Doodle 4 Google

…Figure out a cure for cancer
…Build a movie theater on the moon
…Be an underwater explorer

Welcome to Doodle 4 Google, a competition where we invite K-12 students to work their artistic will upon our homepage logo. At Google we believe in thinking big and dreaming big, so this year we’re inviting U.S. kids to exercise their creative imaginations around the theme, “If I Could Do Anything, I Would …”

We’re looking forward to the kids’ answers too. Gather those art supplies and some 8.5″ x 11″paper and encourage your students to enrich us all with their creative visions for what they would do in the world, if they could do anything.

This year, a group of “Expert Jurors“, well-known illustrators, cartoonists and animators from organizations like The Sesame Street Workshop, Dr. Seuss Enterprises, Charles M. Schulz Creative Associates and Peanuts and Pixar Animation Studios, will be helping us select the 40 finalist doodles as well as attending our awards ceremony to personally meet our winners.

Registration closes at 11:59:59 p.m. Pacific Time (PT) on March 17, 2010, and entries are due by March 31, 2010 no later than 11:59:59 P.M. Pacific Time (PT). The winning doodle will be featured on our Google.com homepage on May 27, 2010. Register your school »

Get Your School Involved
Here, you’ll find materials to help you get the word out to your teachers and schools:

Teacher/Principal Letter
Download [PDF]

Flyer
Download [PDF]

For more information Please visit Doodle Google

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Philadelphia Zoo are sponsoring an Earth Day poster contest for students in grades kindergarten through 12 in EPA’s mid-Atlantic region, which includes Delaware, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia, West Virginia and the District of Columbia.

Students are invited to submit hand-created drawings on plain letter-sized paper using markers, colored pencils, crayons, pens or paint. Computer-generated images will not be accepted. Students can choose one of the three themes:

1) Protect Habitats, Endangered Species
2) Help Protect the Earth from Climate Change
3) The Meaning of Earth Day

Entries will be divided into four categories: K-2nd grade; grades 3-5; grades 6-8; and grades 9-12. The top three winners in each category will receive a combined prize package from the EPA and Philadelphia Zoo. Winning entries and others will be displayed at the Philadelphia Zoo on April 22-24 as part of EPA’s 40th anniversary Earth Day celebration. The posters will later be displayed at the EPA’s Public Information Center in Philadelphia. Entries must be postmarked no later than March 1 and should be mailed to:

Earth Day Poster Contest (3PA00)
U.S. EPA Region 3
1650 Arch Street
Philadelphia, PA 19103

The back of the poster should include the competition theme, name, age, school name, grade, parent/guardian’s name, address, telephone number and email.

For more information, visit: http://www.epa.gov/region03/earthday/2010_poster_contest.PDF or call (215) 814-5100 or email R3 40yearsofEarthDay@epa.gov.

. . . invites K-12 students to enter the 2010 poster design contest. The student creating the winning design will receive a $500 Purchase Prize. The artwork will be featured on the cover of 100,000 printed brochures, the season program magazine and the 2010 season poster.

Eligibility: Residents enrolled in any K-12 private or public education program in or outside of Howard County and non-residents enrolled in Howard County public or private schools are eligible.

Entry Deadline: Original artwork must be submitted by 5pm, Friday, February 5, 2010.

ENTRY RULES

Students are invited to create a visual image that captures the essence of a multi-disciplinary arts festival. The dimensions of the submitted artwork on plain white paper must be 16-1/2 inches high by 11-3/4 inches wide. The entry form must be affixed to the back of the artwork.
DO NOT fold the artwork.
DO NOT include the words “Columbia Festival of the Arts” or any variation thereof in the artwork.
DO NOT create a horizontal design.

Entries not adhering to the above rules will automatically Mail or deliver entries to the Columbia Festival of the Arts address below.

For more information please see the PDF attachment.

Deadline: January 29, 2010, noon

Think you have an idea that could make webkinz look stale? Or maybe you can get all those razor scooter fans to root for your invention instead? The Invention Dimension Challenge could be just what you’ve been waiting for! Enter your new toy, game or sports equipment idea and win big!

One Grand Prize winner will receive
- $1000 JAKKS Pacific prize pack
- $1000 Toys”R”Us gift card
- A 3 day/ 2 night trip for winner plus one parent/guardian to JAKKS
headquarters in Southern CA to pitch idea to executives.
- A celebratory event at Toys”R”Us in NYC

4 Finalists will receive
- 250 JAKKS Pacific Prize Packs each

5 State winners
- One each in Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Virginia and Pennsylvania a $500 JAKKS Pacific Prize Packs each

Teacher Awards
National and State Winners (MD, PA, NJ, NY, VA) will nominate a Teacher or mentor for recognition.
- The Grand Prize teacher or mentor winner will receive JAKKS Pacific School/
Classroom supplies worth $500
- Teacher nominated by state winners will receive JAKKS Pacific School/
Classroom supplies worth $200 each

For more information please visit http://www.bkfk.com/InventionDimension/

2009 6 grade maryland winner

Entering contests is a great way to give children a goal to work toward as well as a chance to win some nice prizes (they can’t win if they don’t enter). Drawing and painting contests are subjective, as people’s preferences in art vary, but it’s good practice nonetheless.

Wildlife Forever is sponsoring the State Fish Contest for children in grades four to twelve. Students can choose any state fish, not just their own, and create a picture of it. Any two-dimensional media can be used, including pencil, pen, crayon, watercolor, acrylics, etc.

