The Brick-by-Brick^® programme is the current evolution of the former Lego^®-based therapy as originally developed in 2004 by  Dr. Daniel B. LeGoff and was further studied by Dr. Gina Gomez De La Cuesta. It supports the social and emotional well-being of young people, from pre-school age to adulthood, who like to build LEGO^® models.

Although the Brick-by-Brick^® programme was originally developed for autistic children, we now know that any young person who enjoys playing with LEGO® – a gender-neutral toy – can benefit from it, because play is fundamental to young people’s development. After all, research has shown that “playful learning experiences characterised by joy, meaning, active engagement, iteration, and social interaction can offer multimodal inputs that stimulate interconnected networks involved in learning.” (Liu et al., 2017).

The Brick-by-Brick^® programme is the only one endorsed by The LEGO Foundation and is a play-based learning approach for children who need support to develop social communication.

In a Brick Club participants work together to build LEGO^® models, make friends, develop skills and have fun.

A Brick Club is led by an adult trained in the Brick-by-Brick^® programme, who provides positive and meaningful social experiences in an environment of play, understanding and acceptance. It also supports members in co-operationing, communicating and problem solving through cooperative LEGO^® play.

A Brick Club is driven by its own members, thus making it flexible and tailored to their interests, strengths and needs.

The Brick-by-Brick^® programme sessions can include group activities of building a LEGO^® model, where participants take turns to play the different roles of Engineer, Supplier and Builder until the construction is completed. The Brick Club members themselves have a key role in the activities of each session, as they decide which model to build, who will do which job and when the roles will alternate. They may also choose to engage in a free build, where either in pairs or small groups they can design and build their own models.

The advanced Brick Club members have the opportunity to create stop-motion animated short films of their LEGO^® constructions and engage in LEGO^® coding and programming activities.

Some of the benefits of participating in the Brick-by-Brick^® programme sessions in a Brick Club are:

• the sense of belonging:

Young people feel less stress, show improved self-esteem, build self-confidence and new friendships in a safe environment as a result of being part of a Brick Club and getting to know others with whom they share common interests and similar challenges.

• the pride:

Often after completing a session the young people feel a huge sense of pride in what they have managed to build and they share this pride outside the Brick Club, talking about their builds and sharing photos with others.

• the social opportunities:

Through the opportunity to play, build and interact with others in an accepting and understanding environment, young people develop confidence and build meaningful friendships while using their skills in collaboration, turn-taking, communication and problem-solving.

References

LeGoff D. B. (2004). Use of LEGO as a therapeutic medium for improving social competence. Journal of autism and developmental disorders, 34(5), 557–571. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-004-2550-0
Legoff, D. B., & Sherman, M. (2006). Long-term outcome of social skills intervention based on interactive LEGO play. Autism : the international journal of research and practice, 10(4), 317–329. https://doi.org/10.1177/1362361306064403
LeGoff, D. B., Krauss, G. W., Gomez De La Cuesta, G., & Baron-Cohen, S. (2014). Lego-based therapy: How to build social competence through Lego-based clubs for children with autism and related conditions. Jessica Kingsley Publishers.
LeGoff, D. B., Krauss, G. W., & Allen, S. (2017). LEGO-Based Play Therapy for Improving Social Competence in Children and Adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorders. In Gallo-Lopez, L. & Rubin, L. C. (Eds.) Play-based interventions for children and adolescents with autism spectrum disorders. Routledge.
Liu, C., Solis, S. L., Jensen, H., Hopkins, E. J., Neale, D., Zosh, J. M., Hirsh-Pasek, K., & Whitebread, D. (2017). Neuroscience and learning through play: a review of the evidence (research summary). The LEGO Foundation, DK.
Owens, G., Granader, Y., Humphrey, A., & Baron-Cohen, S. (2008). LEGO ® therapy and the Social Use of language programme: An evaluation of two social skills interventions for children with high functioning autism and asperger syndrome. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 38(10), 1944–1957. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-008-0590-6
The brick-by-brick programme: Play included. The Brick-by-Brick programme | Play Included. (n.d.). Retrieved November 25, 2022, from https://playincluded.com/the-brick-by-brick-programme
The LEGO Group. (2021, March 30). Lego Foundation and play included – about Us. LEGO.com. Retrieved January 16, 2023, from https://www.lego.com/en-es/aboutus/news/2021/march/lego-foundation-and-play-included
Zosh, J. M., Hopkins, E. J., Jensen, H., Liu, C., Neale, D., Hirsh-Pasek, K., Solis, S. L., & Whitebread, D. (2017). Learning through play: a review of the evidence (white paper). The LEGO Foundation, DK.