Pittsburgh is solidifying its reputation as America’s go-to destination for learning through play.
Project Baseplate is a new partnership between Carnegie Mellon University’s Center for Transformational Play and UK organization Play Included. It aims to launch a nationwide program that blends fun with educational development using Lego bricks.
The Center for Transformational Play, established two years ago with the goal of studying games and their impact on society, was a natural partner for the program, said Jessica Hammer, the center’s director.
“One of the things that really drew us to wanting to work with Play Included was actually the studies that they’ve done,” Hammer told Technical.ly. “Not just claiming that their Brick-by-Brick program has an impact, but actually doing really high-quality research and demonstrating it in a way that allows other people to build on their successes.”
The initiative will focus on two main fronts: Creating Brick-by-Brick clubs and conducting a detailed study to explore how these clubs can help children connect across different economic backgrounds and improve their social and emotional abilities through playing.
Play Included published a 2023 study that found neurodivergent children’s social skills improved after participating in therapy using bricks. Founded in 2018 as Bricks for Autism, the organization recently rebranded to reflect the realization that its research and program can help all children.