Teaching the Whole Child: Doodle for Google

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Last week, our son came home from school talking about how he was going to “Doodle for Google”. He went on about what it meant and how they had talked about it in class. Doodle for Google is an annual art contest open to students in grades K-12.

As if he wasn’t excited enough about the contest, he loved that the whole class was doing it! I love when teachers are teaching the whole child (working on all areas of the child’s mind… the academic side, the creative side, the emotional side, etc…)

I’m excited to be sharing this story today as part of a sponsored post with Google, as part of the Mom It Forward Influencer Network

A close up of a colorful drawing of a funnel making different colored liquids.

When he brought home the paper about Doodle for Google with the contest rules, I knew that the minute Mickey saw it, it would turn into a family project. (Note: Anything that involves art, creativity or doodling is Mickey’s area of expertise). The submissions are due by March 18, 2019, so we started working on it right away. We came up with some really fun ideas, together.

I looked into the winner’s entry from last year. I think the part the I loved the most was that the 6-year-old winner last year won because of her answer about the future, not necessarily her drawing (although it was very good & creative!)
$A child\'s drawing of dinosaurs.$
A Google Representative said they were: “blown away by her big (you might even say ‘dino-sized!’) ambitions for her future, especially at her young age,” the tech company said in a statement.

This year’s theme is “When I grow up, I hope…” so we all thought about what we hoped for our futures, but the kids doodled their own hopes on their paper. (They can use any materials that they want, so one of ours used paint, one use crayons, and two kids used markers.

After they finished their creations, they wrote their “Doodle Description” which was their statement to talk about what they drew & why it inspired them. You can even print out cards to help your kids with their thinking processes…

A close up of two cards standing on a wooden table.

A close up of two tented cards sitting on a table.
You can find it here:

Together we filled out the rest of the entry for and turned all four entries in (I just scanned their doodles, uploaded them & sent them in with the form. (You can mail it in, too.)

Note: There will be a winner representing each US State/Territory, one of which will go on to win a $30,000 college scholarship, $50,000 technology package for their school or the non-profit of their choice, and their Doodle featured on the Google.com homepage for a day.

Find more info, along with teacher lessons, helpful tools to use & print (like the cards we are using), contest rules & more here… DOODLE FOR GOOGLE