Play Included

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Play Included Creator of the Brick-by-Brick® programme (formerly LEGO based therapy) and LEGO Foundation partner.

This World Mental Health Day, we’re celebrating the little things that can make a big difference to how young people fee...
10/10/2026

This World Mental Health Day, we’re celebrating the little things that can make a big difference to how young people feel. 💛

A place to belong.
Someone to build with.
A shared interest.
A chance to laugh, create, talk — or simply be together.

At Brick Clubs, young people come together through LEGO® play in spaces designed to feel welcoming, playful and accepting.

Along the way, there are opportunities to share ideas, solve problems together, grow in confidence and make connections — all through something enjoyable and engaging.

Because wellbeing isn’t only about what we say.

Sometimes it starts with feeling safe enough to join in.
Confident enough to share an idea.
Comfortable enough to be yourself.
And connected enough to feel that you belong.

🧱 Play can build more than models.

💛 We’re proud to support and help raise awareness of young people’s mental health.Hello Yellow, from YoungMinds, is a ...
09/10/2026

💛 We’re proud to support and help raise awareness of young people’s mental health.

Hello Yellow, from YoungMinds, is a chance to come together, wear yellow and show young people that they are not alone.

At Play Included, we care deeply about connection, belonging and creating spaces where young people can feel comfortable being themselves. We’re really pleased to stand alongside others supporting this important campaign.

If you’re taking part in Hello Yellow too, we’d love to hear how you’re getting involved. 💛

Find out more about the campaign here:
https://fundraise.youngminds.org.uk/event/hello-yellow

Building emotional resilience, one brick at a timeThis Play in Healthcare Week, we’re celebrating the amazing people who...
08/10/2026

Building emotional resilience, one brick at a time

This Play in Healthcare Week, we’re celebrating the amazing people who create opportunities for play, connection and joy in healthcare settings.

Through our work with Starlight Children’s Foundation and their incredible Play Champions, we’ve been exploring how the Brick-by-Brick® programme can support children and young people through collaborative LEGO® play.

At Acorns Children’s Hospice, Sibling Worker and Health Play Champion Jen Bridle uses play to support siblings of children with serious illnesses. Jen has seen how building together can help create a calm, shared focus for communication, teamwork and connection.

As Jen says:
“LEGO model building becomes a shared problem that the child and I work together to fix. While we are building, we talk and get to know each other better, which builds trust.”

Jen has also seen children feel less anxious in group sessions, communicate more with one another, form new friendships and take greater ownership of their activities.

A huge thank you to Starlight, their Play Champions and practitioners like Jen for showing just how powerful play can be.

💛 Here’s to creating more moments of joy, connection and belonging through play.

Read the full case study here:https://a.storyblok.com/f/190353/c215ffb750/acorns-childrens-hospice-case-study.pdf

We’re delighted to share that we’ve joined Fatima’s UK Campaign Action Hubs and are proud to be part of a growing collab...
07/10/2026

We’re delighted to share that we’ve joined Fatima’s UK Campaign Action Hubs and are proud to be part of a growing collaborative network focused on creating meaningful, lasting change.

The Action Hubs bring together people and organisations committed to improving confidence, self-worth and life opportunities for care-experienced individuals through collaboration, innovation and shared learning.

We’re especially excited to contribute to a network built around lived experience, models of excellence, mentorship, trailblazing action and constructive engagement with decision-makers.

Over the coming months, we’ll be sharing learning, supporting knowledge exchange and working alongside partners who share a passion for improving outcomes for children, young people and adults with care experience.

We’re looking forward to playing our part and seeing what we can achieve together. 💙

https://www.fatimascampaign.com/

Young people’s mental health is once again making headlines. Behind every statistic is a child who deserves to feel seen...
25/09/2026

Young people’s mental health is once again making headlines. Behind every statistic is a child who deserves to feel seen, supported and connected. 💛

There’s no single solution. Alongside specialist mental health services, the everyday spaces, activities and relationships around children can also help create opportunities for confidence, communication and a sense of belonging.

Our Brick Club case studies show what this can look like in practice. 🧱

Trained facilitators are running Brick Clubs across a wide range of settings, including NHS-linked services, mainstream and specialist schools, speech and language settings, and children’s hospices.

Through structured, collaborative LEGO® play, children have opportunities to build together, communicate, problem-solve and share moments of joy and achievement.

