Doodle 4 Google: Adorable hand-drawn dinosaurs win 2018 'What inspires me' contest

The Google Doodle was created by a second-grader

Google Doodles are often used to drive attention to forgotten yet notable cultural figures, but today’s is slightly different.

In what may be one of the tech company’s most inspirational Doodles, January 8 is dedicated to the winner of the 2018 Doodle 4 Google competition – and “the dreams, hopes and talents of students across the country.”

The Doodle, which features hand-drawn dinosaurs, was created by Sarah Gomez-Lane as part of Google’s annual drawing contest – and chosen from hundreds of thousands of submissions.

For this year’s competition – the 10th year – students were asked to create a Doodle based on the theme: “What inspires me…”

According to Google, Gomez-Lane’s Dino Doodle drawing of dinosaurs, which includes a Tyrannosaurus Rex, a dinosaur egg hatching, a Brontosaurus, and a shovel, was inspired by her dream of becoming a palaeontologist.

Of her winning drawing, Gomez-Lane, who’s in the second grade (ages 7-8), said: “When they called my name I felt happy and surprised. I’m going to call my principal, he’s going to say ‘yay.’”

In addition to featuring at the top of the Google homepage for 24 hours, Gomez-Lane also got to see her Doodle transformed into an animated picture – with her T-rex playing the trumpet and her Stegosaurus blowing bubblegum.

And, as part of the prize for winning the competition, the second-grader from Falls Church, Virginia also received $30,000 towards a college scholarship and her elementary school will receive $50,000 to spend on technology.

As for Google’s hopes for the Doodle, Perla Campos, Google Doodle’s global marketing lead said: “I just hope that when people see the Doodle they are also inspired to think about not only what they dreamed of and wished of when they were kids but to also just take a second to enjoy the simple things in life.”

To enter the 2019 competition, you can submit your own Doodle at doodle4google.com. The contest closes on March 18.

The theme for 2019, as announced by guest judges Jimmy Fallon and Kermit the Frog, is “When I grow up, I hope…”