Lego and maths: building blocks for an education?

Birchfield School in Shropshire has become the first school in the world to teach maths to five-year-olds using a programme supported by one of the best known brand names on the planet, Lego. The use of the new product of Lego Education called MoreToMaths in primary schools divides opinion among teachers but is a hit with pupils.

Primary schools have been using Lego informally for decades. But what is happening at Birchfield, an independent preparatory school is different; its pupils are using a product of Lego Education – an arm of the Danish toymaker – called MoreToMaths, which officially launches worldwide this month.

MoreToMaths had been under development for more than two years at Lego’s Billund headquarters in Denmark and in the US, before being adapted to teach mathematics as part of England’s national curriculum for five to seven year-olds, also known as key stage 1.

Emma Grant-King the Year 1 teacher at Birchfield says “It worries me that the children go home and tell their parents they’ve been playing with Lego” as she watches her young class, busy with their set maths task to solve questions using hens made from Lego bricks and counting nests of Lego eggs.

Sebastian, one of her pupils on the other hand has no such reservations. “I love it,” he says, as he and classmate Amar carefully move the white eggs between Lego nests and write answers in their worksheets. “I’ve got loads of Lego at home,” Sebastian explains with enthusiasm. “But this isn’t the same.”

However, the price of the product could pose a problem for some institutions. MoreToMaths kits for a class of 30, which include lesson plans, software and teaching guides, will cost £750. 

Andrew Chadwick, a maths subject leader at a primary school in Devon, doubts that the cost could be justified and that the lesson plans did not put enough emphasis on pupils becoming fluent, as required by the new national standards. “The lessons would require children spending a significant amount of time to build the Lego models – even assuming they stay on task – and so less time would be available to practise key skills and thinking about maths,”

René Lydiksen, managing director of Lego Education Europe, hopes that Birchfield School will be the first of many. “I fully understand some of the concerns, because we are owned by a toy company. However, we have our own agenda at Lego Education that is all about delivering learning impact". With its slogan of “There’s more to maths than facts,” MoreToMaths will, according to Lydiksen, allow teachers to concentrate on “the learning process”.