Who doesn’t love a Google Doodle? Since launching in 1998, there have been over 2,000 Google Doodles, transforming the iconic logo to mark specific days, anniversaries and events.
But did you know you could create your own Google Doodle?
For the past 10 years, Google has been running an annual Doodle for Google contest which encourages students to send in their ideas for a doodle on a specific theme.
Last year’s Doodle competition was all about “What inspires me.” The winner, second grader Sarah Gomez-Lane, sent in a delightful depiction of dinosaurs to highlight her dream of becoming a palaeontologist.
As part of the prize, Sarah had the opportunity to collaborate with the Doodle team at Google to transform her work into an animated experience.
In addition, she received $30,000 towards a college scholarship, no mean feat considering how expensive university education is in the US, as well as a $50,000 donation to her elementary school to spend on technology.
How to enter this year’s Google Doodle competition
You can now enter this year’s Doodle for Google competition but there is a catch: you have to be of school age and live in the US or a US territory.
The theme for this year’s Doodle for Google contents is “When I grow up, I hope …”. Google is looking for entries that demonstrate what you hope for the future whether that's classrooms on Mars or a pill that cures everything.
There are a few celebrity judges for this year’s event including the host of “The Tonight Show”, Jimmy Fallon, Kermit the Frog and the 2018 US National Teacher of the Year winner Mandy Manning.
If you don’t live in the US, unfortunately, you won’t be able to win this year’s competition but doodling is your passion, it’s worth drafting some entries anyway. Google has a special team of talented illustrators, named Doodlers, which create the doodles that light up the Google homepage.
Who knows, one day you could be a part of it.
