Explorify Art Competition 2025

After the success of last year's art competition, we decided to run it again this year, and invite even more pupils across the UK to think creatively about their science learning!

The Explorify Art competition was inspired by our Start With Art activities, which celebrate creativity and curiosity in children’s science learning. Ideal for use in the middle or at the end of a science topic, these activities are a sure-fire way to start children talking, encouraging them to ponder and discuss possible connections between a work of art and what they’ve been learning about in science. Check out this helpful read to find out more about Start With Art.

The Explorify Art Competition invites children to create their own Start With Art artwork. They could draw or paint a picture, make a model or a sculpture, create a collage, design a print, take a photograph… whatever they choose. They might seek inspiration from one of our featured Start With Art artists (but note that children’s entries do need to be original, rather than copies of existing works of art). Or perhaps they’ve learned about the style and work of a particular artist, or have explored new skills in art such as water-colour or hand building with clay. Here’s a purposeful opportunity for them to put those skills into practice. Can they find a way to show their science learning through their art? Can they create something that will spark a conversation about science among other children that look at it?

The winning works of art will each be made into a new Start With Art activity that will be published on the Explorify site, ready to be used by more than 100,000 teachers with their classes of children in schools around the world. The activities made from last year's winners were 'What is changing?' and 'Ocean habitat'.

The winners will also receive a £50 book token.

There are two age categories:

• 7 and under (at the start of the Autumn term 2024),

• 8 (at the start of the Autumn term 2024) to 12 (at the end of the summer term 2025).

Entries are welcomed from all educational settings in the UK, including home-educated children. A child can only be entered into the competition once. Artwork submitted can only be created by up to 2 children.

How to get started and take part

1. Include the Start With Art competition in your planning for the spring term, giving you a clear and purposeful cross-curricular link between art and science. 

2. Before the children start making their artwork make sure they are familiar with the Start with Art activities as this will make it easier for them to understand the expectation – to create art with a link to science. Remember, the ‘start’ in Start With Art refers to starting a discussion or starting to use art as a way into science. The activities aren’t as well suited to the start of a new topic. 

3. Once your children are familiar with the way Start With Art works, tell them about the competition. This could be a good opportunity to review their learning across several science topics, depending on whether you’re telling them which aspect of science to include, or allowing them to choose. If you use floor books or science progress books, look back at the learning over time. Or simply focus on the topic you’re currently working on.

4. Get creative! Remember, the idea is to create a discussion starter. The science connection doesn’t need to be ridiculously easy to guess. The children’s creations should be thought-provoking and original. A sculpture of a super hero squashing an iron bar, for instance, might prompt a discussion about which materials can be squashed, and whether metal is ever squashable.

5. Whatever the children create, they should be able to explain the science learning that is ‘hidden’ in their artwork. Competition entries must be accompanied by a short paragraph (up to 150 words) that explains the science behind the artwork.

6. You will need to choose a maximum of three entries per age group per school to submit to the Explorify competition but we encourage you to celebrate all the children’s works of art such as displaying them in an exhibition and challenging visitors to ‘find the science’ in the various pieces.

To enter the competition please complete the age appropriate online entry form where you can upload an image, PDF or presentation file of the artworks.

The full Terms and Conditions for the competition can be found here.