Google’s Doodle contest for kids returns with $80K in prizes

The “Doodle For Google” contest is open for submissions from US children in grades K-12 again, this year with more than $80K in prizes for the national winner.

The annual contest kicked off earlier this week with a performance by everyone’s favorite muppet… and a felt frog. If you’re a kid, this happened way past your bedtime.

According to Google, the rules of the contest are pretty simple. School-aged children are encouraged to submit a 2D (no GIFs or videos) drawing of the the letters “G-O-O-G-L-E” stylized in the same vein as the daily “Google Doodle” featured on the company’s homepage.

The 2019 Doodle for Google theme is: “When I grow up, I hope…” According to the official contest website:

This year’s theme invites you to show us what you hope for in your future. Classrooms on Mars? Shoes that can fly? Food for everyone? A pill that cures everything? Take your ideas and put them into your Doodle!

Google’s official doodles are a tradition nearly as old as the company itself. The first doodle was an “out-of-office” marker intended to let internet denizens know the company’s founders would be away at the Burning Man festival in 1998.

Today, they’re used to celebrate everything from important global events to dates associated with notable historical figures. And now your kid has a shot to showcase their doodling talent on what’s arguably the planet’s biggest stage. Here’s what you need to know:

• Doodles must be sent by March 18^th 2019
• Entries will be judged in five separate grade groups (K-3, 4-5, 6-7, 8-9, and 10-12)
• Entries go through four rounds of judging, resulting in a pool of 53 “state and territory” winners being whittled down to five finalists (one in each grade group) and then a single national winner
• All winners will receive a Chromebook and an Android tablet
• The national winner will receive a $30K scholarship and up to $50K for their school’s technology labs (see the website for fine print), they’ll also have their doodle featured on the US Google Search homepage for an entire day

For more information, or to enter (all entries must have parental permission), go to the Doodle For Google homepage.

We reached out to Google for further comment and will update this story as needed.