Attention Young Artists:
Each year California kicks off Arbor Week with a poster contest. California Arbor Week is an annual celebration of trees that takes place March 7 to 14. Across the state, communities honor trees. You can participate too by thinking about the importance of trees and creatively sharing your love and knowledge of them in a piece of art. Any California youth age 5-12 can submit a poster.
Theme
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!
About
Entries are due Feb 13, 2023. A committee will review all submitted posters and select the statewide finalists. Each winner will receive a cash prize ranging from $25 to $100 as well as a printed copy of their poster. The top winning posters are unveiled at the Arbor Week press conference 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.
For more information about Arbor Week please visit, Arbor Week | California ReLeaf
Resources for Grown-ups to share with kids:
- For fun, tree-oriented science activities to do with kids, visit Educational Resources | California ReLeaf
- For more information about the benefits of trees, visit Benefits of Trees | California ReLeaf