Are You a LEGO Maker? #LEGOMakerNation

This past week was the National Week of Making, which was celebrated across our great nation. The White House hosted the second annual National Maker Faire bringing together America’s most innovative thinkers, tinkerer and makers. The event spanned across the fields of architecture, engineering, technology, science and arts, while encouraging innovation and creativity. The youth of America worked hard to realize the American dream.

The American dream is synonymous with reaching new heights by way of determination, hard work, ingenuity and perseverance. America was built from the ground up by the dedicated efforts of immigrants who wanted a better life and future for their families. These dreams turned entrepreneurs into business owners, employees into employers, and renters into home owners. Goals were reached and successes achieved as the makers of our past created gadgets and concepts that for their time was “out of this world.” Some of history’s greatest makers were Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin and Alexander Graham Bell.

Fast forward several hundred years, and we are still working to achieve the American dream. Entrepreneurs continue to build and grow, step by step, brick by brick. We must foster the next generation of dreamers and makers in an effort to keep up with global expansion. Our children deserve to be well-positioned for the future, therefore we must provide them with the necessary tools to grow their minds and and expand their creativity. Tools like LEGO bricks are used every day by inventors and visionaries to bring their concepts and ideas to life.

LEGO is reaching out to the masterminds of our future, asking for their ingenuity to help build a better tomorrow. In response to the national effort of fostering the next generation of dreamers and makers, LEGO rolled out their “Are You a LEGO Maker?” prototyping contest. Tinkerers, builders and makers are asked to spend the next few weeks creating, producing and developing ideas that will push the laws of physics to new, not-before-seen limits. All this in an effort to achieve the American dream that will improve our tomorrow by becoming a reality today.

This exciting opportunity for LEGO aficionados is available to children 13 years and up. The rules and guidelines can be found at LEGO.com/Maker and you can be inspired by other participants’ creations at #LEGOMakerNation.

50 lucky LEGO Makers, who have successfully conveyed why their creation should be prototyped will receive the LEGO Prototyping Kit. The kit includes a LEGO MINDSTORMS EV3 kit, thousands of LEGO bricks and elements and access to a LEGO MINDSTORMS Expert Builder, a mentorship from the Smithsonian National Museum, in addition to the book “The Spirit of Invention: The Story of the Thinkers, Creators, and Dreamers Who Formed Our Nation.”

Find the details of how to enter the contest here. Qualifying entries must include a thorough description of the concept/ idea, as well as an explanation of why the Prototyping Kit is necessary to “power up” the innovative process. The entry has to include an illustration of the idea, either as a photograph, computer generated image or a hand-drawing. Read the complete details and be sure to submit all the requirements by midnight July 13, 2015.

I can’t wait to see who will reach their American dream in this year’s #LEGOMakerNation contest. LEGO keeps our children thinking, tinkering and creating, giving them inspiration and confidence to not only enter contests, but also to challenge the status quo in their everyday lives. The road to the American dream is paved with LEGO bricks for the next generation of Makers!

For more LEGO inspired posts, check out our totally AWESOME LEGO bathroom: