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IKEA announces winning drawings of the ‘Soft Toy Drawing Competition’, Korea among global winners

ichele Acuna, IKEA Gwangmyeong store manager (second from left), and co-workers from IKEA Gwangmyeong pose with JiMin Park, one of the final winners of the 'Soft Toy Drawing Competition’, held at IKEA stores
Corporate NewsRetailMarch 19, 2018Last edited: August 25, 2021
[Seoul - March 19] Home furnishing retailer IKEA Korea announced that JiMin Park (9 years old), a third grader in elementary school, and her drawing titled ‘My friend the fish’ was selected as one of the top five winning drawings of the ‘Soft Toy Drawing Competition,’ which was held globally in November 2017. For two years in a row following the 2016 competition, Korea will enjoy the opportunity to launch the winning drawing as part of a limited

As part of the ‘Let’s Play for Change’ campaign, which is an annual event designed to emphasize the importance of play for both children and adults, the ‘Soft Toy Drawing Competition’ is held every year at IKEA stores worldwide to offer a chance to get a glimpse of children’s creativity and talents.

Through the competition, IKEA provides children around the world the opportunity to design their own soft toys based on their original imagination. Every year, the final winning drawings out of entries selected from all over the world are produced into SAGOSKATT, a limited collection of soft toys, and are sold at IKEA stores globally. The turnover of SAGOSKATT is donated to support vulnerable children and their rights to play and develop in a safe environment.

Out of 87,000 amazing entries from around the world, this year’s competition selected five drawings from Korea, Poland, China, Ireland, and Sweden. From Korea, 4,000 children have made entries at the drawing competition held at IKEA Gwangmyeong and Goyang. Among them, JiMin Park, who was selected as one of the final winners, will get an opportunity to launch her drawing as one of the 2018 SAGOSKATT collections this coming fall, as well as a chance to travel to Sweden, the home of IKEA.

“Through this year’s entries, we were able to see incredibly unique and adorable drawings from children around the world,” said Bodil Fritjofsson, product developer at Children’s IKEA. On JiMin Park’s drawing, she added, “This fantasy can just come from a child. We love the combination with the big mouth, teeth, and the small body.”

Meanwhile, IKEA conducts a variety of philanthropic activities through IKEA Foundation to help children in the world’s poorest communities so they can create a better future. In particular, IKEA Foundation strives to support to address their needs in four fundamental areas of life: a place to call home, a healthy start in life, a quality education, and a sustainable family income.