I remember the first time I felt the calming influence Lego play had on me. I had just been saving our star ship from imminent destruction by sacrificing a crewmate to provide biofuel for our escape – I wasn’t in outer space (of course) but running around a field at Leicester University in an intense Live Action Role Play game. It was the Playful Learning Conference 2019, which turned out to be like no conference I had ever attended - the LARPing made me totally wired! With adrenaline surging around my body, heart pumping in my chest, head full of colliding thoughts – all in a good way, I knew I needed to ground myself if I wasn’t going to crash for the rest of the afternoon seminars. This is where Lego came in.
The previous day I had taken part in a session run by Julia Reeve, a colleague from De Montfort University. Sitting under trees on soft blankets playing with pools of white Lego and creating freeform sculptures was pleasant, but I was already relaxed when I started. The second session, post-star ship apocalypse, was quite a different experience. I followed Julia’s instructions and thought about each brick as I constructed whatever came to mind. I examined my creation considering the shapes from different angles. I felt the size and weight before placing the pieces to create an organically shaped palace. I didn’t notice at what point the calm set in as I was absorbed in the task of creating. But I do know that by the end of the session I was totally calm again. The act of creative play had not only reduced my heart rate, relaxed my body, and regulated my breathing but had reset my mind as well. Play had taken me out of my own noisy overcrowded head and into a place of serenity.
Lego PlayLearn 2019 - My Spiritual Creation
It has long been acknowledged that play is a positive and necessary act for healthy physical and cognitive development in children – and as an indicator of a child’s wellbeing. In recent years more research has been undertaken to understand the ways in which play is not just for children but is a vital ingredient for wellbeing in adults too. Studies have measured the physiological changes in the brain that release our happy hormones, and the focus required for deep play - such as happens when playing with Lego - has been likened to a state of flow such as experienced by artists and athletes when ‘in the zone’. Body and mind work together in holistic harmony - with just enough challenge to engage the brain but not too much to stress it. Play has even been compared to a spiritual experience and like meditation can bring a sense of peace and balance.
With her permission, I took what I learned from Julia’s mindful outdoor session to develop my own interpretation to deliver indoors as drop-in play times for grown-ups. It’s intended for any adults who find meditation or the practice of mindfulness difficult to get started with. At these drop-ins, people are given the opportunity for facilitated free play with the building bricks. They are encouraged to reflect on how the experience makes them feel, and to note any positive changes they become aware of – be those mental, emotional, or physiological.
I’ve had the chance to offer this drop-in twice at Swansea University and in very different circumstances. In November 2019 I set up my table in Taliesin Create, with comfy sofas and chairs all around, as part of the Staff Wellbeing Fair. I was worried that being part of a bustling event was going to distract from the experience – there was far more chat than I planned for but feedback from participants was positive. In particular, I remember a student who was passing through Taliesin and asked if they could take part, or if it was just for staff. I invited them to take a seat and enjoy. It turned out that they were a student with ASD who had just come from their first counselling session. They were emotionally raw when they started playing but, by the time they had finished, all the tension and vulnerability they had felt was gone. For them, the play was a conduit to a happy place where they could imagine themselves calm and safe.
Lego at the Taliesin Create Staff Wellbeing Fair
The second session I ran was in strange circumstances. We were between lockdowns in the Summer of 2021. Outreach events were being run at Oriel Science under Covid restrictions. Mask-wearing participants were socially distanced and limited to six per session. I had come up with my own way to minimize risk by supplying a box of white Lego for each person taking part (rather than a shared pool). This time the most beautiful moment was from a Mum and daughter whose second language was English. It didn’t take long for the little girl to work out what she had to do as she created her own surreal house from the limited bricks – no instructions necessary. Towards the end of our time together I asked her what she had created – and as she described the rooms and the garden her Mother beamed. The Mum told me that she had never heard her daughter speaking English to a stranger before. Play had broken down shyness and overcome language barriers giving this child wings of confidence.
Lego Oriel Workshop - Participant Creation
When we give ourselves and others permission to play, we create a safe space where we experience freedom. We no longer struggle to achieve - to problem solve, to judge ourselves, to feel worthy – we can just be in the moment. For me, my most freeing times are spent in creative play – experimenting with poetry, art, music - or picking up some Lego bricks to see what sculpture I can make of them. It isn’t about being good at it or making a masterpiece for an exhibition but just about the experience. And maybe you are more inclined to build a house or a rocket ship rather than abstract sculptures – and that is just fine because it is your rocket ship, your creation, your moment.
Liza Penn-Thomas is an Academic Developer with SALT. She has taken a particular interest in inclusion, wellbeing, and lifelong learning during a thirty year career as a learning facilitator (specializing in information and digital literacies) – the last ten at Swansea University. Liza is also a poet who has been published in obscure litzines, performed in dodgy bars, and creates art on her kitchen table – and likes it that way. Combining her creative flair with her playful learning advocacy Liza has delivered Writing for Wellbeing workshops and Lego – Play and Flow sessions for staff and students at Swansea University. In September they will be undertaking an MA Arts Practice (Arts, Health, and Wellbeing) course at the University of South Wales, with a view to becoming a full-time practitioner in the field, focusing on the health benefits of ludic participation.