of writing. You may NOT use ChatGPT, Grammarly, or any other AI to brainstorm essay ideas, generate an outline, write any text, or improve text you have written. All words should be the student’s own. Spell check is OK.
• Entries must be the student’s own original work and must not copy from books, movies, or online content. Entries that contain plagiarism will be disqualified.
• All entries must be in English.
• All entries must be typed and submitted digitally. No hard-copy entries or pictures of hand-written entries will be accepted.
• Copyright remains with the author, but The Utah Homeschooler has the right to publish it in the magazine, post it on their website, or use it for promotional materials.

SUBMISSION REQUIREMENTS:

• Student’s first and last name, age, and mailing address. (Only first name and last initial will be published.)
• Student’s typed writing contest entry; can be included in the body of the email, attached as a word document or PDF, or shared as a Google Doc file. If formatting matters (i.e. for some poetry), attach it as a PDF to preserve the formatting.
• Entry title
• A photo of the student that shows their face
• A signed Rules Agreement & Publication Release waiver (click here to get it). Please note that a new signed agreement is required for each contest.

Entries must be submitted no later than 11:59 PM on Friday, Semptember 18, 2026. Send entries to:

contest@TheUtahHomeschooler.com

JUDGING:

Entries will be divided into three age groups for judging: 5–8 year olds, 9–12 year olds, and 13–18 year olds.