Art & Writing Contest for Special Ops Kids and Teens

April 13, 2024

A Contest to Celebrate SOF Kids in the Month of the Military Child

Military special operations families face a unique set of challenges and hardships. Our Annual Art & Writing Contest for Kids and Teens is a creative contest for SOF children during the National Month of the Military Child.

We love to offer this competition every year because it brilliantly highlights the imagination, creativity, and talents of our youth. It helps us promote ways to strengthen family bonds and encourage pride in the toughness and creativity of our kids. Kids create what is on their minds, and it provides a rich foundation for interesting conversations. We can’t wait to see where your imagination, creativity, and ideas lead you!

Everyone loves to receive a fun surprise in the mail, so every kid or teen who enters the contest will receive a FREE book from our partner, United Through Reading (UTR) (link). But you don’t have to wait for the book to start creating! To receive book inspiration.

Sign-up for Inspiration

Contest Prompts

  • If you could go anywhere, where would you go, and how would you get there?
  • Who would be with you on your trip/adventure, and what would they do/say/want/discover?
  • If you could create anything, what would it be, and what would it do?

Get Inspired to Create

Here are some links to books for all ages that are connected to one or more of the prompts: Harold and the Purple Crayon, Oh the Places You Will Go, Be a Maker, The Giver, We Dream of Space,  The Boys in the Boat, Beyond the Bright Sea

How to Enter the Contest

Age Groups  

  • 1 -5 years
  • 6-10 years
  • 11- 14 years
  • 15-18 years

Submission Categories

Enter the contest here!

Submissions Due May 17th. Winners announced May 31st, 2024.

Rules & Limitations: One entry per child in each category. A parent must approve the sharing of first name and art or writing on social media, website, and any press coverage.

Judging criteria: (1=fair, 2=good, 3=strong)

  • Creativity: Content appears authentically congruent to the age group, you have a positive use of color or technical skill, the work appears unique or stands out 
  • Self-expression: Content expresses the perspective or experience of the child/teen, evokes in you either positive feelings or thoughtful truths
  • Theme alignment: Does the work fit the theme? Are people, animals, and/or objects related to this theme referenced in the image or work?

  • The Military Special Operations Family Collaborative is a 501(c)3 nonprofit, public health initiative founded in 2018 to enable all Special Operations families to live well.

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