The Language of Lego
The Lego table is a popular space in the classroom. The children gather to use Lego to recreate familiar structures and objects from their experiences. Often they use these objects to engaging storytelling.
A group of three children enjoy creating swords and other objects to tell stories about superheroes. Noticing their continued interest in storytelling and Lego, the teachers wondered how they might stretch the children’s ideas to help them explore a range of tools and materials that they could use to tell their stories.
The team began to put their ideas down on paper, drawing favourite characters and sharing stories that they might want to create.
After a few suggestions, the team were stuck for ideas. We decided to ask the rest of the class if they had suggestions for building with Lego.
- Jeongyoon – boat, a bike and a house
- Oliver – a big box to put the Lego
The team had more ideas to work with. They drew their ideas on paper. Then, they used Lego to make the different objects and characters.
How might we use Lego to tell our stories?
The team watched a short animated Lego movie. The creator used a stop-motion app to create it. The team wondered if they could use the same tools to tell their own stories.
What more do we need to tell a story?
We read a familiar story and revisited the elements that help us create and tell stories. Characters, a setting, problems, solutions and events in a story can make it more interesting.
How might we use what we know about storytelling to create new stories?
The children used a story planner to think about the different events that will take place in their Lego stories. They discussed their ideas with each other, adding more details as they received feedback from their friends.
One child tapped into his prior knowledge, connecting with the different craft moves authors and illustrators use to tell their stories. He decided to include speech bubbles (voice) and movement (short strokes to show actions) in his drawings.
