There are many reasons why playing LEGO is beneficial, especially to children. The colorful little prices of LEGO bricks bring numerous benefits to the children.
1. Teamwork and Social Skills
The key aspect of playing with LEGO, especially in a club, is that children will work together within a small group to build something together. This is made even more fun if the children are given specific roles to adopt. In one week, one could be the builder, the next the supplier, the next the architect, and then the director. In this way, children learn that each role has special roles and responsibilities, and they come to respect and pay attention to how to interact with one another. Such teamwork allows children to come together, make new friends, forge new bonds and focus on doing something right. It reinforces positive behavior and improves social interaction. If a facilitator is present, the social skillsets can be further encouraged and reinforced by him or her.
2. Communication and Language skills
To work effectively as one team, the children need to learn how to communicate and give instructions to one another such as here. They learn how to express their thought process, needs, and wants and pay attention to the needs of others. Since they adopt different roles within the group, they will develop skills needed for negotiation and compromise, as well as the language abilities needed to make things work. In addition, after the construction of the LEGO set, they can have the background and settings needed to tell a story. Children can allow their imagination to run wild and include their characters and scripts, which further build their foundation for language comprehension and development. As planning and building strategies often form part of the problem-solving process, young children will realize that it will require more than having ideas to construct a LEGO set that can be hailed as a masterpiece at an early age.
Playing with LEGO will also require patience, endurance, and much lateral thinking to find the solution. Children also learn that there can be several ways to resolve a problem and different means can be adopted to solve an issue. Accepting the idea of different approaches to problems helps children to appreciate other people’s points of view. It teaches them how to have an open mind and teaches them to listen to others’ ideas; colleagues or peers may provide a more superior way of arriving at a solution.
3. Problem solving Mathematics and Spatial Awareness
By following LEGO instructions, students can learn to grasp the concept of order, quantity, symmetry, and spatial awareness. This helps children to improve their mathematical knowledge and kinesis motion skills. In addition, they also learn how to solve problems and generate new ideas to improve their building. Research has also shown that playing with puzzles and building blocks such as LEGO can help to develop children’s spatial skills essential for tasks related to STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics).
The ability to visualize 3D shapes in the children’s mind’s eye are important talents that are needed by architects, engineers, and artists. LEGO proves to stimulate creativity and thinking out of the box. Having imagination and ingenuity will lead to incredibly innovative thinking and the discovery of new ideas.
4. Creativity and Experimentation
LEGO bricks allow children to express their innovation and creativity, allowing them to become creators as well as storytellers. When children are allowed to be adventurous as much as they want, their creativity, imagination, and self-expression will flow, having the chance to try and test out different configurations and fascinating new ideas.
5. Physical Development
It is well researched that young children playing with LEGO will develop better motor skills, finger strength, and dexterity. Since different pieces require different strengths and pressure to assemble, LEGO provides excellent exercise opportunities for children to practice the muscles needed to hold a pencil and to do writing, where the precise control of pressure is required. Compared to having children swiping on handphone screens, playing with LEGO provides superior benefits.
6. Perseverance and Management of Frustrations
Children playing with LEGO can feel very frustrated when they insert the wrong pieces of the bricks that fall apart due to perhaps a small mistake. However, with time, children will tend to develop perseverance and tenacity, gradually learning to overcome the sense of frustration. This is especially true since the mistake is reversible and the building can be remade. This allows children to have the chance to tinker with creative ideas without the sense of failure since they know that the building can always be rebuilt. Although they might not have the result in one try, they can afford the mistakes and correct them.
7. Self-Confidence
When children successfully create and complete their LEGO construction project, whether through printed instructions or from an idea that blossoms in their head, they will feel a real sense of achievement. They will feel proud and an improved sense of self-confidence, allowing themselves to attempt further and more complex tasks.
8. Lowering Anxiety and Stress
Playing LEGO bricks can provide a very calming and relaxing effect and is good for children that experience anxiety and worries. When the day is proven chaotic or stressful, playing with LEGO can help to calm and provide a relaxing feeling for children.
9. Patience
Since LEGO building requires time and patience, children learn that to achieve their end goals and results, they need to exercise patience. This is especially true when the important piece they are looking for blends in with other pieces and is frustrating to find. In a world where instant gratification is becoming the norm, the construction process can help to train the children’s patience.
10. Focus and Concentration
Since there is a big incentive awaiting the children when they complete their construction, they tend to be more focused on paying attention to the instruction and obeying them. Staying concentrated with the planning, waiting for their turn, and working with others in a group all help the children to develop and grow.
