LEGO®-Based Therapy
Lego Therapy (LeGoff, 2004) was originally designed for children and teenagers on the Autistic Spectrum, as a therapy intervention to improve their social skills and awareness.
The benefits have been more wide reaching, and it has an evidence base for helping to improve social skills and social awareness for all social communication.
How does it work?
The children work together to make a small Lego model
The children are encouraged to practice different skills such as turn-taking, sharing, joint problem solving and general communication skills
Each child takes on a different role:
‘Site Manager’ (or engineer)
‘Supplier’
‘Builder’
The Roles
Site Manager
The Site Manager (or Engineer) has the set of directions and initially has to request the bricks required from the Supplier and then direct the Builder to make the finished product.
Supplier
The Supplier is the person who has the Lego bricks in front of them and supplies the Builder with the required items on request.
Builder
This Builder is given the set of bricks from the Supplier and follows the instructions of the Site Manager in order to build the Lego.
What you will need
1 small Lego set/model per session (must be complete with instructions). Larger models will also work. (Larger models will work, though may take 2-3 sessions to complete. It is advisable to start with smaller models that can be completed in one session).
The Lego Classic box sets have multiple options for models, with printable instructions at: http://www.lego.com/en-gb/classic/building-instructions
Role cards (Site Manager, Supplier & Builder)
3 children or young people
1 adult, to introduce the session & record
Record sheet
How to set up
Set your Lego pieces and instructions in the middle of the table
Assign each member of the group a role. Describe their role, and explain that they must stick to their role, and not try to do another person’s job. (Their roles can be changed each session).
Initially the group members will need pointers to stick to their roles, though the general principles of Lego-based Therapy stipulate that the adult is a bystander, and the group members should be left to work out any issues together
Talk about the vocabulary you may need to use to describe the pieces. This way all group members are using shared information. Get them to come up with the words.
The adult can record the progress , in general, or with particular social skills in mind (i.e. based on current targets)
The adult brings the session to a close when the model is complete or after 20-30 minutes, by giving each group member a positive piece of feedback
Run Lego-based Therapy sessions 1-3 times per week for at least a term
Have a discussion with colleagues about which students would work well together
Think about how to fit it into the daily routine; e.g. playtime/lunchtime club, lesson starters
Baseline Assessment Tool
We have created a baseline assessment tool so that you can record and follow a pupil's progress using LEGO-based therapy.
It can be found here: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1NhDWu-ZPWZKxuRRypN6lwHQGeEO1V_ihlzXZpHRNQd0/edit?usp=sharing
Feedback from settings
“the children love it and look forward to it each week”
“he is starting to speak more in class - yesterday he asked me two questions- he hasn’t done this at all since being in my class”
“she is becoming much more confident”
“I’m starting to notice he is working much better in small groups”
