Information About NYMetroParents' Cover Contest

Each year, NYMetroParents hosts a Cover Contest to give local kids the chance to be featured on our magazines' covers. Here's what you need to know about the contest and how you can be the first to know about the next round.

What’s the question we get asked most often by our readers? How can I get my child on the cover? Here’s what you need to know about our annual cover contest.

The annual NYMetroParents Cover Contest is held on Facebook, where parents or guardians can upload a photo and follow the directions there to enter the contest. NYMetroParents Facebook fans will then be able to vote once a day for their favorite entry—one of the finalists is the Fan Favorite (the child whose picture garners the most votes) and the other nine are chosen by the NYMetroParents editorial staff.

The 2019 Cover Kids Contest is now open—submit your child today!

How do you choose the winners?

Our editors review every entry (yes, we do!) and every member of our team picks their favorites, as our official rules indicate, “based equally upon the criteria of personality, charm, and marketability as a child cover model, as conveyed by their photo.” What does that mean? Well, it’s a visceral feeling—kind of, “We know it when we see it”: joy, bright smiles, playfulness or silliness or a quiet reserve…we want to see your child’s spirit shining through! We then consult with a professional photographer to decide upon eight finalists who get professionally photographed, along with one Fan Favorite finalist, and from the resulting images we select one winner to appear on our covers.

Past winners include:

When is the cover contest held?

Our 2019 Cover Kids Contest is open now through June 12, 2019! We aim to have the photo shoot for the cover images soon after the end of school and before camps, family travel, and other summer activities begin.

Where is the photo shoot held?

NYMetroParents partners with local photo studios that specialize in families and children. 

Take a peek behind the scenes of the 2018 cover contest photo shoot:

How can I be among the first to know about this year’s cover contest?

Sign up for our weekly activities newsletter to get advanced notice about the 2019 cover contest at nymetroparents.com/register—Bonus: The newsletter is full of the best weekend activities for families in your region!—and like us on Facebook where you’ll be able to enter a photo of your child.

Is the winner the only child featured on a cover?

While we only choose one grand-prize cover winner (and a voted fan-favorite), our goal is to make as many families happy by capturing their kids’ spirit in pictures and using as many as we can on future covers, and occasionally within the pages of our magazines. Check out these covers that feature finalists!

Have other questions that aren’t answered here? See our cover contest FAQ and rules.