Lego Group Therapy

What Is Lego Group Therapy?

Lego Therapy is a type of play-based therapy designed for children. It harnesses the therapeutic power of play, aligning with how children naturally learn about themselves and the world around them. Through this approach, children develop crucial communication skills, learn diverse ways to interact with others, adjust their behaviour, and enhance their problem-solving abilities.

The Lego System of bricks plays a central role in this therapy. Unlike the unpredictability of free play, Lego offers a structured and calming environment, allowing children to feel regulated and engaged during therapy sessions.

In each session, children work together to build a model, reinforcing crucial social interaction and communication skills. Lego Therapy offers a structured environment where children can feel calm and confident, knowing what to expect and what is expected of them.

A Lego Therapy session involves the following components:

1. Setting the Rules: In the first session, children collectively establish simple rules, which are reiterated in subsequent sessions. Children taking ownership of these rules makes them easier to follow, reducing the need for behaviour management.

2. Allocating ‘Jobs’: Each child assumes a specific role, with roles rotating during the group sessions. The roles include:

• Engineer: Reads instructions from the booklet.
• Supplier: Locates the correct bricks.
• Builder: Assembles the bricks.
• Director: Ensures teamwork and communication within the group.

3. Let’s Build: Children collaborate to construct the model. Initially, therapists may provide more guidance, but as children become comfortable with their roles, the groups require less adult intervention. Therapists step in as needed to encourage positive interactions, suggest compromises, provide prompts, and keep the group on track, especially when emotions run high.

4. Free Lego Play: Following the accomplishment of building the model together, children engage in relaxing, unstructured Lego play. This allows them to further unwind, explore relationships within the group, and nurture their creativity.

What Are the Benefits of Lego Therapy?

Lego Therapy is backed by research, with studies conducted in the UK and USA demonstrating its effectiveness in enhancing language, play, and social skills. Specifically, Lego Therapy offers several benefits:

• Language development: Children improve their understanding and use of language.
• Social communication and pragmatics: Children enhance non-verbal communication, such as eye contact, facial expressions, body language, and proximity.
• Social skills: They acquire functional skills, like asking for help and seeking clarification.
• Joint attention: Children learn to focus on shared tasks.
• Task focus: This includes initiating and completing tasks.
• Sharing and turn-taking: Children become skilled at sharing and taking turns.
• Collaborative problem-solving: Lego Therapy fosters negotiation and compromise, leading to significant gains in social competence, including self-initiated social contact, the duration of social interactions, and reductions in stereotyped behaviours.