Our Story

While trick-or-treating, our children received a coloring contest sheet from a local business. Our five year old son, who absolutely loves coloring, was thrilled. We told him it was a competition and he took his time, carefully coloring every detail. Our three year old daughter, on the other hand, joyfully scribbled her way through her masterpiece and ended up winning her age category! Our son didn't win his category, Although he was disappointed when his sister won, he didn't give up. Instead, he immediately wanted to try again.

 

A few weeks later, we received another coloring contest sheet from a local bank. Once again, our kids were buzzing with excitement. That's when we started wondering: Are there any national coloring contests for kids?

 

After searching, we discovered that there were very few opportunities beyond small contests organized by local businesses, schools and community organizations. There was nothing large scale, recurring and accessible to children across the country, especially something that combined creativity, education and meaningful prizes.

 

As a Grassland Ecologist in South Dakota, I'm passionate about protecting ecosystems and inspiring the next generation to care about the natural world. That's when the idea came together: What if we created a free, nationwide, recurring coloring contest that combined creativity with conservation?

 

And with that, Conserve with Crayons was born.

 

Conserve with Crayons is a nationwide conservation literacy organization that gives children and young adults ages 0–18 an opportunity to express their creativity, learn about nature, and compete for prizes through free conservation-focused competitions. We will host recurring coloring contests, along with free member-only competitions that go beyond coloring and challenge young people to think creatively about conservation.

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Our goal is to bring conservation organizations, agencies, nonprofits, educators, and other partners together to connect young people with valuable information about wildlife, habitats, ecosystems, and the outdoors, all through fun, accessible activities that inspire curiosity and learning.

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Every entry helps advance our mission of making conservation education more accessible to the next generation. Together, we can inspire young people to appreciate nature, become lifelong stewards of the outdoors, and help protect the natural resources we all share.

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Lucas Zilverberg

Executive Director