Defining Systematic Creativity

Godtfred Kirk Kristiansen, the founding father of the LEGO® System of Play, believed that children should not be offered ready-made solutions, instead they needed something different that would strengthen their imagination and creativity. He devised the notion that a range of toys should fit together to form a system, in order to create a toy with value for life.

Over 50 years later, the LEGO brick has become part of popular consciousness, an indelible part of the childhood memories of many people the world over and a symbol for the exuberant optimism of children to imagine what could be and to create that vision with their own hands. Despite its near ubiquity as a symbol for creativity, little insight previously existed as to just why an open-ended system like the LEGO brick is such a powerful tool for creativity.

This was the mission set forth for our network of experts – to help us understand what creativity is and how play, learning and creativity are linked. Grounded in theoretical and empirical contributions, the research helps undo many existing myths on what it means—and takes—to be creative.

Click here to download a PDF summary.

If you are interested in the full reports, please contact Tina Holm Sørensen or Bo Stjerne Thomsen from our Research & Learning team.