Utah museum challenges LEGO builders to create a bug from scratch

An original LEGO grasshopper created by Utah builder Weston Bindrup is displayed as part of the Natural History Museum of Utah’s Bug World LEGO Contest. The museum is accepting photographs of original insect builds through Aug. 1. Photo: Natural History Museum of Utah.

Natural History Museum of Utah contest invites children and adults to submit original insect designs through Aug. 1

SALT LAKE CITY — Utah LEGO builders are invited to look closely at the natural world and create an insect, one brick at a time.

The Natural History Museum of Utah is accepting entries for its Bug World LEGO Contest through Aug. 1. The statewide competition is open to children and adults and was inspired by the museum’s current Bug World exhibition.

Participants must build an original insect without using an official LEGO set, a third-party kit, or digital instructions. Builders may enter multiple creations, but each must be submitted separately through the museum’s website.

The museum divided the competition into two categories. The novice division is open to builders ages 14 and younger, while the advanced division is for participants 15 and older. Novice entries will be judged primarily on creativity, while advanced entries will be evaluated for biological accuracy, according to the Natural History Museum of Utah.

“Fostering curiosity in insects can lead to empathy, scientific thinking and a working understanding of our natural world, and this contest is a fun way to do just that,” Jason Cryan, the museum’s executive director and a trained entomologist, said in a statement.

Adults may not help children construct their entries, and the size of the model will not affect judging. A small but carefully observed insect could compete alongside a much larger creation, the museum said.

Grand prize winners in each age category will receive a LEGO Icons Natural History Museum set, six tickets to BugFest on Aug. 8 and 9, a behind-the-scenes tour of the museum’s entomology collections and passes to the BrickSlopes LEGO fan event. Winning insect models will also be displayed at the museum during the run of Bug World.

The contest is being held in partnership with BrickSlopes and the Utah LEGO Users Group.

Museum officials said the building process encourages participants to study the shapes, proportions, colors, and movement of insects. Recreating the wings of a dragonfly or the segmented body of a beetle, for example, requires the same kind of close observation that supports scientific discovery.

Bug World features immersive environments, interactive activities and towering insect replicas designed to highlight abilities such as precision flight, swarm intelligence and specialized defense systems. The exhibition was created by the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa and Wētā Workshop, the special effects company behind “The Lord of the Rings” and “Avatar.”

Bug World is included with museum admission and remains open through Sept. 7 at the Natural History Museum of Utah, 301 Wakara Way in Salt Lake City.

Contest rules and the online submission form are available through the museum’s Bug World LEGO Contest webpage.