Yorkshire girl, 10, has Lego design flown over New York City in stunning drone show

Ten-year-old Lotty Ingle from Leeds was among six children from around the world to see their spaceship designs turned into Lego, and then as part of a drone light show above one of the most famous skylines on the planet.

The toy brick manufacturer held a contest for children to design spaceships and show how they would like to travel the galaxy and find new planets and stars.

Lotty’s design was of a bed powered by butterfly wings. The bed-shaped spacecraft includes a dragon’s fire engine for extra power and warmth, as well as a special snack drawer underneath to keep herself and any aliens she encounters well fed.

“I was over the moon when I found out that my design had been picked,” she said about winning the trip to New York. “I kept saying to my mum ‘Really?’, ‘No, but really Mum?’.

“I like to be eco-friendly and didn't want to use any electricity so I thought butterfly wings would be a good idea. I would love to travel to all the planets that no one has discovered yet and see if there is life there, and if they are just like us.

“I would really like them to try all my favourite snacks that I am bringing with me.”

A new global study by Lego showed 86 per cent of children aged between four and 14 are interested in exploring the universe for new planets, stars and galaxies, while 58 per cent of Gen Alpha – that is children born between 2010 and 2024 – hope to have a career in space.

The drone show above New York, featuring what were called Unidentified Playing Objects (UPOs), saw designs by children from the USA, Denmark and Hong Kong alongside Lotty’s, turned into lights.

Asked if she wanted to travel to space, Lotty said she “would like to go to the moon to collect rocks” nobody else in her class had.

“I would like to sit on my double bed spacecraft and watch the stars and stare down at everyone else below me,” she said.

Didac Perez Soriano, associate master builder at Lego House, said: “Children are our inspiration for play and creativity. At Lego House, we aim to provide the pinnacle experience for letting play and creativity run free, and that’s why I leapt at the opportunity to build 3D representations of their creative spaceships in Lego bricks.

“The imagination shown by young children around the world was mind-blowing and this was one of the best experiences I have had. I’m ecstatic we can share these with the world. With so much of the universe still to be explored, we can’t say that what they have created isn’t possible or even out there already.”

Thinking of the mysteries of the unexplored parts of the universe, Lotty says: “I think it is like one giant disco with stars flashing everywhere.”