LEGO therapy

What is Lego® Therapy?   

LEGO-Based Therapy is a social development program that uses LEGO activities to support the development of a wide range of social skills within a group setting.  

Lego- based therapy also gives students the opportunity to socialise and form relationships with others as it helps them to learn about other people’s point of view. It gives students a chance to transfer their skills from their small Lego group to a bigger group, classroom, school, home, or other community settings.  

It is a small group session with 3 children, all who have an identified role and they work together to build a Lego model.   

This promotes language and listening skills. Social skills and problem solving.   

The roles are:    

The Engineer – they have the instructions (they are the only ones to see them!).  They tell the Supplier what bricks are needed, they also tell the Builder where the bricks go using clear and imaginative descriptions. 

The Supplier – they must find the required bricks by listening carefully to the Engineer’s instructions 

The Builder – they must listen to the instructions and not guess or assume where the pieces go in order to build the model. 

How can Lego – based therapy can help?  

We know that Lego – based therapy can play a central role in changing people’s lives for the better. It’s all down to the benefits of real play with a focus on quality time that we can spend socialising, solving problems, being active, curious and creative. It’s an opportunity for real engagement with a variety of people.  

Lego – based therapy is highly structured, so it gives students a sense of safety, familiarity and predictability. It’s engaging and motivating, so students are more likely to follow a facilitator’s lead or group rules. It offers a host of different projects to build, and numerous games and activities to play, so children are kept engaged and remain more willing to listen, share and interact.  

 Lego- based therapy also helps to develop:  

  • Self-worth 
  • Self-calming strategies 
  • Cooperative skills and ability to work in a team.

 

The idea of these sessions is to give children the opportunity to work with children that they do not know and maybe in a different class or year group.   

The adult’s role is to intervene as little as possible; this gives the children control of the session and they have to work together in sorting out problems such as they model not looking like it should.