Cosmic designs sought for Armagh Observatory & Planetarium’s children’s Christmas card competition
It's paint brushes, pencils, crayons at the ready as Armagh Observatory and Planetarium sets budding young artists a festive Christmas card mission inspired by science and space.
Making a comeback, the competition, targeting Key Stage 1 and 2 pupils, aims to ignite kids imagination and creativity into festive designs from Santa’s sleigh as a spacecraft, to Santa flying through an aurora to Christmas on the Moon.
Speaking about the competition, Sinead Mackle, Head of Education and Outreach, said: “The Christmas card competition is a unique way of blending art and science. We are looking for artwork inspired by Christmas and one or more of the physics themes – light, rockets and motions, astronomy, winter sky and space exploration.
“To support teachers, we have developed a resource pack which has themes, key facts, practical activities and creative prompts to help them introduce physics and science into the classroom with a festive theme. We look forward to receiving the entries and seeing how entrants interpret the themes.”
The lucky winner of each category, Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2, will receive a free class visit to Armagh Observatory and Planetarium, with additional runner up prizes of 10 child memberships and one family membership.
Entries must by A4 size or less, and designs can be drawn, painted or digitally created, and should not be AI generated. Entries can be submitted via email to [email protected] or posted to FAO: Sinead Mackle, Armagh Observatory and Planetarium, College Hill, BT61 9DB.
The competition will close for entries on Thursday, November 5.
For full competition details, including terms and conditions, visit the Armagh Observatory and Planetarium website.
The competition is funded by the Institute of Physics Ireland and supported by Birr Castle and Dunsink Observatory as part of the Astronomical Observatories of Ireland (AOI), who are running the same competition in their respective areas.
The Armagh Observatory and Planetarium has also published their full Christmas events programme on their website under What’s On.