LEGO stop-motion video about human-nature realtionship
In an era when digital media often overshadows time spent in the natural world, creative, hands-on projects provide a meaningful way for young people to connect with both technology and environmental issues. LEGO® stop-motion animation is one such approach, serving as a powerful teaching tool and a bridge between the digital and the natural. As part of the COEVOLVERS, committed to fostering actionable knowledge and sustainable futures, we are looking to youth to tell stories about nature restoration using LEGO®, digital cameras, and basic stop-motion software.
Why LEGO Stop Motion?
LEGO® is universally loved, accessible, and endlessly adaptable. When combined with stop motion animation, it empowers young storytellers to bring their ideas to life, brick by brick and frame by frame. The process cultivates imagination, patience, problem-solving, and collaboration.
- Engagement through Play: Children naturally gravitate toward LEGO®. Transforming colourful bricks into characters and landscapes, they become directors and creators of their own stories.
- Developing Digital Skills: Stop motion projects teach essential digital storytelling skills—scene planning, image capture, editing, and sound design. This nurtures both creative expression and technological competence, preparing youth for a connected world.
- Relatable and Personal: Familiar toys make big ideas feel relatable and personal. Through LEGO®, young people relate to environmental themes, making complex issues like restoration and conservation tangible and meaningful.
The COEVOLVERS Experience
As part of our actionable knowledge agenda, COEVOLVERS has enabled young people to co-create animated stories centred on nature, conservation, and restoration. Participants draft storylines, build sets and figures, operate cameras, and bring their creations to life.
- Active, Hands-on Learning: Participants learn by doing—constructing scenes, animating stories, and navigating creative choices on their own terms.
- Self-Reflection and Awareness: Storyboarding and production encourage youth to reflect on their role in the environment, fostering empathy and a sense of responsibility.
- Sharing and Impact: Completed animations are shared with families, peers, and the wider community—sparking conversation, pride, and a sense of accomplishment.
Watch the video HERE.
Digitisation for Deeper Connection
Utilising digital storytelling tools engages youth in a language they understand, blending creativity with digital fluency and making nature relevant and inspiring. LEGO® stop motion becomes more than play: it's a platform for self-expression, exploration, and positive action.
In a world where today’s children are "digital natives," programmes like COEVOLVERS create opportunities for meaningful and actionable engagement with environmental themes, ensuring that technology becomes a tool for good.
How This Is Actionable Knowledge
What makes this approach actionable? It doesn’t just share information, it empowers young people with skills and experiences that translate into real-world impact:
- Hands-On Learning: Young people actively create stories about nature, learning practical skills that extend beyond the project itself.
- Personal Relevance: Abstract environmental lessons become tangible, fostering a deeper, lasting connection and sense of responsibility.
- Problem-Solving and Agency: Participants plan, experiment, and find solutions creatively and independently, nurturing skills valuable for future challenges.
- Digital Literacy: They gain firsthand experience in photography, animation, and editing, increasing both confidence and capability in digital contexts.
- Fostering Environmental Stewardship: By telling stories of renewal and hope, youth develop empathy for the natural world and become advocates within their families and communities.
Let’s inspire youth to use technology not just to consume, but to create—to tell stories that restore, conserve, and celebrate our natural world.
written by Tim Pittaway