Google Doodle facts for kids
A Google Doodle is a special, temporary change to the Google logo on Google's homepage. These changes celebrate holidays, events, important achievements, and famous historical figures.
The first Google Doodle was made on August 30, 1998. It honored the Burning Man event. Google's co-founders, Larry Page and Sergey Brin, designed it. They wanted to let users know they were away from the office in case the servers had problems. Later, a team of Google employees called "Doodlers" started creating and publishing these special logos.
At first, Doodles were simple pictures. They didn't move or have links. They just showed a picture with a small message when you hovered over them. Over time, Doodles became more frequent and complex. The first animated Doodle appeared on October 31, 2000, for Halloween. The first interactive Doodle, which you could play, came out on May 21, 2010, celebrating Pac-Man. Doodles also started to include links, usually taking you to a search page about the Doodle's topic. By 2019, the Doodlers team had created over 4,000 Doodles for Google's homepages around the world!
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What are Google Doodles?
Google Doodles celebrate many different things. They honor well-known events and holidays. They also celebrate artists and scientists on their birthdays. Sometimes, Doodles show major events happening at Google itself, like the company's anniversary.
Doodles also celebrate historic moments. For example, there was a Lego brick design for the 50th anniversary of the interlocking Lego block. Some Google Doodles appear only in certain countries. Others are shown globally on all Google homepages.
Popular Doodle Themes
Many Doodles appear every year for the same holidays and events. Here are some common ones:
- New Year's Day (since 2000)
- Martin Luther King Jr. Day (since 2003)
- Lunar New Year (since 2001)
- Valentine's Day (since 2000)
- International Women's Day (since 2005)
- Saint Patrick's Day (since 2000)
- Earth Day (since 2001)
- Mother's Day (since 2000)
- Father's Day (since 2000)
- Juneteenth (since 2020)
- U.S. Independence Day (since 2000)
- Bastille Day (since 2000)
- German Unity Day (since 2002)
- Swiss National Day (since 2001)
- Olympic Games (since 2000)
- Halloween (since 1999)
- Hinamatsuri (since 2009)
- U.S. Thanksgiving Day (since 1998)
- Christmas Day (since 1999)
- New Year's Eve (since 1999)
Who are the Doodlers?
The "Doodlers" are the talented artists, illustrators, and engineers at Google who create the Doodles. Some famous Doodlers include Ekua Holmes, Jennifer Hom, Sophia Foster-Dimino, Ranganath Krishnamani, Dennis Hwang, Olivia Fields, Nate Swinehart, Lynnette Haozous, and Eric Carle.
Fun and Interactive Doodles
In May 2010, Google released its first interactive Doodle. It celebrated the 30th anniversary of the classic 1980 arcade game Pac-Man. People visiting Google could play Pac-Man right on the logo! The Doodle even made the same sounds as the original game.
The "I'm Feeling Lucky" button was changed to an "Insert Coin" button. If you clicked it once, you could play the Pac-Man game. Clicking it again let a second player join as Ms. Pac-Man! This Pac-Man Doodle was very popular, with an estimated 1 billion players worldwide. Because so many people loved it, Google later made a permanent website where you can still play the game.
"Doodle 4 Google" Competitions
Google also holds special competitions for school students called Doodle 4 Google. In these contests, students get to create their own Google Doodles!
The winning doodles are shown on the Doodle4Google website. The public can then vote for their favorite. The winner gets a trip to the Googleplex (Google's headquarters) and their winning doodle is displayed on the Google website for 24 hours!
This competition started in the United Kingdom. It has since spread to the United States and many other countries around the world.
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