Brick by Brick: Playing with Lego
Submitted by Emily Kundrik, Lethbridge Public Library, Bookmobile
Did you know that the word ‘play’ is actual in Lego’s name? The word itself, Lego, is actually an abbreviation of two Danish words: “leg” and “godt” which means play well.
Lego is a staple in many houses, as it should be, because Lego is excellent for creative and imaginative play. In every container of motley bricks, there are millions of different projects just waiting to be built. Imagination truly knows no bounds when you dump a pile of blocks in front of an eager child. Are they going to make a castle? A dinosaur? An astronaut? An astronaut dinosaur who lives in her very own castle on the moon? Who knows? It’s all possible, which is what makes playing with Lego (or any of the modern brick-building sets) so fun.
Creative Play
So what exactly is creative play? Play Matters gives us a wonderful definition:
“Creative play is any type of play where children can freely use their imagination to explore, experiment, and express themselves through various activities such as drawing, painting, acting, building, and more. The activities and ideas are led by the child’s creativity, and this allows them to take on different roles, characters, and situations, to create their own stories, scenarios, and experiences. Creative play is often unstructured and open-ended, giving children the freedom to choose and direct their own play, and to develop their own unique ideas and expressions.”
Creative play is child-led, and it’s a space where they can make, and be, anything that they want. Brick-building sets like Lego are so well suited to this because of how versatile the bricks are, and how easy they are for kids to manipulate. (For the youngest kids, don’t forget about Duplo, which is suitable for kids as young as 18 months.)
Sets or Loose Bricks
Now, should you go for the fancy sets or just a container full of loose bricks? While there are some lovely Lego sets out there, I will always be a big proponent of the loose bricks, at least if you’re wanting to encourage creative play in your child. With the sets, you can only make one thing (at least as far the instructions are concerned) but with a box of bricks you can make anything.
Blizzards and Bricks
At the library, we’re all about encouraging creative play and making space for families to have quality time, which is why we’re running our Blizzards and Bricks contest. All families have to do is build a winter-themed Lego creation from the bricks they have at home and then drop it off at the Crossings Branch between November 23-29. The public get to vote for a winner from November 30-December 5, and then there is an award party on December 6th. At the party (or afterwards), families can come pick up their Lego creations.
It’s easy to encourage a child’s love of creative play by building it up, brick by brick.
Source: https://playmatters.org.au/blog/the-role-of-creative-play-in-childhood-development