Doodle for Google - let a Kenyan win this World Cup!

Kenyan girl enjoying football

Google announced today an exciting international initiative for young people called "Doodle 4 Google - I love football". The drawing competition invites aspiring young artists to design their own Google logo inspired by the theme "I love football". The winning Doodle will be displayed internationally on the Google homepage for a day the day of the World Cup Final - July 11, 2010. This will be the first ever international Doodle 4 Google competition, and it’s the first time Google is running this competition in Africa – in Ghana, Kenya and South Africa.

The Doodle 4 Google competition is open to all children in the participating countries aged 4 to 17. Young artists are being asked to create an image around the love of football, regardless of which specific team they support.

In judging the Doodles, Google will be looking for designs that capture the spirit of football and fair play, show artistic merit and creativity, and express a love of the game in their title and supporting statement. The contest has two levels: national and international. The national winning Doodle will be displayed on the Google homepage of the relevant country for 24 hours in June.

The national winner will then automatically be entered into the global competition, in which the public from around the world will vote for their overall favorite Doodle.

National contest – Get your art featured in Kenya

Google employees from Google Africa will select the top 40 doodles and invite the finalists to an event in Nairobi, in which the national winner will be announced. The national winning doodle will be displayed on the Kenyan Google homepage for 24 hours.

Global contest – Get your art featured globally!

Children enjoying drawing a Doodle for Google

The national winner will automatically be entered in the global competition. The public from around the world will vote for their overall favorite doodle. The overall winning doodle will be displayed on the Google homepage of all the participating countries for 24 hours, in July 2010. The overall winner will win a holiday for 4 people to South Africa! The runner-up will win 2 VIP tickets to a Premiere League football match in the UK, including international flights, domestic transportation and accommodation in the city where the match takes place.

Let's make sure a Kenyan kid wins this global competition! For more info about the competition for Kenya please visit the Kenyan Doodle 4 Google site. Deadline for submissions is 3rd of May, 2010.