Lego Therapy

What is it?

Lego Therapy at Sandside Lodge School supports students with learning and/or hand/eye coordination difficulties who need help to learn the basic skills of Lego building.
 
It helps them to:
  • sit on a chair at a table  
  • give attention and stay on task  
  • work with others
  • respond to verbal instructions and nonverbal prompts including pointing, eye gaze and eye contact. 
  • develop fine motor skills 
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Pre- Lego Therapy Skills:

  • Sorting similar Lego pieces by shape, colour and size 
  • Finding specific pieces to either match or by looking at a picture to find Lego pieces 
  • Identifying and labeling –using verbal descriptors of: colour , shape, size and function (e.g. brick, hinge, window, door)
  • Following simple visual / verbal  instructions adding the correct pieces in the correct order and placement in order to complete a simple Lego set.
  • Inspecting a completed set to find inconsistencies or mistakes either just identifying them or correcting them.

Outcomes for Students:

  • developing fine motor skills
  • improving hand/eye coordination
  • increasing accuracy and speed in building skills
  • increasing self-control
  • working as a team member
  • following routines
  • listening to adult direction 
  • improving  social interaction 
  • communicating with peers

Roles in Lego Therapy

The key to Lego Therapy is having students in key roles supported by an adult (Director) to oversee the construction.

Students each have a role:

  • The Architect has the design (photograph) to be reproduced by the team working together
  • The Supplier needs to work out what piece is needed each time from the information from the Architect
  • The Builder has to listen to where the piece goes and how to make the model look like the photograph.

The director is a Lego Therapist, Teacher or Teaching Assistant. Their role is to:

  • oversee and support the students identifying  their  OWN  strengths & roles  within the group session 
  • observe the amount of support each person needs and find ways to reduce it
  • observe verbal communication, social interaction listening skills ,turn taking, eye contact.
  • suggest next steps
  • record the session using photographs and written evidence 

This person’s role is to describe what is needed, they learn to: 

  • understand colours and shapes
  • count –  agreeing on describing number of  DOTS , BUMPS, SPOTS  on top of the  Lego pieces.
  • understand the photograph, model, or instructions given and follow them in the correct sequence 
  • communicate both verbally and non-verbally.
  • use their imagination to describe what they see, e.g. “It’s got a slope on one side.”
  • develop their social interaction skills

This person is like a shop keeper, they:

  • have all the dismantled pieces of Lego ready to use
  • listen to the instructions
  • understand the descriptions of colour, shape & number of  dots .
  • use effective eye contact or eye gaze .
  • develop fine motor skills 
  • pass the required Lego piece to the BUILDER

The role of the Builder is to listen to the Architect, they: 

  • wait for the instructions
  •  listen to the instructions of positioning the pieces of Lego together.
  • understand the verbal instructions or visual directions .
  • give eye contact .
  • develop hand/eye coordination
  • build  the Lego in the correct sequence
  • modify ,dismantle and reconstruct when needed
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