Tag Archives: Children’s Day

Divyanshi Singhal doodles her hope to have “Walking Trees” in the future, to protect the next generations from deforestation

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/IhnLCVh9R6GMP951-3fPHDdhz1flVfvwglSWZ0wdV6fMgdYYSJ0aYO_SEg1iuAU_MY-X-Ksfl8rS9SSjKfYqBj1l7uUM7NI9TQjSY8qdjFnW9FhHOB-sTdiYiegpqXEIh9juEP9J Sapna Chadha Sapna Chadha, South East Asia and India author_team
The idea of “walking trees” wins votes and hearts to become the national winner of this year’s Doodle for Google contest

This year’s contest saw over 1.1 lakh children from classes 1 to 10 across the country sending in their doodles, based on the theme ‘When I grow up, I hope ..’. It was heartening to see so many fresh, creative depictions for a better world: from cleaning up the ocean, to flying solo using technology, to simply dreaming about a world without boundaries.


After three months, and with participation from over 50 cities across India, we are thrilled to announce this year’s National winner of our Doodle for Google contest: seven-year-old Divyanshi Singhal  from Gurgaon is the national winner with her imaginative, thoughtful, and inspiring doodle, entitled ‘The Walking Tree’. Divyanshi’s doodle will be featured on the Google India homepage on November 14th as part of our celebration of Children’s Day. 






Caption: 2nd grader Divyanshi Singhal from Gurgaon is the national winner of this year’s Doodle for Google Contest




Divyanshi from DPS, Gurgaon, expressed her dismay on trees been cut down, where through her doodle ‘The Walking Trees’ she says, “When I grow up, I hope the world’s trees can walk or fly. The land could be cleared so easily without making them die. There would be so little deforestation and humans can just ask the trees and their friends to move to another place.”


When we inquired how she came up with this delightful idea, she explained, “When I visited my grandmother, I was so sad to see the trees around her house being cut. So I thought that if trees could walk or fly, we will not have to cut them'' she said wistfully. 

This year’s jury, comprising creative masterminds including Rajiv Chilaka, (creator of Chhota Bheem & CEO of Green Gold Animation,) Prajakta Koli (India’s leading female YouTube Creator,) and Neha Sharma (famous artist and creator of Neha Doodles) along with the Google Doodle team had a mammoth task at hand; first, to shortlist from the submissions received, then to choose the 20 Finalists from across the nation, with every piece of art as compelling as the other. All entries were evaluated on the criteria of artistic merit, creativity and theme communication, as well as the uniqueness and novelty in the approach.


The final 20 shortlisted doodles were then showcased online at https://doodles.google.co.in/d4g/ for public voting. The designs for this year’s theme were incredibly creative across all class groups. In addition to the national winner, 5 group winners were also selected. Over 6 lac public votes helped us determine the following group winners for the 5 class groups   

Class group 1-2: 
G.S.S. Sharvan, Sri Prakash Vidya Niketan, Visakhapatnam
Doodle Title: Ocean Friendly 
“When I grow up, I hope to live in a world where the underwater sea animals become free from plastic waste. I would like to clear the underwater using a machine to help sea animals and plants.”


Class Group 3-4: 
Bhaswati Bishoi, Kendriya Vidyalaya, Bhubneswar 
Doodle Title: From moon to moon!
“My parents gave me the nickname “Moonmoon”, telling me go moon to moon. When I grow up, I hope to fulfill my parent’s dream, and to participate in the space voyage to discover the undiscovered.”


Class Group 5-6: 
Ankit Bhattacharya, Delhi Public School, Kolkata
Doodle Title: Learning with Fun 
Grades place students in predefined categories like A, B, C which compel them to run after marks rather than to acquire real knowledge. So when I grow up, I hope there is no fear of exams. Learning is more fun and students expand their horizons, improve creativity and skill without any stress.


Class Group 7-8: 
Pyla Vijay Kumar, Sri Prakash Vidyaniketan, Visakhapatnam
Doodle Title: Khadi, an evergreen Indian pride
“When I grow up, I hope to spread the significance and genuinity of KHADI material in order to increase its production and utilisation, thereby restoring the Indian Culture.”




Class Group 9-10: 
Sidagam Sai Sathvik, Sri Prakash Vidya Niketan, Visakhapatnam
Doodle Title: Everlasting Impact -- Indian Folk Art
“When I grow up, I hope the world recognises the magnificent treasure of India -- Indian Folk Art -- and passes it on to the next generations leaving an everlasting impact.”


