Following the success of our Sports Equipment and Books For Schools campaigns in 2018 we are delighted to announce a new partnership with CreativeHUT that will allow us to provide LEGO Education resources to schools across the county.

This new promotion will give primary and junior schools across the region the chance to share in £10,000 worth of LEGO Education resources, courtesy of CreativeHUT, and enjoy exclusive discounts on workshops.

LEGO Education provides engaging, hands-on experiences students need to explore core STEM concepts and link them to everyday life scenarios in science, technology, engineering and maths. Go to www.creative-hut.co.uk/lego-education for further details.

Who doesn't have a fond memory of LEGO®?

From fairytale castles and pirate ships to unique buildings of improbable sizes and shapes, the blocks have entertained and inspired children the world over.

And now we want to help children in East Anglia experience the product's educational benefits too.

LEGO-based activities are gaining popularity in schools in Norfolk and Suffolk as teachers recognise its power as a learning tool.

Working and playing with the blocks has been seen to have benefits for young learners, helping with teamwork, communication and problem-solving.

As well as encouraging creativity, working with LEGO can also put children's basic STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) skills to use.

At Howard Junior school in King's Lynn, the staff are so taken with LEGO as a learning aid, they are dedicating an entire classroom to it, as part of their quest to be at the forefront of new learning techniques.

Headteacher, Greg Hill, said the whole school was excited about the possibilities of LEGO – so much so that he has run two recent trips to Legoland Windsor. He believes his school can 'act as a lighthouse for other schools, sending teachers out to lead the way and show them how to use these tools.'

Working and playing with the blocks has also been seen to have benefits for young learners with learning difficulties or problems with communication and socialising.

In Suffolk, Claydon Primary School near Ipswich is another advocate of LEGO and its educational and therapeutic use, while All Saints' Primary School in Laxfield recently benefited from a donation of LEGO from Ed Sheeran and Cherry Seaborn after a teaching assistant at the school asked Ed if he would like to be president of their after school Lego club.

Elswhere, a new mobile classroom dedicated to using LEGO for learning, the Block Bus, was unveiled at last year's Norwich Science Festival.

The company behind this helps improve the communication skills and social interactions of high-functioning children and young people with autism using methods including LEGO therapy.

Founder Amy Eleftheriades has worked across East Anglia supporting children with communication problems and sings the praises of LEGO-based learning.

She wants the bus to act as an extra resource for Norfolk's schools at a time when budgets are stretched, to bring the power of LEGO to even more children.

'Doing the LEGO therapy engages everyone, and it uses skills everyone needs in the workplace,' she said.

How to take part

To participate, your school simply needs to register its interest and then encourage parents, guardians, grandparents, etc. to collect tokens from their local newspaper. EVERY school that collects a minimum of 1,000 tokens will receive £50 worth of LEGO whilst the top three will win £1,000 worth each (The prizes will be awarded according to pupil numbers versus tokens collected i.e. 50 pupils collecting 6,000 tokens is the same as 100 pupils collecting 12,000 tokens)

Tell us about your love of LEGO

This campaign is primarily aimed at complementing your efforts to improve children's thinking-skills in a fun and exciting way. Through our content around this campaign we aim to highlight the importance of these skills. To that end, we would be pleased to publish any activity you may be planning, simply email us on educationpromotion@archant.co.uk.

Where do tokens appear in our Norfolk titles?

Every day there will be tokens in the Eastern Daily Press (two on Saturday) and Norwich Evening News (two on Saturday), whilst weekly titles will also hold one token (Great Yarmouth Mercury, Lowestoft Journal, Beccles & Bungay Journal, North Norfolk News, Dereham Times and Fakenham Times). Watch out for bonus tokens days!

How do I register?

Simply email educationpromotion@archant.co.uk today with your school name, address, postcode, email, contact name, telephone number and number of pupils or complete the form above. We will then send you a token collection box, posters and leaflets to engage parents.

Start collecting

Tokens start appearing from Saturday, February 9, 2019 with the final token in on Friday, May 3, 2019. The three schools with the most tokens (based on number of pupils versus tokens collected) will win, meaning that all schools have a chance, both big and small. Remember that many of your pupils' parents already read our titles so encourage them to bring tokens in before they recycle their newspapers.

Register now and good luck!