Get Chalking For The National Young Pavement Artist Competition

Ever thought your town's streets look a bit grey and boring?

Well here's your chance to brighten up your neighbourhood by having a go at some pavement art.

A competition is running to find the National Young Pavement Artist for 2007 and anyone aged between 4 and 19 can enter.

All you need is some coloured chalks and plenty of imagination!

It's International Polar Year 2007/08 at the moment so the theme for this year's competition is the Arctic and Antarctic.

The Arctic is the area around the North Pole and the Antarctic is around the South Pole.

The organisers want young artists to think about the environment of these remote places and how man is affecting the landscape and nature there.

You could draw some penguins like the ones above, or maybe tackle a scene with icebergs in it.

Animals like penguins and polar bears are threatened by global warming so it's a good opportunity to think about how we can do our part to protect the environment.

Schools and youth clubs all over the country are organising local pavement art competitions and the winners from these will go into the national final.

This will be held in London in October with a panel of judges from the Royal Academy, one of the oldest and best known artists' clubs in the country.

The best pavement art will go on display at a special exhibition.

This is last year's winning artwork by Jack Lewis, age 11 - the theme was Rainforests.

The competition is all in aid of the Muscular Dystrophy Campaign, which is a charity that helps people who have muscle disease.

If your school or club isn't already involved in the competition, ask your teacher or club leader to have a look at the National Young Pavement Artist website where they can find all the details about organising a local competition.

You've got until July 31 2007 to submit artworks to the national finals, so get cracking!

If you want to find out more about International Polar Year and try some great games and activities have a look at Show Me's story, Icebergs, Bears, Penguins: International Polar Year Begins!.

All images courtesy of Muscular Dystrophy Campaign.