With the Doodle for Google competition, we aim to celebrate and promote creativity, passion, and imagination in young people across the country, and we continue to be overwhelmed by the participation from the talented and creative young artists each year. 


A heartfelt thanks from the Doodle for Google team and the jury to all who voted and helped us select this year's winners. Most importantly, we thank the students who submitted their wonderful entries this year, and our partner schools and guest judges -- it was incredibly challenging to select the winning doodles from the amazing entries we had the honor of reviewing. 


Keep on doodling, and looking forward to seeing you next year!


Posted by Sapna Chadha, Senior Director of Marketing, Southeast Asia & India

Meet the finalists of India’s Doodle for Google 2019

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/W4NmwXSuc63zm8_DxW1gDwnI6Hh3Q3vV6_UUCYjg3cJqHt7J3jQg104G8Q4GDunjway8UfuzGONg-uxJlGgmTlPhtK_kYed9vxvcoaM28F8_5y1x77Dz-09FMKsuJFNBVPG5wOEF Sapna Chadha Director of Marketing, South East Asia and India author_team
With over 1.1 lakh children participating, you can now vote for your favourite little doodler’s entries!


This year, we asked art-loving students from Class 1 to Class 10 in India to show us, via a Doodle, what they hope for in their future (‘When I grow up, I hope ..’).  We were humbled to see the expanse of creativity and imagination from this next generation of thinkers and received entries from over 1.1 lakh children from across the country. What was even more inspiring was that 55 percent of these were from non-metro cities, including Visakhapatnam, Bhopal, Kota, Ambala, Siliguri, Kottayam, Bareilly and Bhubaneswar. Creativity clearly has no boundaries in India.


Today, we are glad to announce the top 20 finalists for the annual Doodle for Google (D4G) 2019 competition. These children expressed themselves in unique ways, giving us a sneak peek into what they hope for: from having a world without boundaries to making learning fun for school kids; bringing innovation in farming to promoting Indian folk art; space exploration to saving animals. The children depicted their ideas using crayons, clay, and a range of graphic design mediums.




And here’s where you get to vote for your favourite little doodler! It’s time for you to show some love, and ensure their doodle is featured on www.google.co.in on Children’s Day (November 14, 2019.) Online voting to pick the final winner starts on October 25 and will close at 10:00PM IST on November 6. Finally, based on your votes the shortlisted entries will be considered by the national jury who will pick the winners.


During the time, we partnered with NGOs like Smile Foundation, Protsahan, Salaam Balak Trust, and You & Society to conduct art workshops for kids. We conducted these across Delhi, Hyderabad, Bangalore and Kolkata, where the artists shared doodling tips with the children.




This year’s D4G participants are grouped into five categories: students from Class 1 and 2; from Class 3 and 4; Class 5 and 6; Class 7 and 8, and finally Class 9 and 10. The entries went through multiple rounds of judging, first by a panel of art teachers, then by a jury comprising creative masterminds such as Rajiv Chilaka, (creator of Chhota Bheem & CEO of Green Gold Animation,) Prajakta Koli (India’s leading female YouTube Creator,) and Neha Sharma (famous artist and creator of Neha Doodles.) Details of the finalists along with their doodles are showcased at https://doodles.google.co.in/d4g/vote/.


Here is the list of the 20 finalists from across India:


Group 1: Class 1 to 2
  1. G.S.S. Sharvan, Sri Prakash Vidya Niketan, Visakhapatnam
  2. Divyanshi Singhal, DPS, Gurgaon 
  3. Nevisha Thareja, GD Goenka Public School, Gurgaon
  4. Rutvi Ravi Mandaliya, DPS, Bhopal 


    Group 2: Class 3 to 4
    1. Aarushi Amit Swant, Children’s Academy, Mumbai
    2. M. Nandhakishore, Sri Prakash Vidya Niketan, Visakhapatnam
    3. CH. Bhawagnya, Sri Prakash Vidya Niketan, Visakhapatnam
    4. Bhaswati Bishoi, Kendriya Vidyalaya, Bhubneswar 


      Group 3: Class 5 to 6
      1. Dontam Setty Dheeraj, Sri Prakash Vidyaniketan, Visakhapatnam
      2. Ponnada Sai Akshita, Sri Prakash Vidyaniketan, Visakhapatnam
      3. Ankit Bhattacharya, Delhi Public School, Kolkata
      4. K.Vinil, TSWRES, Hyderabad 


