The 13th Annual

Arbor Week Poster Contest

Congratulations to our 2023 Winners!

2023 Poster Contest Information

Each year California kicks off Arbor Week with a poster contest. California Arbor Week is an annual celebration of trees which takes place March 7 to 14. Across the state, communities honor trees. California youth are encouraged to participate too by thinking about the importance of trees and creatively sharing their love and knowledge of them in a piece of art. Any California youth age 5-12 can submit a poster.

This year’s theme is “Trees Plant a Cooler Future.” We want you to think about how trees have the power to make our neighborhoods a cooler place.

Have you ever visited a park on a hot summer day? Walking or playing under the sun’s heat can make us hot, thirsty, and tired. But it can be magically different under the shade of a tree. In fact, on a very hot day, it can be up to 20 degrees cooler in the shade! Trees shade us from direct sunlight and cool us down through the natural air condition they produce when water moves up from the soil through the tree’s roots and evaporates out of the tree’s leaves into the air helping us cool down.

Did you know trees do many cool things beyond providing us shade? Trees purify our air, clean rainwater, provide homes and healthy food for wildlife, take carbon dioxide out of the air and create oxygen for us to breathe. Scientists have also learned trees help humans relax, feel calmer, and even help us do better on schoolwork! Trees can make a big difference in creating healthy communities, which is why it is so important that we plant more trees all over California, especially in communities that don’t have enough tree cover. Together we can plant a cooler future!

Think about how “Trees Plant a Cooler Future” and what that means to you – and then make it into a poster! A committee will review all submitted posters and select the statewide finalists. Each winner will receive a cash prize ranging from $25 to $100 and a printed copy of their poster.

The top winning posters will be unveiled at the Arbor Week press conference on March 7th and will then be on the California ReLeaf and California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CAL FIRE) websites and shared via social media channels.