First Year College: Belonging & Student Success
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The Power of Lego: How Solitary Play Fosters a Sense of Belonging in School
Table of Contents
Co-authored by Kelly-Ann Allen, Ph.D.,and Cassie Hudson
A member of our research team handed a five-year-old a crayon and asked her to draw what makes her feel like she belongs at school. She drew herself surrounded by Lego blocks. ”I feel like I belong to school when I am playing Lego,” she wrote.
This wasn’t what we expected in our latest study. After analyzing drawings and conversations with 108 children in their first year of school across Melbourne,our research team discovered something important. Children know exactly what makes them feel like they belong, and it does not always involve other people.
The friendships and teachers were, of course, really critically important, but we perhaps were not prepared for how important other factors were.
Solitary Play Is More Important Than We Think
sixty-one percent of children drew themselves playing. Nearly half of these drawings showed children playing alone. Not lonely. Not isolated. Purposefully engaged with familiar objects that created their sense of security.
One boy filled his entire page with Lego pieces,drawing himself as a faceless figure with wiggly arms reaching for blocks.The toys dominated. Building (pardon the pun) through familiarity.
Other children drew themselves engaged in social play. trampolines with friends, playground games, shared activities. The solo players reminded us that belonging doesn’t always require other people.
Forcing structured activities or constant social interaction might miss the mark. It might also be in the unstructured times,when children feel safe,where belonging can thrive.
When children drew relationships, they showed us three distinct levels: seeing, being with, and doing.
Some children felt a sense of belonging from spotting their teacher across the classroom. One girl drew her teacher as a house-shaped figure with a heart on the front, writing, “I feel like I belong to school when I see my teacher.” The teacher wasn’t interacting with her in the drawing. They were just present.
Others needed proximity. they drew themselves standing near friends or sitting close to classmates, not necessarily talking or playing together.
The third group required active engagement. drawing, playing games, and running together. These were the obvious relationship builders that most school programs target.
We need to appreciate the first two groups more. Quiet companionship might be doing more for belonging than we think, and it may be that some students prefer it.
Spaces That Support Belonging
Forty percent of children highlighted specific school locations. They chose spaces that offered either securi