We download meditation apps and do yoga, we spend hundreds on essential oils and… lego benefits for adults
Ok let’s face it. If you’re a busy parent you barely have time to pour yourself a mug of wine, let alone put the baby in the nursery or daycare centre for a 45-minute yoga class during which you’ll let go of your bladder at least twice.
But what if all we needed to do to relax was raid our kids’ Lego bins?
The dual purpose for the toy would certainly make you feel better about blowing $100 on a Ninjago Ultra Dragon for your son’s eighth birthday.
Lego Benefits for Adults
According to the Washington Post, the Danish brick-maker is looking at a new target market: stressed-out grown-ups.
“It’s zen, in the shape of a brick”
Lego recently surveyed a group of adults and found that 91 percent felt noticeably better after they played with the building blocks, and 86 percent reported feeling more relaxed.
“Adults with high-pressured jobs are telling us they’re using Lego to disconnect from the mania of the day, “ Genvieve Capa Cruz, Lego’s audience marketing strategist told the Washington Post. “They’re looking for a relaxing, calming experience – and they like instructions because that’s what helps them to be in the zone.”
Ad campaigns are zeroing in on the idea that all your busy life needs is a koi fish Lego model (and for your baby to nap longer than 15 minutes.)
“Need an escape?” a recent Instagram ad asked. “Building with Lego bricks reduces stress and improves your wellbeing. It’s zen, in the shape of a brick.”
Lego Benefits for Adults: Building Central Perk café to de-stress
Grown-ups loving Lego isn’t really a surprise. Channel Nine’s Lego Masters was a smashing success last year, with whole families sitting down to watch the teams do their Lego challenges.
New sets are increasingly tapping into our sense of nostalgia. There are sets of 7,500-piece Star Wars Millennium Falcons, vintage 1989 Batmobiles and the Central Perk café from Friends.
But the connection between brick-building and mindfulness is new.
Using mindfulness practice to alleviate anxiety and stress has been around since the 1970s. Recently scientists at the University of Otago found things like doing Sudoku, jigsaw puzzles, colouring-in and even Lego encouraged mindfulness because they required concentration and limited anxious self-reflection.
So to recap, the method for reducing stress involves buying your daughter the Hogwart’s Castle set she’s been begging for, getting a coaster for your mug of wine and sitting down at the dining table to build.
The Hogwarts Castle is about $650 by the way, so better start saving. | Photo: Lego
Other Benefits of Lego: What Parents Should Know
Lego is one of the simplest toys that you can find out there in the market, yet so versatile—its possibilities are endless.
And sometimes, less is more.
Exactly like what parenting and teaching mentor to Meagan Rose Wilson, founder of Whole Family Rhythms has said:
“A child must foster a deep connection with a toy in order to be inspired to play with it, to use it creatively and to use it often. The fewer toys a child has the more he is able to connect on a real and whole-hearted level. Choose wisely. Observe your child and trust your intuition as their parent. Do not feel guilty because you have kept things minimal and simple because – less is more.”
Simply because lego is made simple, it stimulates one’s brain to be creative by thinking out of the box. You might think a toy is just a toy, but lego can be built to help solve real life problems. With mere blocks, you can build a vision of your own future: think building of an eco-friendly city to help reduce carbon footprint.
Especially for young children, building lego can help to improve cognitive, creative and social skills that are extremely important skills for the 21st century.
Creators have also made great projects out of lego, from creating braille bricks for blind and visually impaired children, to helping to explain to children how to understand death a little better.
This article was first published in Kidspot and was edited and republished on theAsianparent with permission.
Also read: An innovative way to teach maths to your little ones using LEGO!