ENG 102: LEGOS

Everyone had their “thing” when they were a kid. Whether that be dolls, cars, play sets, or even just dirt; but personally, my addiction as a child was LEGOS. And although Neither my parents nor myself thought much beyond face value when buying LEGOS, it turns out that everytime I built a set or made something of my own imagination, I was enriching my spatial awareness skills, creativity, and productivity. Not only this, but if I were playing with LEGOS to this day, they would still be providing positive effects such as relaxation and stress relief. Legos have a unique feature compared to most toys, and that is what I will be exploring throughout this post. To be more specific, How does playing with LEGOS as a child increase spatial awareness skills, creativity, and productivity? What additional positive effects do they have amongst adult users? And how might these effects be helpful for challenged kids?

I choose to discuss this topic for many reasons. Firstly, in my opinion, LEGOS are the holy grail of toys. Not only did they include details of all of the pop-culture I was into at the time (Lord of the Rings, Star Wars, Ninjago, Etc,) but they did so in a manner that made me work for results. Additionally, if building “by the book” wasn’t on my mind that particular day, I would just begin building and see where it went. Secondly, it is genuinely fascinating to think about the fact that my favorite toy was not just a toy, but a tool that was gradually strengthening my mind without me even knowing it. Although, I do wish I had this information back when I was begging my parents to buy me more. And lastly, according to Forbes, LEGOS are the 7th most popular toy of all time. This not only indicates to me an abundance of evidence, but also the fact that many others may be interested in this topic; especially those in my surrounding area. Seriously nothing caused me more joy than unwrapping a fresh, new LEGO set at Christmas time.

Playing with LEGOS as a child has been shown to have a positive impact on spatial awareness skills. Spatial awareness is the ability to understand and interact with the physical world around us. This includes the ability to interact with objects within a three dimensional space. Because we live in a three dimensional space, it seems pretty obvious why being able to efficiently interact with things inside of it is an important ability. Spatial awareness is an essential skill that helps us to navigate the world and solve problems. Playing with LEGOS involves using spatial reasoning skills to build structures and create designs. Children who play with LEGOS must use their spatial awareness to understand how the different pieces fit together and how to build structures that are stable and functional. This type of play helps children develop their spatial awareness skills, which can have a positive impact on their academic and future career success.

Not only do LEGOS greatly increase specific things such as spatial awareness skills, they also increase creativity and productivity in general. In contrast to something like a barbie, where the child is just creating a hypothetical situation in their head, when playing with LEGOS, the child is building or solving something. Additionally, playing with Legos encourages children to experiment with different shapes and colors. As they play, children learn how different colors can be used to create patterns and how different shapes fit together to make structures. They also learn how to combine these shapes and colors in new and interesting ways to create original designs.

According to Mitchel Resnic in his book Lifelong Kindergarden: cultivating creativity through projects, passion, peers, and play, “Educators and experts agree that playing with blocks or other constructive games can provide various possibilities to improve the quality of learning and development of children's creativity in the early years." (Resnic, 112) This is the case mostly because of the fact that the children have so much enthusiasm when playing with such toys or games. This enthusiasm leads to hours upon hours of experimenting with new ideas and strategies. In addition, the children are being exposed to problem solving, a child who spends 10 minutes looking at the directions wrong, for instance, is not going to repeat the same mistake. On the other hand, a child who spends that same time playing with a doll wouldn't be encountering challenges like these; and therefore, will be less efficient in the way they handle similar situations.

In the eyes of most, the benefits of LEGOS cease to exist after the age of about 10. However, when the opinions of older subjects who still actually use Legos are considered, it becomes clear that LEGOS have many more benefits than just those on the developing brain.

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And I’m not just talking about the fact that LEGOS are one of the top collectibles on the planet, but the fact that many people find building sets to be relaxing or stress relieving. For instance, former NFL kicker Rodrigo Blankenship has been collecting LEGOS for over ten years and even has an instagram page for all of his collectables. Impressively enough, this page has amassed over 60,000 followers; but in addition to this, he also states on his instagram that building and collecting LEGOS is his “favorite pastime when he is not kicking” and that it “relieves stress and takes a lot of pressure off of him before big games.” And he is far from the only one to feel this way. According to Happyful.com, “93% of adults regularly feel stressed, while 86% of adults claimed that play helps them to unwind, and, as a Lego fan myself, I can certainly vouch for this” (Bromley-Bird, 1)

Playing with LEGOS has been found to have numerous benefits for children with autism. As previously stated, LEGO building is a popular activity for many children, and its therapeutic benefits have been recognized by many therapists and educators. A study conducted by Daniel B. Legoff and Michael Sherman showed that LEGO based treatment tended to greatly increase the social skills and short term memory of kids with specialized disorders. Additionally, according to their book, Long-term outcome of social skills intervention based on interactive LEGO© play, “LEGO© participants improved  significantly  more  than  the  comparison  subjects. Diagnosis And pre-treatment full-scale IQ scores did not predict outcome scores; however, Vineland  adaptive  behavior  composite, Vineland  communication domain, and verbal IQ all predicted outcome on the VABS–SD,especially for the LEGO© therapy group.” (Legoff, Sherman, 351.) They claim that the LEGO test group excelled in all three categories of tests they conducted. Also, a prerequisite IQ test didn't predict the outcome of the results, indicating improvement in kids who began with an initial disadvantage.

In conclusion, playing with Legos as a child can have a multitude of positive effects. Not only can it improve spatial awareness ability, but it can also lead to children to develop more creative and productive habits. Additionally, their benefits can reach all age ranges, just as long as they are not ingested...

Furthermore, Legos can be an excellent tool for encouraging children to work together and develop their social skills. Whether it's building a structure or creating a story, Legos can be a collaborative experience that forces kids to cooperate and communicate. Overall, LEGOS provide a fun and reasonable way for kids to develop these imperative skills early. What isn't so reasonable is paying 300 for a 150 piece set. And although the price of these magic brick will never stop increasing, the hefty price tag is not going to stop me from putting LEGO set under the christmas tree for my future children.

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