23 April, 2008
What's on - A rainbow of ideas
Two-year-old Chloe Anne Harrington was one of more than 300 youngsters who entered the shopping centre's contest to imaginatively describe a place they would like to explore.
Chloe's mum Samantha Boynton, 20, of Oxford Street, Middlesbrough, helped her pen the winning sentence and was delighted to receive a phone call saying her daughter's entry had been chosen.
Her winning entry was: "A jungle of purple monkeys, pink snakes with orange trees and chocolate scent in the breeze. A pathway of dancing bananas that leads to a candy floss mountain."
Samantha said: "Whenever Chloe colours-in she draws colourful pictures with purple monkeys and orange trees - that's what she sees in her imagination.
"I was really pleased that her entry was chosen - this is the first time we have ever won anything."
Now Chloe has picked up her prizes which include £100 in Adams vouchers, a Dora laptop, Dora roller skates, Dora DVDs and lots of other Dora goodies.
David McNee, general manager of The Mall, Middlesbrough, said: "The contest was launched during half term to coincide with a visit from cartoon character Dora the Explorer, which proved very popular.
"We also had a really good entry in the competition with lots of youngsters having a really good think about where they would like to explore and coming up with really imaginative ideas."
The Mall's marketing manager, Tracey Surtees, said: "It was great to read through the entries they were full of creative and unbridled imagination.
"Lots of them wanted to explore ancient Egypt or outer space and some of the entries made us laugh - like the girl who suggested the forbidden territory of her mum's bedroom!
"In the end we loved the craziness of Chloe's answer with dancing bananas, purple monkeys and candy floss mountains. Well done to her!"