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Freestyle building

Create and build something using your imagination!

Download a fully illustrated pdf, or print this webpage.

"Free-style LEGO building is part of our daily life. It gives our kids freedom to express themselves in a natural way - without limits."

Skills you will be engaging

  • Social - sharing, listening, talking

  • Creative - using your imagination

  • Cognitive - solving problems

  • Emotional - feeling calm, enjoyment

You will need

  • Lots of different bricks, as many shapes, colours, sizes and functions as you can find.

  • Add some minifigures if you have any.

  • Use a baseplate as a surface to build on if you have one.

How to play

This activity is all about building a model of your own design from any bricks that you have. Let your child start to play with the bricks and see what develops. Watch what they are doing and join in if they are happy for you to do so.

Joining in

  • Sit together - talk to them about what they are building.

  • Watch and comment - e.g. "wow, I love that tree, it's so colourful"

  • Praise effort - e.g. "You're concentrating hard on that tower"

  • Ask to help - ask if you can help find the bricks they need.

  • Both build your own model - build alongside your child and talk as you build.

  • Build together - work together on the same model.

After you have finished

  • Play together with what you have made.

  • Celebrate what you have built.

  • Tell your child how much you enjoyed building with them.

  • Talk about the model, e.g. "my favourite bit was using lots of colours for the walls"

  • Show your model to someone else

  • Find somewhere to display your model or keep it safe

  • Share your creations using the hashtag #playincluded

Hints and Tips

  • Let your child decide what to build.

  • Build something to go with a set you already have, e.g. a garage for a car.

  • Recreate a favourite toy, story or film.

  • If your child finds this tricky, you could start to build something yourself to kickstart ideas, "look, I'm making..."

  • Try the #LetsBuildTogether page on the LEGO.com website for creative ideas.

  • Make sure you've planned enough time to finish the model. If you run out of time, empathise with how frustrating this is, and keep the model somewhere safe. Plan a time to finish building together.

Include Friends and Siblings

  • Help the children to come up with a theme together.

  • Ask the children to explain to each other what they have built.

  • Encourage them to play together with what they have made, e.g. use minifigures to travel into each other's builds and role play with them.