Doodle 4 Google is a competition where K-12 students are invited to artistically play with their home pages for a chance to win $$$ and prizes. This year‘s theme for the children is "What I Wish for the World.”

The Doodle 4 Google competition is open to all U.S. residents between the ages of 5 and 18 who attend elementary and secondary schools. Judging for the kids will be done in the following age groups:

Kindergarten - Grade 3
Grade 4 - Grade 6
Grade 7 - Grade 9
Grade 10 - Grade 12

Students attending private schools and home schools are also eligible to participate. Last year's finalist are ineligible to win, but they are allowed to submit doodles and participate in this year's competition.


There will be (10) judging regions as follows:

Region 1: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Vermont
Region 2: New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania
Region 3: Delaware, District of Columbia, Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia
Region 4: Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina
Region 5: Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, Wisconsin
Region 6: Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota
Region 7: Alabama, Arkansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennessee
Region 8: Arizona, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas
Region 9: Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Utah, Wyoming
Region 10: Alaska, California, Hawaii, Oregon, Washington

The judging process is as follows:

400 State Finalists

Up to 400 doodles from across the country will be chosen by a panel of independent judges and Google employees based on which doodles they feel best represent the "What I Wish for the World" theme. In each state, (2) doodles will be selected in each grade group, meaning that each grade group and each state will be equally represented. Entries from the District of Columbia will be judged along with entries from Maryland.

40 Regional Winners

In all, there will be 40 top doodles as Regional Winners. These Regional Winners will be displayed in a gallery on the Google.com website. The U.S. public will then vote for the doodles they believe best capture the theme "What I Wish for the World." And four national finalists will be determined. An awards ceremony for the 40 Regional Winners will be held at the Google New York Office on May 20, 2009.

Of the four finalists, one will be declared the "National Winner of Doodle 4 Google” and will 'go live' on the Google homepage for 24 hours.

So what does this mean to the kids in terms of prizes

The overall winner will receive a $15,000 college scholarship, a trip to the Google New York Office, a laptop computer, and a t-shirt printed with their doodle, plus, a $25,000 technology grant towards the establishment/improvement of a computer lab.

The other 3 National Finalists will each win a trip to the Google New York Office, a laptop computer, and a t-shirt printed with their doodle.
The other 36 Regional Winners will each win a trip to the Google New York Office and a t-shirt printed with their doodle.
The other 360 State Finalists will each receive a "Doodle 4 Google" official winner's certificate.

There are strict deadlines.  Below I have included a link to the homepage for the Doodle 4 Google competition.