Carefree Childhood
“We Learn, We Build, We Play,” goes the My Bricks4Kidz motto. And, to top it off, various research and findings continue to highlight that children make use of up to 30% of their energy and time to just play.
The more stress hormones swarm children’s brains, the less likely they are to succeed intellectuallyJohn Medina, Brain Scientist and Molecular Biologist
It’s therefore crucial that learning and playing are combined so that learning can be as enjoyable and effective as it should be. Kids are not little adults. They are rightfully entitled to experience a carefree childhood. Because fun is simply an essential part of their lives.
For most kids, nothing could have been more fun than playing with toys, such as LEGO® Bricks. At the age of five, a child’s brain is 90% developed. Piaget’s Four Stages of Cognitive Development also agrees that major characteristics and developmental changes occur during these tender years. At Preoperational Stage, (Toddlerhood (18-24 months) through early childhood (age 7)) they begin to make use of symbols for objects and learn to use words and pictures to personify objects.
That said, who doesn’t love playing with LEGO® Bricks, right? Even the majority of adults love it. Now, imagine enrolling your preschoolers in such a fun-filled, educational enrichment program where your little ones get to learn something whilst having loads of fun playing with LEGO® Bricks? This is where My Bricks4Kidz comes into play.
What’s My Bricks4Kidz and what does it stand for
My Bricks4Kidz is an international program developed by Michelle Cote in the USA in June 2008. My Bricks4Kidz, among others, aims to stimulate children’s creative and innovative thinking with the help of specialised lessons using LEGO® bricks. LEGO® products are used specifically to inspire fun, effective hands-on learning and exciting building experience. What’s more, the entire module of My Bricks4Kidz is anchored in real-world applications and principles of Science, Technology, Engineering & Mathematics (S.T.E.M.) catering especially for kids aged 4-6 years old.
Lisa Ng
Lisa Ng, the pioneer of My Bricks4Kidz in Malaysia, had initially started the programme in 2013 at Sunway Giza Mall in Kota Damansara before it was recently relocated to a new premise in Damansara Perdana. Lisa strongly believes that education can transform a child’s life. Prior to becoming a full-time advocate for the LEGO-based enrichment program, Lisa was a mechanical engineer working for a German-based engineering company for over more than 6 years. Lisa first heard about Bricks 4 Kidz® program on the internet back in 2013, and she soon fell in love with it. Driven by the love of LEGO® bricks and a personal passion to improve if not to diversify early childhood education and enrichment program options for Malaysian parents, Lisa next found herself on the plane flying to the US for a series of intensive of Bricks 4 Kidz® training and workshop, and the rest, as they say, is history.
Program Structure
The program structure is specially designed to suit local children, whose methodology is mostly based on experiences gained from a series of collaborative projects with neighbourhood kindergartens since its inception. Each program follows Bricks 4 Kidz® motto, We Learn, We Build, We Play with… LEGO® Bricks.
We Learn – Teachers provide a 5-10 minute themed lesson
We Build – Students build the model of the day with simple step by step instructions.
We Play – Students explore their own creativity through free play time
Unique & Exciting Holiday Camps
My Bricks4kidz also offers a unique yet exciting Holiday Camps programme held during school holidays. Each of this camp is thematically based, offering a variety of model building techniques through a brief but comprehensive educational module. Holiday Camps activities are designed for children aged 4-12. A Junior Robotics programme is also included; one that’s particularly designed for children aged 6-12 years old.
Benefits of My Bricks4Kidz
There are numerous cognitive and developmental benefits of My Bricks4Kidz. Here are some of them.
- Helps develop and strengthen fine-motor skills amongst children.
- Organisational skills are developed when kids are made to use labelled project kits at My Bricks4Kidz.
- Hands-on learning helps all kinds of learners, be it visual, auditory or kinaesthetic. Step-by-step directions help children with attention-deficit challenges to gain practice.
- To complete a model, a child is required to adopt process-orientated thinking and abstract thought. This line of thinking encourages students to visualise the model before it is complete.
- When completing a model, aside from learning to follow the simple step by step instructions to build the model itself, students also learn the many important aspects of social-emotional skills such as communication, patience, and cooperation.
- A project-based lesson also helps develop goal-oriented persistence amongst children.
Awards & Achievements
1)USA
2017 Best Children’s Enrichment Program
2014 Awarded as No.1 Child Enrichment Program
2013 Awarded as No.2 Child Enrichment Program
2)Malaysia
2017 Winner of FLL Junior Malaysia – Robust Design Award
2017 Winner of Baby Talk Reader’s Choice Award in Best Enrichment
2015 Reader’s Choice Award (Best Science Category)
2014 Winner of Baby Talk Reader’s Choice Award in Science Category
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