The tagline for Little Big Planet (LBP) for the Playstation 3 is  “Play.  Create.  Share.”  PERFECT!  Here are three quick ways for teachers and school librarians to incorporate this amazing game into their lesson plans.

1. Create Own Content: Think of LBP as an art class.  Students playing this game will be asked to dive into the depths of their imagination as they create, build, and destroy their own levels.  Are you studying a famous artist in your classroom?  If so, ask your students to design a level based on the key characteristics from their body of work.  Ask them to invade the mind of Van Gogh or Picasso for a moment…what would they do if LBP was their canvas?  Users can also create their own character to use in the game.  Have them create themselves…a modern day self portrait!

2. Physics: The attention to detail with the way objects in LBP move around boggles my mind.  Have your students explore this aspect of the game.  How did the LBP development team incorporate such a great understanding of physics into their game?  What kind of research did they have to do?

3. Share: One of the biggest aspects of the game is sharing your creations online.  LBP has quite an online community of users just dying to share their levels and characters.  Have your students explore this aspect of gaming and how modern society is moving towards a more open/public/collaboration environment.  Ask your students if they believe sharing with others can kickstart the creation process and provide inspiration and how this element can create tangible communities.

School librarians and educators!  Feel free to add your two cents to this discussion!