Lego Therapy Club

Lego Therapy is a structured and systematic therapeutic approach that utilizes the popular Lego building blocks to support the development of speech, language, and social skills in children. Through guided play and collaborative building activities, children learn to communicate effectively, solve problems, and work as a team.

History:

Lego Therapy was developed by Dr. Dan LeGoff, a clinical neuropsychologist, in the early 2000s. While initially developed for children on the spectrum, Lego-Based Therapy has since been found to benefit children with a variety of communication and social developmental difficulties.

Programme Details

Objectives:

  • Enhance communication skills

  • Foster social interaction and collaboration

  • Improve problem-solving abilities

  • Develop fine motor skills and creativity

Structure:

  • Duration: 8 sessions programme

  • Session Length: 45 mins, Friday at 3PM

  • Frequency: Weekly

  • Location: At Bloom Therapy Speech Center

  • Group Size: Small groups of 2-5 children

  • Ages: 5 - 10 years

Insurance Coverage

Some insurance plans may cover Lego Therapy sessions as part of their speech therapy benefits. If you are interested in utilizing insurance coverage for our Lego Therapy Club, please let us know. We can assist you in checking your insurance coverage and provide you with the necessary information to submit claims.

Benefits of Lego Therapy

Playing with Lego in a therapy setting promotes social interaction, turn-taking skills, sharing, collaborative problem-solving, and the learning of concepts. It can be used to target goals around social skills, language, and motor skills. By using a commonly adored tool like Lego, it capitalizes on existing motivation and supports self-esteem by allowing participants to demonstrate their skills in a social situation. It also sets up a positive opportunity for guided social problem-solving, helping to develop social skills that can be used in other situations.

Children sometimes find it challenging to understand what is expected of them in a social situation, particularly within unstructured play activities.

Lego-Based Therapy provides a highly structured environment where everyone plays a specific role within the group. This can help children feel calm and relaxed as they are doing something they enjoy and know precisely what to expect and what is expected of them.

Research Studies:

Research studies into the benefits of LEGO-based therapy programs have shown it can help develop the following skills:

  • Self-initiated social contact

  • Extended duration of social interaction

  • Visual perception

  • Language concepts

  • Descriptive language

  • Positional language

  • Sequencing and planning

  • Self-confidence

  • Flexibility

  • Patience

  • Empathy

  • Non-verbal skills

  • Asking for clarification – resolving communication breakdowns

  • Memory

  • Motor skills

What Happens During a Lego-Based Therapy Session?

During a Lego-Based Therapy session, three or four children of similar ages and abilities work together to build a Lego model.

Each child takes on one of four specific roles:

  • The Engineer: Oversees reading and relaying the instructions. The Engineer must tell the Supplier what pieces to retrieve and instruct the Builder on how to assemble the model.

  • The Supplier: Finds the correct Lego pieces. The Supplier must listen to the Engineer, figure out which pieces to retrieve, and then provide these pieces to the Builder.

  • The Builder: Physically constructs the model. The Builder must listen to instructions provided by the Engineer and receive the pieces retrieved by the Supplier.

  • The Foreman: Ensures everyone is fulfilling their roles. The Foreman provides help to other roles when needed and addresses any social challenges that arise, requiring problem-solving by the group.

Using this format provides each child with an opportunity to practice and develop a wide range of skills, including language skills (both giving and receiving instructions), turn-taking, negotiating, sharing, and collaborative social problem-solving.

It also encourages children to reflect on their own actions and skills, as well as give constructive feedback to their peers.