The LEGO Foundation commits $20m to neurodivergence programme

Building on the Play For All project, the LEGO Foundation announces $20m funding for projects that will help neurodivergent children around the world.

The LEGO Group might have an ever increasing fascination for adults (and their wallets), but as a company that is celebrating its 90th year of making toys, it’s safe to say that it knows a fair bit about what makes children tick. But not everything. So as part of those 90th birthday celebrations, The LEGO Foundation has announced a $20m programme to partner with specialist organisations to help in the development of neurodivergent youngsters.

“Every one of us is wired differently,” the Play For All website explains. “Play helps children find and hone their strengths – giving them the best chance develop skills, to help them make friends, study in school and get set for grown-up life.”

One thing that the LEGO Foundation have learned over the years is that children have a multitude of learning styles. The site goes on: “For any child who prefers learning through moving rather than sitting at a desk, play is the ideal way to get up, experiment and get to grips with the world. For any child who likes order and calm (in a world that for them is already noisy enough) play comes with rules, routines and reassuring systems that everyone can follow.”

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To that end, the LEGO Foundation is offering up to 25 organisations the opportunity to participate in the initial round of the programme and after two months, 12 projects will move forward to the next stage. The Accelerate phase will last nine months and see the dozen teams work in partnership with the LEGO Foundation to develop their ideas further.

As the Foundation says: “We’ve got decades of research, play facilitation tools and expertise at our fingertips – and we’d love to share it with partners who can reach even more children.”

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