Lego Mates therapy playgroup helping children with additional needs

Gateways Occupational Therapist & Speech Therapist all set up for our Lego Mates therapy group
Gateways Occupational Therapist & Speech Pathologist all set up for our Lego Mates therapy group

Lego has long been one of the most popular children’s toys for generations. It can be found in the toy boxes of most households across Australia, and many parents enjoy reliving their childhood by sitting down to play Lego with their own kids.

While parents have long seen the benefits of encouraging their kids to play with Lego, it’s now playing an important role in providing therapy to kids with additional needs all over the world.

Gateways have recently launched its own innovative Lego therapy group ‘Lego Mates’ in Geelong to support children’s social interaction and learning.

The new group, facilitated by Gateways Speech Pathologists and Occupational Therapists focuses on social thinking and imaginative play and uses Lego to improve children’s joint problem solving, planning, listening, social thinking and communication skills.

With the help of the Gateways team, the children agree on a project and are all assigned different roles including ‘engineer’ to ‘builder’ and ‘supplier’ which are rotated through the group during the task.

The group is designed for children between 8-12 years of age who are attending a mainstream primary school but may have Autism or additional support needs with social and emotional learning.

If the first session was anything to go by, Lego Mates is definitely a great way for children to have fun and enjoy their therapy sessions in a fresh new way!

There are still some limited places to join in the group for this term call so to find out more about our Lego Mates Group Program or contact us for more information.

Some of the Lego creations from our Lego Mates therapy group
Some of the Lego creations from our Lego Mates therapy group