There are three winners from each state, one for grades 4 – 6, one for grades 7 – 9, and one for grades 10 – 12. Get started, kids! The deadline for entering this year is March 31.

What are the State Fish? You can find them at Netstate.com. Wildlife Forever also has them listed by the individual states. These pages also provide other information about the fish, such as identifying features, habitat, feeding behavior, and more. For a complete listing of rules and prizes, go to StateFishArt.com.

Crayola

Crayola has an art contest for students from Kindergarten through Grade 12. Winners of the Dream-Maker’s Art Exhibition will have their work published in a beautiful book and receive cash prizes. From Crayola.com:

“This year’s Dream-Makers Art Exhibition focuses on students’ visual expression of what creativity means to them.A select sample of submitted artwork and “Dream Statements” will be exhibited at the U.S. Department of Education in Washington, D.C. and its offices around the country.

“Use the following thought starters to engage your students in an exercise exploring creativity or design your own inspirational discussion.

General guidelines:

* Create a Dream Statement to accompany each piece -50 words or less -Consider integrating words or the entire statement into artwork * Use a variety of 2-dimensional mediums and techniques including collage -Use creative techniques such as blowing paint, crosshatching, stamping or tearing. -See Art techniques on Crayola.com/educators for more ideas. * Make pieces no larger than 16 x 20 inches * Create individually expressive works * See How to Enter for specific rules

Ask students of all ages to describe and illustrate where they think new creative ideas come from.

Kindergarten – Grade 1Ask students to:

* Draw abstract ideas like air, sound, movement, taste and smell. Tell the story of the drawing as it happens. * Integrate their thoughts and words into their drawing. * Draw a story beginning with, “Once upon a time…” Tell the story aloud as they draw it. Continue probing by asking, “And then what happened?” * Think about a job that they may do when they are a grown up. How do they envision that? Draw it and write about it.

Grades 2 – 3Ask students to:

* Describe what creativity means to them, write about it and draw it. Encourage them to extract important words and weave them into their artwork. * Look around their surroundings for creative spaces and objects. Discuss why they are creative. Write phrases. Encourage visual expression about the area that inspires them. * Collage a portrait of a creative friend using different kinds of papers and drawings that they tear and cut. Describe why they think this friend is creative. Use words and phrases in the work to emphasize ideas.

Grades 4 – 5 Ask students to:

* Discuss what creativity means to them and why it is important in the world. Compare and contrast a world without creativity and a world with it. Write this description and illustrate the contrasting views. * Choose a current issue and think of a creative solution. Write about it and illustrate it. * Write about a creative person either from today or from history. What makes them more creative than others? * Design and construct a portrait by choosing colors, textures, words, etc. that describe this person.

“Submit your K-12 student artwork and statements to be exhibited on Crayola.com

* Take a picture of your students’ work with a digital camera (hi-resolution jpeg, 300 dpi). See more detailed information on how to take the picture. * Entries will be juried and chosen for publication in a beautiful hardcover book and to win great cash prizes!

“All artwork must be received by 1/15/10 to qualify. Selected artwork will be framed and exhibited at the U.S. Department of Education in Washington, D.C. and its offices around the country.”

For more information please visit Crayola’s site

The winner will receive an official “Animal Rescue” Prize Package.
Send your artwork*, along with your name, age, full mailing address and e-mail address to:

Telco Productions, Inc.
2730 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 200
Santa Monica, CA 90403

Please include t-shirt size (S,M,L)

For more information please visit: http://www.animalrescuetv.com/kids-art.shtml

Maryland

THE FIRST FAMILY OF MARYLAND INVITES STUDENTS KINDERGARTEN THROUGH GRADE 8 TO SUBMIT TREE ORNAMENTS FOR THE 2009 MARYLAND STATE HOUSE HOLIDAY TREE ON VIEW FOR THE MONTH OF DECEMBER.

This year’s theme is Celebrate Maryland .  We invite students to create ornaments that over the years have become symbolic, iconic images of the State’s traditions, cultures, regions, and resources.  Please note the guidelines below for submitting ornaments.

Due Date:

Ornaments are due on or before Friday, November 20, 2009.  From Monday through Friday, they may be delivered in person from 9:00 AM until 4:00 PM, or you can have them delivered by the US Post Office, UPS, Federal Express or other carrier of choice.  All packages should be addressed as follows:

OFFICE OF THE FIRST LADY
MARYLAND STATE HOUSE
100 STATE CIRCLE
ANNAPOLIS MD  21401

Questions about delivery should be addressed to the following contact people in the Office of the First Lady:  Ms. Vickie Fowley – 410-974-5254 or vfowley@gov.state.md.us and Mr. Jeremy Rosendale – 410-260-3905 or jrosendale@gov.state.md.us.

Restrictions:

To ensure that all ornaments submitted can be used, please note:

1. The maximum allowable size is 3” X 5”.
2. Light weight materials should be used or ornaments may fall from the tree.
3. The weight of individual ornaments cannot exceed 8 ounces.
4. No ornaments made of glass or clay can be accepted or hung.

Ornament Documentation:

Student contributions should be identified in the following ways:

1. Attached to each ornament;
   1. the student’s name,
   2. grade,
   3. school,
   4. school system, and
   5. the teacher’s name.
2. An alphabetical List of students from each contributing school should be provided.  Please see the sample below.

Events:

Students, their families and teachers are invited to a reception at the State House on Saturday, December 12, 2009 from Noon to 1:00 PM and to the public open house at Government House immediately afterward, which will be open until 4:00 PM.

For more information please visit, Maryland State Department of Education