By: Mikayla Cowen, BA, MSW (In Progress), Clinical Intern
Play therapy is known to help children process emotions, build social skills, and relieve stress. One specific type of play therapy is LEGO Club, which provides children with the opportunity to work together as a team while building social skills and can improve individual development.
What is LEGO Club?
LEGO Club is a group activity where children are assigned with roles and a common goal of completing a LEGO set as a team. Roles are assigned each session and rotate every week so that each child gets to spend at least one session in every role. LEGO Club has outlined rules for the group and each role has responsibilities that are specific to the child assigned to that role each week. The groups generally consist of three children each, and the roles given are the engineer, the supplier, and the builder. The engineer is responsible for telling the supplier which pieces are needed and instructing the builder on how the pieces go together. Whereas, the supplier has the job of finding each piece to give to the builder, and the builder puts the pieces together based on the instruction received. Once the allotted time is over for structured building, children are given the opportunity to engage in free play with the LEGOs while remaining in their group.
What Skills are They Learning?
Turn-Taking and Sharing:
An important aspect of LEGO Club is that each child stays within their role for their designated sessions and this allows children to practice patience when waiting for a new role. They also learn sharing during the free play time where they are given a set of LEGOs to share as a group.
Teamwork and Collaboration:
Because each child has to stay within their designated roles, they have to figure out the best way to collaborate with their peers in order to achieve the goal of completing the LEGO set. This allows them to practice communication and problem solving skills as a group.
Motor Skills and Focus:
For children who struggle with fine motor skills, LEGO club can be a great way for them to practice by putting together or finding the individual pieces. This activity also provides children with the opportunity to practice focusing their attention on achieving a specific goal.
For more information on upcoming LEGO Group activities, click here:
