Salvation Army uses Lego to help build better lives

It may look like child’s play but The Salvation Army in Folkestone has launched Lego Church to help children and their families gain social skills with the Easter story being the upcoming theme.

The idea of using Lego comes from Major Richard Oliver who leads the church and charity in the town. When he took over last summer, Richard wanted to look at provision for children and families and new members are now being invited to attend.

Richard said: “The children attending our Kidz Club have a range of needs and some find social interaction difficult. I felt they would benefit from a family activity being supported by familiar adults on a one to one basis. Lego is a generation bridging activity.

“Lego helps to formulate social interaction, social skills and discipline as well as allowing for individualistic and collective creativity.”

Launched earlier this month within the church community itself, children and families across the town are now being invited to attend a special session on Easter Sunday. 

He explained: “We’ve already seen the impact this has had in building children’s confidence. Children and families in groups who have already taken part have different roles – you can be the architect, the site manager or the builder, recognising each has an equally important participation in the team.

“This helps to build on communication and inclusion – everyone has their role which can be swapped round. Every generation loves playing with Lego and within families, we’ve seen parents and children talk in some extremely constructive ways.”

A special meeting of the Lego Club is being held at The Salvation Army, Canterbury Road, Folkestone from 10.30am to 12.30pm on 30 March and all are welcome to attend.

The focus for the session on Easter Saturday is the Easter Story and visitors will be encouraged to build an Easter Garden out of Lego.

Richard said he is looking forward to seeing the club develop.

He said: “We’ve seen parents interacting effectively with children which is great. We’ll be awarding certificates for the best builders. For example, recently one girl collected a drink for a newcomer, so she won the certificate for building relationships.”