Enter These Free Art Contests for Kids and Teens

If you know a child who is interested in art, consider helping him or her enter some student art contests. There are lots of online art contests for kids, and as I come across them, I’ll post them on this page.

The Benefits of Entering an Art Contest

I have found that art contests offer children some great life lessons:

  • Establishes a goal: Every contest has guidelines and a deadline, which gives a child a specific goal to work toward.
  • Builds confidence: The process of creating the artwork itself builds self-confidence, as the child goes from an “I can’t draw” mindset to one of “I can enter this contest — and I might win!”
  • Encourages strong effort: The art children enter should be their best work, teaching them that no matter what they do, they should do it well.
  • Promotes cultural and social awareness: Many art contests focus on themes related to cultural diversity or social and environmental issues. Participating in these contests can help children develop a deeper understanding of these topics, as well as use art as a medium for change.
  • Provides recognition: If they win, their artwork may be showcased in exhibitions, publications, or online. There’s also the fun of a prize and learning to be a gracious winner.
  • Teaches how to persevere: If they don’t win, there’s the practice of dealing with disappointment and being a good sport.
  • Teaches the importance of effort: Win or lose, when your child creates a piece of art and enters it in a contest, they have tried, which is the first step to success in any endeavor. Just the act of creating art and putting it out into the world is an accomplishment.

Enter Now!

Ready to start? Keep scrolling for a list of current online student art contests (listed in order of deadline). Almost all of them are free to enter.  Once in a while, there will be a contest or two that have just a small fee.

To find out more about a certain contest, click on the name below. If you have a contest you’d like for me to list, please contact me.

If you’d like to see a list of past contests, click here.

Stay Up-to-Date! 

You can stay up-to-date on current contests through my free newsletter. Subscribe here!

 

Art Contests with Set Deadlines

 

Stride-K12 Art Competition (US Only)

DEADLINE: March 25, 2024

Ages: Grades K-12

 

State Fish Art Contest (All Countries)

DEADLINE Extended!  February 28, 2024  March 31, 2024

Ages: Grades 1 -12

 

 VFW Auxiliary’s Young American Creative Patriotic Art Contest (US Only) 

DEADLINE: March 31, 2024

Ages: Grades 9-12

 

Rochester Contemporary Art Center’s 6×6 Art (All Countries) 

DEADLINE: International entries mailed by April 1; Walk-in entries due April 6; US entries mailed by April 8

Ages: All

 

Celebrating Art (US Only)

DEADLINE: April 4, 2024

Ages: Grades K-12

 

American Road Coloring Contest (All Countries Except Where Prohibited – See the guidelines)

DEADLINE: April 30, 2024

Ages: All

 

 North American Marine Environment Protection Association (NAMEPA) Art Contest (North America, Central America, South America, and the Caribbean Only)

DEADLINE: May 3, 2024

Ages: Grades K-12

 

Never Such Innocence International Competition (All Countries) 

DEADLINE: May 24, 2024

Ages: 9-18

Poetry, Art, Speech, and Song

 

JQA International Environmental Children’s Drawing Contest (All Countries) 

DEADLINE: May 31, 2024

Ages: 7-15

 

Bow Seat’s 2024 Ocean Awareness Contest (All Countries) 

DEADLINE: June 10, 2024

Ages: 11 – 18

 

Sketch for Survival Junior (All Countries)

DEADLINE: June 30, 2024

Ages: 16 and under

 

Easter Seals Art Contest (All Countries)

DEADLINE: July 14, 2024

Ages: All

 

Sultan of Arts (All Countries)

DEADLINE: Varies

Ages: 24 and Under

Art, Music, Pantomime, Ballet

 

 

Art Contests with Deadlines that Vary

If you do not live in the country indicated, you can enter any that say “All Countries”. Contests marked “All Countries” are for young artists living anywhere in the world. 

 

FAI Young Artists Contests (All Countries) 

Deadline: Deadline Varies by Country. Contact your country representative. You can find the information here.

Ages: 6 – 17

 

 

Congressional Art Competition (US Only)

Deadline: Varies. Contact your representative. 

Ages: High School

 

 

World Photograph Organisation Monthly Youth Contest (All Countries) 

DEADLINE: End of Each Month

Ages: 12-19

 

 

 

 

Please note: Only family-friendly comments will be published.

Leave a Reply to Thinara Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

397 thoughts on “Enter These Free Art Contests for Kids and Teens

  1. Thank you for sharing the international competitions, as a librarian I always look out for such opportunities our students and teachers can participate in.

  2. Thank you very much for bringing us so many tournaments.
    I participated in international tournaments and got many victories.☺️❤️