Personality Points in Toddler Pageants

If you're thinking of entering your son or daughter in toddler pageants, you need to be aware of the importance of personality - the points awarded by the judges for onstage personality. With toddler pageants, personality is usually more important that poise. Many judges had rather see a toddler having fun on stage and exhibiting personality than they would seeing a toddler stiff, robotic, and "programmed."

So what can you do to ensure good personality scores in toddler pageants? First of all, make sure your child is comfortable on stage and is having a good time. This should be immediately evident to the judges. My granddaughter won her very first pageant as a two-year-old, against seasoned girls who had done numerous toddler pageants. She wasn't as polished as some of the other contestants, but it was obvious that she was having a blast on stage. She giggled, smiled a lot, and just acted a little silly. When her mom got her to turn for the judges, she twirled around several times instead of just once.

My grandsons always scored well in personality in toddler pageants, too. They did things like wink, blow kisses, wave to the audience, and acted a little cocky. One always drew his imaginary pistols from his hips, "fired" them into the air, and blew them out when he was directly in front of the judges. He came up with this move on his own, and I wasn't sure how it would play out, but it worked well. This brings up my next point.

Allow your child to help make some of the decisions about his or her stage performance in toddler pageants. If you do, he or she will have a sense of ownership and will probably be more comfortable on stage. Besides, sometimes kids come up with some great ideas!