Montana History Portal LEGO Challenge

The Montana State Library’s History Portal, in partnership with participating local libraries proudly offer the Montana History LEGO Challenge.

Our goal is to offer a LEGO challenge that captures the attention and imagination of children and adults in a manner that will inspire interest in and education about Montana history, while using science, technology, art, and math skills (STEAM). We call LEGO builders of all ages to use Montana History Portal images as inspiration for a cool LEGO build.

There are two juried events – a build-at-home contest and a build-on-site contest.

Build-at-home:

Use your own LEGOS and take your time to build a Montana history scene. You can do this in one of two ways:

Use an image from the Montana History Portal as inspiration for your build. Design something similar. Add working parts and details that may not be visible in the image.

Use an image from the Montana History Portal and build the exact scene. Include as many details from the image as possible in your replica.

Please keep your builds under 3 feet square so there is enough space for all participants.

While building you will want to think about the size and scale of the items in the scene. Try different approaches to find the one that looks the best and works well for your project. Most of the images on the History Portal are in black and white, so use color to bring life to the image you choose.

Build-on-site:

Legos will be provided by the library. Creations must be built at the library. Visit your local participating library for details. These builds will be judged alongside other build-on-site creations. Images will be available for inspiration.

How you will be judged:

	4 points	3 points	2 points	1 point
Creativity	Shows creative interpretation.	Show’s student’s ability to think “outside the box”.	The design shows some creativity.	No evidence of original thought.
Interpretation	There is great attention to detail.	With more effort, the project might have been outstanding.	The work appears to be unfinished.	Project is incomplete or lacks attention to details.
Visual Impact	The work has the power to “WOW” the viewer.	The work has lasting impact on the viewer.	The work holds the viewer’s attention.	The work does not have visual impact.

Contest Process and Rules:

Participants will need to register with a participating library.

Contest participants must use a scene from Montana History to inform LEGO builds. (See sample images and links to more images below. Look for an image that strikes your fancy and then build the scene.) Contest participants should print the inspiration photo (at home or at the library before the event) and bring it with submissions.

Packaged LEGO kit submissions will not be judged. Please create your own design.

Participants may not register for both of the contests. Please select either the build-at-home or build-on-site contest.

Bring submissions (one per contestant) to the library on the day of the event.

Contest participants will fill out a submission form when they arrive to display with their LEGO build.

Place builds, printed photo, and submission form in the correct room for judging.

All submissions must be in place by the specified time for judging.

Age groups, prize categories, and prizes:

LEGO kits will be awarded to each winner.

	Age groups:	5–8 Years	9–13 Years	14–18 Years	19-year-olds and up
Juried	Best overall
People's Choice	Most votes overall (Only one prize, not a prize per age group)

Ideas for Builds:

Tractaors and other hevy machines
Tipis/Lodges
Tent camps
Wagons
Boats and Ferry Boats
Ore Cars
Bridges
Ghost Towns
Trestles
Historic Homes
Mines and Mining Related Images
Planes

2023 Montana History Portal LEGO Challenge

The first ever Montana History Portal Lego Challenge was piloted at Lewis & Clark Public Library. We are thankful for their willingness to partner with us on this first challenge. The event turned out great and you can view the past entries here.