How Lego Therapy Can Help Children Navigate Parental Death

Young children can have big feelings after the death of their parent, but might not be able to verbalize what's going on, on the inside. As they grow and mature, the words usually come, but in the meantime, surviving adults and caretakers can turn to art therapy modalities to help children process and navigate their grief. One helpful method that allows them to do this is through Lego therapy.

Lego therapy is where children can create something through the use of Lego or another brand of interlocking bricks and figures that can express what they are feeling inside. There are no rules to what they create, and the creations are limitless. They can build a minifigure that reminds them of their late parent, for example. Or, they can build a place where the child and the late parent used to frequent that they still have fond memories of. They might even want to build what the hospital looked like, or what they think heaven looks like. Playing with Legos might also be a fond memory from the late parent of how the child and late parent used to play with Legos together. The children make the rules and create what they feel inside. By doing this, adults are giving grieving children a safe place where they can learn to express their grief in one of the most therapeutic ways they know how to— through play.

According to the research article, "Exploring the Impacts of an Art and Narrative Therapy Program on Participants’ Grief and Bereavement Experiences" from the Death and Dying Journal and authored by Karen Nelson, Jessica Lukawiecki, and Chloe Zivot:

"One of the earliest known uses of the term ‘Art Therapy’ (AT) was by British artist and author Adrian Hill in 1942, used to describe the therapeutic application of producing images and immersing oneself in the creative process. Since then, AT has developed as a means of addressing various forms of bereavement. During the late 1990s, it was observed that fields offering psychotherapeutic services to clients had become increasingly interested in the use of artistic-based therapies for recovery. Today, different practitioners have adapted the ideologies and practices of AT to fit the frameworks of their theoretical foundations and the unique needs of their clients."

Art therapy is recommended for young children since traditional talk therapy with counselors might not be something young children are understandably ready for. This modality lets younger children express themselves in creative ways that they already enjoy doing and that are familiar to them.

To some, Legos seem like just a fun, building brick toy that is very popular among children. In the grieving world, however, Legos can be very therapeutic and beneficial to help children process and navigate the big feelings and life changes that sadly come with losing a parent at a young age.