        Group 4: Class 7 to 8
        1. V. Karan Dev, Kendriya Vidyalaya, Bangalore 
        2. P. Vijay Kumar, Sri Prakash Vidyaniketan, Visakhapatnam
        3. Sarah Elisa Jogy, Udayachal High School, Mumbai 
        4. P. Sai Likhit, Sri Prakash Vidyaniketan, Visakhapatnam


          Group 5: Class 9 to 10
          1. S. Sai Sathvik, Sri Prakash Vidyaniketan, Visakhapatnam
          2. Mahita Madaka, Sri Prakash Vidyaniketan, Visakhapatnam
          3. Bhooshan, St. Aloysius High School, Mangalore
          4. P Sai Homesh,  TSWRES, Hyderabad 


            About the History of the Doodle:


            Doodles are the fun, surprising, and sometimes spontaneous changes that are made to the Google logo to celebrate holidays, anniversaries, and the lives of famous artists, pioneers and scientists. Over the years, doodles on the Google homepage have made the act of searching more fun and enjoyable for users worldwide. When doodles were first created, nobody anticipated how popular and integral they would be to the Google search experience. These days, many users excitedly anticipate the release of each new doodle and some even collect them!


            Having a little bit of fun with our logo by redesigning it from time to time is unheard of at many companies, but at Google it is a part of our brand. And Doodle for Google is one of our favourite moments, when we have the unique honor of seeing how kids represent our logo in the context of their own hopes and dreams.

            Posted by Sapna Chadha, Director of Marketing, Southeast Asia & India

            Doodle for Google is back!

            https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/HozTB1ZB--zpH1NZisXNG_A1NweLikSZyQxsE-26mebUIO-sylVyJ2qohQQQqNjtQrJPh7OxxFp58XTQJNafehu6ROx2xgZqEck5ofdVCsYA-Zc1MksoZ_A1UFpSqbsCPeJ3GPxd Sapna Chadha Director, Southeast Asia & India Marketing

            This time encouraging young artists to draw “When I grow up, I hope ….”


            I have the privilege of being a mother of seven year old twins, and it’s always amazing to see the imaginative things they come up with. I’ve come to realize that they each have such distinct dreams and hopes for themselves and for the world; my daughter hopes that everyone in the world should have a roof over their head and enough food to eat,  while my son hopes that he can travel the world and thinks about how the world markets and population will change over the next 50 years (yes, he is seven!) What a lovely thing it is, to be able to get a glimpse of the future from a child’s perspective, which brings me to hope that they never stop dreaming about what the world can be.  


            On that note, I am excited to announce the 2019 edition of  Doodle for Google contest where students across India will get a chance to showcase their creativity in the form of a doodle on www.google.co.in for a day on Children’s Day i.e. 14th November 2019. 


            This year’s theme is “When I grow up, I hope….” tapping into the aspirations and imagination of young India. Anything kids dream about is fair-play - from edible clouds, to a pollution-free world, to a city haven full of endangered animals, and a life on the moon. Crayons, water colours, clay or graphic design; young artists can utilise any materials to bring their creation to life but like all Google Doodles, each doodle must incorporate the letters G-o-o-g-l-e.




            Last year, we received thousands of entries from all across India -- including big metros and smaller cities, covering the length and breadth of the country. If you are inspired to participate this year, download the form, let your imagination flow, draw your doodle and press the ‘submit’ button! Please visit ‘How it works’ page on the website for detailed instructions about participation. 


            Every year, the toughest part of the contest is to pick a winner and therefore we have a stellar jury of guest judges including renowned illustrator Neha Sharma, fondly known as Neha Doodles, Prajakta Koli AKA MostlySane who is one of India’s most popular YouTube Creators, and Rajiv Chikala the creator and CEO of Green Gold Animation who is also the conspirator of the famous animated character Chhota Bheem. 


            Internal judging and jury votes will be used to identify the top 20 doodles, which will be put up for public voting from October 21st to November 6th 2019, where the entire public will be able to vote for their favourite doodle. Winning doodle will be awarded a college scholarship worth five lakh rupees, a technology package worth two lakh for their school or non-profit organization, along with many other exciting prizes.


