Mitchel Resnick, Professor of Learning Research and head of the Media Lab’s Lifelong Kindergarten group, has been awarded the 2021 LEGO Prize for his work advocating for and championing learning through play. The LEGO Prize is presented to individuals or organizations that have made an outstanding contribution to the lives of children, and is accompanied by a cash award of $100,000 to further research and development around learning through play.

Resnick is being recognized for his leadership in developing digital technologies, activities, and communities that engage young people, from all backgrounds, in playful, creative learning experiences. His Lifelong Kindergarten group developed the Scratch programming language and online community, used by tens of millions of children around the world to create and share interactive stories, games, and animations­­­–­­­and in the process, learn to think creatively, reason systematically, and work collaboratively. Scratch (which spun out of MIT into the nonprofit Scratch Foundation in 2019) is free for everyone, and has been translated into more than 70 languages. Resnick’s group also co-founded the Computer Clubhouse project, an international network of 100 after-school learning centers where young people from low-income communities become more creative, capable, and confident learners by exploring, experimenting, and expressing themselves with digital technologies.

The LEGO company’s long-time connection with the Media Lab, ongoing since 1985, is rooted in the organizations’ shared commitment to a playful, interest-driven, project-based approach to learning that empowers children to become creative lifelong learners. Resnick and his research team have collaborated closely with the LEGO company on a series of robotics construction kits, including LEGO Mindstorms and LEGO WeDo. Resnick’s team is now working closely with the LEGO Foundation to support educators and children in learning through play, with a focus on communities facing challenges and inequities.

“Throughout my career, I’ve been inspired by the LEGO values of imagination, creativity, caring, and learning, so I’m deeply honored to receive this prize,” says Resnick, who will use the prize award to further his efforts to support and spread creative learning around the world. 

“This award is not just for me,” Resnick adds. “It’s also for the many people I’ve worked with over the last 40 years: the dozens of researchers who have collaborated with me in developing technologies, activities, and communities to engage children in creative learning experiences; the thousands of educators around the world who have put our ideas and tools into practice; and the millions of children who have taken our technologies in directions we never imagined. We’ve learned as much from them as they’ve learned from us, and I share this prize with all of them.”

The award ceremony took place at the 2021 LEGO Idea Conference hosted by the LEGO Foundation, where a video of Resnick’s life work was also presented.