Lego therapy program expands through Yorkton SaskAbilities

SaskAbilities Yorkton Branch organized an open house on Thursday for their new Brick-by-Brick Lego therapy program. (Sierra D'Souza Butts / CTV News)

Yorkton, Sask. — Youth in Yorkton can now access a new Lego Therapy program in their community through SaskAbilities.

The new Brick-by-Brick Lego Academy program allows youth between the ages of 6 and 22 to practice collaboration skills in a creative and supportive environment, while also playing with Lego.

“The whole purpose of the Brick-by-Brick Lego Therapy is for individuals to get together,” explained Jamie Neal, mental health supervisor at Partners in Mental Health & Well-Being of SaskAbilities Yorkton Branch.

“We want at least four people working together so there's the teamwork, collaboration, communication skills, and the sharing pieces skills that they’re going to get."

Aside from the program aiming to help youth with their social skills, Neal added it also builds their communicative and problem solving abilities.

“It’s really about following the instructions, being a part of a team, and making friends at the same time,” she added.

Although SaskAbilities Yorkton Branch has been offering Lego therapy for years, they decided to expand their program to a larger audience after having a few facilitators complete the Brick-by-Brick Lego Academy training.

"It (Lego therapy) was originally designed for individuals experiencing autism or diagnosed with autism,” Neal said.

“But they've expanded it because they think there's so much more that it can offer and we want everyone participating."

One young adult, Lexi Hoffman, said the reason she attended SaskAbilities’ open house on Thursday night was because she wanted to try something new.

“This is my first time using (Lego pieces), I wanted to try it out,” she told CTV News.

Hoffman added that playing with the different colored pieces helped her emotional well-being.

“It’s actually really relaxing,” she said smiling.

By using the Lego pieces, Hoffman was able to build a sphinx, explaining it was as fun to destroy as it was to build.

“It reminds me of some of the pictures in Egypt where one of them represents a cat,” Hoffman said, pointing to her new creation.

"Sometimes I personally get angry and I like to make things then break them because it helps with stress."

Although a firm date is not set, the organization plans on starting their Brick-by-Brick group session as soon as they have enough people enrolled.

The cost for the program is $150, which will include six one-hour group sessions for youth.