            Submissions for this year close on 30th September 2019 at 10 PM IST. That’s only eight short weeks so hurry! Students between class 1 to 10 are welcome to submit their entries at doodles.google.co.in/d4g. For parents, teachers and all of you who know a young doodler, do encourage them to participate! We can’t wait to see all the wonderful entries and learn more about the aspirations of India’s future.

            By Sapna Chadha, Director of Marketing, Southeast Asia & India

            Celebrate Children’s Day with YouTube Kids

            From the nursery-rhyme songs of ChuChuTV to DIY science experiment videos by Hooplakidz Lab, Indian families love singing along and learning from YouTube videos. That’s why for this year’s Children’s Day, we’re thrilled to be bringing the YouTube Kids app to India, an app built from the ground up with curious youngsters in mind. The standalone, family-friendly app makes it easier for children to find videos on topics they want to explore, and is available for free on Google Play and the App Store in India starting today.

            YouTube Kids unlocks an unparalleled library of kids and learning content from India and across the globe, and brings your favourite kids content front and center. When you open up the app, you’ll see popular kids videos in Hindi and English highlighted on the home screen. Of course, just like on the main YouTube app, you’ll be able to search for videos in various Indian languages, such as Telugu rhymes from Infobells and Tamil songs from Chellame Chellam, just to name a few.

            Here’s what you’ll get with YouTube Kids:

            Bright and playful design
            Your child may already be a swiping expert, but the app’s design makes it even easier to follow the adventures of Little Krishna or learn from fun DIY arts & crafts videos from Mad Stuff with Rob. With larger images, bold icons and more, it’s fast and simple for little thumbs to navigate. And we’ve built in voice search so that even if your child can’t spell or type, they can still find videos of things they’re curious about.


            Family-focused content
            We’re pleased to announce that many of your favourite Indian YouTube creators will be adding new shows exclusive to YouTube for the Kids launch. These include new learning shows from ChuChuTV and Kids TV, a new season of "Cat & Keet", a popular chase comedy show by Toonz Animation, the Gummy Bear song in Hindi, and a new season of Appu - The Yogic Elephant. And of course, your kids can watch any series from all of the YouTube channels they already know and love. We’ll also be bringing in new guest-selected playlists from educators, celebrities, trusted names, and other parents in the coming weeks.

            We’ve built the YouTube Kids app to be a more family-friendly version of YouTube, a place for kids to explore their imagination and curiosity. You can browse channels and playlists in four categories: Shows, Music, Learning and Explore. Search for videos of particular interest to your family, like the structure of an atom on Exam Fear Videos or watch favourites from LittleBabyBum, Galli Galli Sim Sim, and Videogyan.




            Parental controls
            We’ve built options into the app that help you control the experience for your kids and put parents in the driver’s seat.
            • Learn how the app works: When parents open YouTube Kids, they learn upfront how our systems choose and recommend content and how to flag videos. We always try to make the videos available in the app family-friendly, but no system is perfect. So if you ever find a video you’re concerned about, please flag it. This helps make YouTube Kids better for everyone.
            • Search settings: We’ll also prompt you to make a choice about how broadly you want your child to explore - turn search on to access millions of family-friendly videos, or turn search off to restrict your child’s experience to a more limited set. Either way, parents decide the right experience for their family from the get-go.
            • Timer: Let the app be the bad guy with a built-in timer that lets you limit kids’ screen time. The app alerts your child when the session is over, so you don’t have to. (You’re welcome. ;)
            • Sound settings: Sometimes you need a little peace and quiet! You have an option to turn off background music and sound effects, so your kids can keep watching while parents catch a breath.
            • Passcode: Parents have the ability to set their own passcode, and to access settings and other parental information in the app.
            • YouTube Kids on the big screen: You can now also watch YouTube Kids as a family on your big screen using Chromecast, Apple TV, game consoles or a smart TV.



            India already has a very diverse and rapidly-growing creator base for kids and learning, with watchtime of this category growing 100% year over year. Indian creators are hugely popular worldwide: for every view an Indian-made kids’ video gets at home, it receives nine overseas. We’re pleased that YouTube Kids will be able to provide the perfect platform to showcase India’s incredibly vibrant, growing community of content creators, from animation studios to edutubers. It will also open up more access to content that will enrich the lives of Indian families, and create new opportunities for learning for your precious kids.

            So from all of us at YouTube, we wish you a Happy Children’s Day — and enjoy!

            Posted by Don Anderson, father of two and Head of Kids and Learning Partnerships, YouTube Asia Pacific, recently watched Appu Demonstrates Patience.