By MARLENE MILLOTT
CREATIVE kids got crafty during the colouring competition at the Ridge Top Brigades Family Fun and Information Day on 23 November.
About 100 kids entered the colouring competition, but six mini Monets stood out to Dandenong to judge Rod Stebbing from the Dandenong Ranges Fire Brigades Group.
The Prep-Grade 1 winner was Curtis Apse from Mt Dandenong Primary School, and the runner-up was Riley Lazdins from The Patch Primarty School.
Katelyn Boley from Olinda Primary School won the Grade 2-3 section, with Leila Fennessy from Mt Dandenong Primary School as the runner-up.
In the Grade 4,5,6 competition, Riley Van Berendonck from Olinda Primary School was the winner, and Maeve Leonard from Mt Dandenong Primary School claimed the runner-up prize.
Primary school students from Mt Dandenong Primary School, Olinda Primary School, Sassafrass Primary School and The Patch Primary School entered the competition.
Kids were encouraged to colour in pictures of fire safety cartoon characters and scenes of bushfires and bushfire prevention.
Narelle Freestone-Davis from the Olinda Brigade helped co-ordinate the arts and crafts section on the day.
“We had a huge amount of kids participating at the craft and colouring area,” Ms Freestone-Davis said.
The winners and runners-up of the competition received fun and crafty prizes including a scarf-making kit, a volcano kit, and origami kit.
The colouring competition was part of a family information day held by the Ridge Top Brigades ahead of the bushfire season.
It aimed to raise awareness about bushfire safety and prevention in a fun and accessible setting.
Ms Freestone-Davis said the day was hugely successful.
