Empowering Girls Brick By Brick With The LEGO® Group’s New Play Unstoppable Campaign!

A new global study by The LEGO Group has found that a fear of failure, pressure to achieve perfection, and the nuancing of everyday language can play a pivotal role in inhibiting the creative confidence of young girls
With The LEGO Group’s Play Unstoppable campaign, the Group aims to celebrate the boundless potential of young girls and empower them to experiment and express themselves creativity

The LEGO Group launches Play Unstoppable – a campaign which aims to empower girls to experiment and express themselves creatively after global research finds that the creative confidence of young girls is dampened by societal pressure to be perfect.

The LEGO Group Play Unstoppable campaign

As part of The LEGO Group’s Play Unstoppable campaign, it surveyed over 61,500 parents and children aged 5 to 12 years old across 36 countries including Singapore in its latest Play Well 2024 Research. It incorporated questions that looked at the creative confidence of children, and the importance of factors such as the fear of failure, the pressure of perfection as well as the use of language in impacting their creativity.

Play Well Study shows impact of perfection and language on creative confidence

Defined as having the courage to experiment and be comfortable with failing when developing new ideas, creative confidence can impact children through to adulthood. However, the Play Well 2024 Research revealed girls as young as five are having their creative confidence stifled by the pressures of perfection and everyday language.

At this young age, three quarters (76%) feel confident in their creativity, but this declines as they get older. Two-thirds of all girls often feel worried about sharing their ideas. This is compounded by the burden of perfectionism and anxiety about making mistakes (72%). Girls aged 5 to 12 say language they hear makes them feel like they shouldn’t experiment and make mistakes (71%), or reinforces this need to be perfect (73%).

However, 80 percent say they would be less afraid to try new things if mistakes are praised more as learning opportunities, and girls report being uplifted by growth-mindset compliments such as ‘imaginative’, ‘brave’ and ‘inspiring’.

Fostering creative confidence through everyday language

To help families nurture creative confidence through the power of play and everyday language, Harvard-trained parenting researcher and bestselling author Jennifer B Wallace has collaborated with The LEGO Group to launch a ’10 Steps to Fostering Creative Confidence’ parenting guide.

In this guide, she details tips on fostering creative confidence, such as being mindful of gender stereotypes when talking about creative ideas. For instance, using words such as “genius”, “clever” and “brave” to describe boys’ work, or “pretty”, “cute” and “gorgeous” to describe work by girls. Instead, Wallace recommends using a mixture of words, and encouraging children to ask questions and question these societal stereotypes.

The LEGO® System in Play is highly valued by girls as a way to experiment (90%). Specifically in Singapore and out of 822 children surveyed, the study revealed that 93 percent say that LEGO play helps them overcome fear of mistakes, 95 percent feel more confident in their creative skills, and 92 percent feel it helps them learn that progress is more important than perfection.

“In an increasingly AI-driven world, creativity is the magic that will set us apart. LEGO play, whether it’s free building or instruction-based, helps develop essential skills that are equally relevant to all children in today’s world. Through building and rebuilding, it becomes a bedrock for creative confidence, courage and self-belief. And this is key, because when girls have the space and freedom to express themselves fully, they are unstoppable. They are playful inventors, curious scientists, daring dreamers and bold adventurers – and that’s exactly what our play unstoppable movement celebrates,” says Alero Akuya, VP of Global Brand at The LEGO Group.

Empowering creative confidence through play

Through creative play, The LEGO Group hopes to unlock girls’ creative confidence by liberating them from the pressure of perfection and enjoy the freedom to Play Unstoppable. With a bigger portfolio of LEGO play that caters to diverse interests and passions, young girls can create endless worlds across various themes such as LEGO Friends, Disney Princess™, Creator, Classic, DREAMZzz™, Harry Potter™, Minecraft®, Gabby’s Dollhouse and an all-new Animal Crossing™ theme.

For example, the LEGO Friends theme is designed to play out a wide variety of scenes based on real-life experiences, including interaction with environmental issues such as tree planting, animal conservation and electric vehicles. Children can even combine different sets to make a whole Friends neighbourhood to play in! On the other hand, LEGO DREAMZzz™ features innovative building sets that use story-led instructions to invite kids into the action and empower them with the freedom to create any fantastical creatures and vehicles they can dream up.

This year, some of the new sets include 42614 LEGO® Friends Vintage Fashion Store where young builders can have fun with upcycled clothing items while learning about sustainability; and a detailed 43246 LEGO® Disney Princess™ Market Adventure which opens endless play possibilities for fans of Disney. Enjoy three different build-and-play experiences with 31156 LEGO® Creator Tropical Ukulele, and let your imagination take flight with the fantastical 71476 LEGO® DREAMZzz™ Zoey and Zian the Cat-Owl set. Lastly, kids can customise their Animal Crossing™ world to fit their imaginative stories with the cosy 77050 LEGO® Animal Crossing™ Nook’s Cranny & Rosie’s House featuring beloved characters from the series.

LEGO Play Unstoppable

Jacinth Liew, Parenting Coach, Our Little Playnest, also shares actionable ways for parents to inspire their girls to experiment, take creative risks and embrace failure with LEGO play:

Use LEGO bricks to create sculptures with 42604 LEGO Friends Heartlake City Shopping Mall to tell a story. In the process of creation, we are bound to face roadblocks but by putting on our thinking caps to solve the problem, it can be a stepping stone for growth.

Ignite your child’s imagination by tasking them to build a futuristic fashion store with 42614 LEGO Friends Vintage Fashion Store. Encourage your child to think out of the box and let their imagination run wild.

LEGO sets are available across LEGO® Certified Stores, LEGO® Official Store on Lazada, Shopee, Amazon, as well as major retailers and department stores in Singapore.

Embark on new adventures with the family at VivoCity

The fun doesn’t end there! From 11 to 17 March, families are invited to embark on an adventure at East Boulevard 1, VivoCity. Young girls will get to build their own creative storyland, assist LEGO Friends Paisley and Olly in locating their missing items, and take part in immersive photo opportunities. Shoppers can also enjoy exclusive discounts off selected sets, redeem a 30658 LEGO Mobile Music Trailer with a minimum spend of SGD 69 on LEGO sets from selected themes, or a LEGO Girls tote bag with a minimum spend of SGD 99 on any LEGO sets.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by The New Age Parents (Official) (@thenewageparents)

Come across an enrichment class and keen to find out your child’s response before committing to a full term? We have trial classes offered at discounted rates HERE!