Building skill sets with Lego Therapy
Playing with LEGO is a part of most of our childhoods, but is there more to it than we are aware of?
The answer is yes. Therapists use this tool to help develop a broad variety of skills. The psychologist David Goff watched two of his clients on the autism spectrum interact with each other whilst playing with LEGO in his waiting room in a way he had not witnessed before. As a result, this sparked the idea of LEGO therapy.
Our coworker Zayne Gyoles attended a Lego Therapy course which he successfully completed. Here are some of the insights he brought back into the team.
What is LEGO Therapy
LEGO therapy enables children, specifically with people who struggle with communicating and fine motor skills, to communicate and express their feelings in a highly organised, systematic and predictable environment. This helps take away the stress of not feeling in control or not knowing what will happen next.
For instance, assigning different roles to the participants of one session teaches the children how to direct, receive and execute different tasks.
What happens during a a session?
The participants take different roles, such as: Engineer, Supplier, Builder.
The Engineer receives a the plan of a LEGO build. Once he analyses it, he will then communicate to the Supplier which pieces of LEGO they need for the structure. After that, the Supplier picks the pieces and hands them to the Builder, one by one. The Builder then assembles the pieces according to plan.
As a result social interactions are promoted alongside turn-taking skills and sharing.
The collaborative problem solving helps build a unique skill set in a calm and relaxing environment.
Can I do this at home?
Absolutely, we encourage you to try it out.
To get started, feel free to talk to us about ways that Social Plus can engage.
We would love to teach your children new day to day skills through LEGO therapy!
