Art Contest for Kids – National “Water Is Life” Art and Classroom Mural Challenge
Looking for a great art contest for kids?
Let them know about the annual Wyland National “Water Is Life” Art Challenge,” with prizes and scholarships for expressing the beauty and challenges facing our ocean, lakes, rivers, streams, and wetlands.
Inspire Young Artists Through the Wyland National Art and Classroom Mural Challenge
The Wyland National Art and Mural Challenge is a nationwide ocean art contest for kids that runs each year from October 1st to December 1st. Open to students of all ages, the challenge invites young artists to explore the beauty of our oceans, rivers, lakes, and wetlands while learning about the environmental issues that impact them. Students can enter individual artwork or collaborate with classmates on murals that express powerful conservation themes. Winners receive classroom prizes, scholarships, and national recognition for their creative contributions to environmental awareness.
Perfect for all grades
What sets this ocean art contest apart is its focus on real-world impact. It’s not just about creating beautiful images—it’s about inspiring kids to think critically about pollution, climate change, and water conservation. Through art, students develop a deeper connection to nature and discover how their voices—and their creativity—can make a difference for our blue planet.
to cto ac- and continues to open – The Wyland National Art and Mural Challenge enhances education by merging art and science. It offers teachers an innovative way to incorporate art into their lessons while meeting educational standards. This is achieved through engaging projects that link artistic expression with important environmental issues.
Here’s how the challenge aligns with educational standards:
* **Visual Arts:** Encourages students to develop original ideas about environmental concerns and refine their artwork to communicate meaning about issues like ocean health, rivers, or climate change.
* **Next Generation Science Standards:** Supports investigations into how humans affect Earth’s systems, particularly water resources.
* **Common Core:** Integrates writing through artist statements and explanatory texts about their artwork and conservation topics.
* **ELA/Literacy:** Builds advocacy skills through student presentations of murals or individual pieces to classmates or the community.
* **STEAM Learning:** Promotes collaborative, research-based problem-solving related to pollution, water conservation, and climate change.
* **Civic and Environmental Literacy:** Empowers students to become advocates for a healthier planet.
Why students benefit
Art can serve as a powerful tool in environmental science education by helping students visualize complex ecosystems. Through artistic representations, such as drawings, paintings, or digital graphics, students can better grasp the intricacies of biodiversity, food webs, and ecological balance. For example, creating visual models of habitats allows students to explore the interdependent relationships between species and their environments, deepening their understanding of ecological concepts.
More powerfully, when students collaborate to create meaningful artwork, they not only learn about environmental issues but also participate in community dialogue. This engagement transforms their understanding of environmental stewardship and empowers them to become advocates for sustainability. This student-driven approach fosters creativity, collaboration, and critical thinking, as students navigate the artistic process while deepening their understanding of the subject matter.
Over the years, we discovered that what had started as a humble art contest for kids proved over time to be something much more. It opened doors for thousands of students to access their inner creativity, self-expression, and a much deeper way to engage with the environment around them.