The LEGO Group and National Trust launch Young Explorer competition

A new collaboration between the LEGO Group and National Trust will encourage children to get creative outdoors as part of the Young Explorer competition.

Coinciding with National Play Day, which takes place on August 5, and National Trust’s Play Week, which runs from August 3 until August 10, the LEGO Group and National Trust are asking children up to the age of 12 to create imaginative, adventurous nature scenes featuring LEGO bricks and minifigures in an outdoor setting.

To be in with a chance of winning the competition, parents need to submit a photo of the scene on Facebook with the hashtag #LEGOYoungExplorer.

The Young Explorer competition aims to inspire and empower families to get hands-on with nature and experience their very own play-cation at a time when many families will be limiting their summer holiday plans. There’s no need for children to create their scenes in a sprawling rural environment though – the LEGO Group suggest “a plant pot on the windowsill, in the garden, local park or a National Trust place – nowhere is too small for a LEGO summer adventure.”

Expert judges with choose the winner, with celebrity farmer and nature expert JB Gill participating along with LEGO Play Agent David Pallash, National Trust Play Specialist Anita Stevens and a young ambassador from the National Trust’s Museum of Childhood.

“The summer holidays should be filled with fun! That’s why a play-cation – whether that’s in your back garden, a local park or a National Trust place – is a brilliant excuse to grab some LEGO bricks, fire up your imagination and get creative in the great outdoors,” says Gill. “As a farmer, a lover of the great outdoors and as a parent myself, I know just how important it is to explore nature as a family and there’s no better time than summer to do this.”

The winner will be given the LEGO Young Explorer title for 2020/21 as well as a year’s supply of LEGO sets, a free 12-month National Trust family membership and a bundle of National Trust story books.

“Summer 2020 is set to look a little different to the norm, but that doesn’t mean families have to miss out on adventure,” says Stevens. “As it’s Play Week, we’ve joined forces with The LEGO Group to encourage families to explore nature, however big or small! The outdoors is waiting for you and the National Trust has lots of coast and countryside places for you to enjoy as a family.”

David Pallash lists some tips for those planning to get involved:

    Let your imagination run wild: Maybe it’s a purple spotted dragon flying over a daisy village or a bear vs kangaroo dance-off in your windowsill herb pots – there’s no limit when it comes to creativity! When you’re done creating, make sure you leave nature as you found it and take home your LEGO bricks, so you can play again and again.

    Creative Colours: Think about all the different shades you find in nature; greens, blues, pinks and more, and incorporate as many as you can to ensure your scene is an explosion of colour

    No garden, no problem: If you can’t access a field or forest to set up your scene, get creative in a plant pot or on a windowsill with the view as a backdrop for what you build…

    Four Seasons: Just because it is summer doesn’t mean it has to be in your imagination – find some ice to make a snow scene or create a downpour using a watering-can!

Entries for the competition close on September 9.

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