The stories include examples from Cambridge schools, Cambridgeshire Community Services, Acorns Children’s Hospice Trust, the Donaldson Trust and a London primary school supporting children aged 9–11.

Brick Clubs are not a replacement for mental health care. But these case studies show how playful, inclusive and relationship-based support can contribute to children’s wellbeing, confidence and sense of connection.

👉 Read the case studies here:
https://playincluded.com/research-and-insight/case-studies/

We’d love to hear from you: where have you seen play help a child feel more connected or confident?

18/09/2026

We’re excited to announce that we are finalists in the Barclays Entrepreneur Awards 2026! To be shortlisted for the category Innovation in Impact is an honour.

We can’t wait to meet the other amazing organisations who have been shortlisted. Huge thanks to all the Play Included team members, past and present, and our incredible facilitators and partners around the world that are making such a difference in children’s lives, Brick-by-Brick!





What can happen when children are given a place to play, connect and be themselves? 🧱❤️At Play Included®, we see the pow...
07/09/2026

What can happen when children are given a place to play, connect and be themselves? 🧱❤️

At Play Included®, we see the power of inclusive play every day through Brick Club.

Children tell us that:

🧱 94% have fun
🤝 91% make friends
😊 92% feel happy
💬 82% say Brick Club is helpful

Through our Brick-by-Brick® programme, more than 5,200 professionals across 30+ countries are helping create welcoming spaces where children can communicate, collaborate, problem-solve and build confidence.

And the movement is still growing.

We believe every child should have access to high-quality, neurodiversity-affirming play — regardless of geography or income.

Because play is not extra. It is essential.

Find out more about our work and impact:
playincluded.com/research-and-insight/play-included-impact-reports/

We are delighted to share that The Brick-by-Brick® programme has been shortlisted for the Zero Project Awards 2027! 🎉🏆Th...
25/08/2026

We are delighted to share that The Brick-by-Brick® programme has been shortlisted for the Zero Project Awards 2027! 🎉🏆

This year’s awards focus on Independent Living, Political Participation, and Assistive Technology, and our innovative work has earned recognition among 159 outstanding solutions, selected from 615 nominations across 94 countries. 🌍 We are proud to stand alongside organizations from around the world that are driving innovation in disability inclusion. 🫶

Being shortlisted is a wonderful recognition of our work to create more inclusive opportunities for children and young people through collaborative LEGO® play. 🧱💛 At Play Included®, we believe that every child should have the opportunity to play, connect and belong, and we’re incredibly proud to see the impact of the Brick-by-Brick® programme recognised by the global disability inclusion community. 🌟

We look forward to the next stages: connecting with the global community, exchanging ideas, and learning from others. 🤝🌍

The Zero Project’s selection process now continues and will involve hundreds of peer-review experts from around the world. This year’s Zero Project Awardees will be announced on the International Day of Persons with Disabilities, December 3, 2026. 📅

Learn more about the Zero Project Awards 2027: zeroproject.org/zerocall27 🔗

17/08/2026

Learning through play doesn’t always look neat and tidy. From the outside, it can look a little messy, a little chaotic — maybe even like no one is quite in control.

But look more closely and something important is happening: children are engaged, exploring ideas, solving problems, connecting with others and learning through the experience.

In this conversation, Dr Gina Gomez de la Cuesta from Play Included speaks with Per Havgaard from the LEGO Foundation about why we sometimes need to get comfortable with the messiness of play — and trust what’s happening within it.

What does learning through play look like in your setting?

Last week one of our founders, Elinor Brett, enjoyed delivering an Advanced Facilitator Course to the Cambridgeshire an...
13/08/2026

Last week one of our founders, Elinor Brett, enjoyed delivering an Advanced Facilitator Course to the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Mental Health Support Team. The creative team made some amazing models together, including:
🏖️ A dream staycation
🏠 Barbie’s Dreamhouse
🏰 Disneyland
🎤 A Harry Styles concert
Through their creativity, the attendees were developing advanced facilitation skills in the Brick-by-Brick programme, exploring how play can support communication, connection, and confidence.
It's so rewarding to see the Brick-by-Brick programme go from strength to strength in the MHSTs across our local region!

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Tuesday 9am - 5pm
Wednesday 9am - 5pm
Thursday 9am - 5pm

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