All U.S. LEGO Stores to Become Sensory-Inclusive in 2024
LEGO stores are becoming sensory-inclusive to support those with autism and neurodivergence!
Sensory-inclusive LEGO stores? Yes, please! 🤩
LEGO just announced a MAJOR change and we are so here for it!
April is Autism Acceptance Month and LEGO just dropped the news that the company has big plans to make their stores sensory-inclusive. 🙌
To make the change happen, LEGO has paired with KultureCity, a nonprofit that works to make more public spaces accessible to those with sensory needs and non-visible disabilities.
KultureCity certifies public locations as “sensory inclusive” by ensuring staff understands the needs of neurodivergent patrons. One way they do this is to ensure each location has sensory bags available to checkout. These sensory bags contain items like noise-reducing headphones, visual cue cards, strobe reduction glasses, an identifying Lanyard, and fidget tools.
By the end of April, all U.S. and Canada LEGO stores will be KultureCity Sensory Inclusive Certified, have sensory bags, and have their official certification visible at each location! 🎉
See neurodivergent creators in action! 🎨
To see contributions from autistic creators, check out the LEGO Group’s “Love the Way You Think” campaign. It features short films that showcase the various talents of autistic and neurodivergent creators in our communities!
Plus, changes are coming to the LEGO Life Magazine, too.
Kids love the free LEGO Life Magazine, which will now be accessible and inclusive to more people. The magazine was audited to find areas that could be updated to meet the needs of neurodivergent LEGO lovers.
Some of the changes coming include:
- Placing useful items, such as prompts for activity answers, in a consistent manner
- Numbering the boxes used in cartoons to make them easier to follow
- Planning content to suit a variety of abilities and interests
- Ensuring consistent and meaningful use of visual simples
LEGO is open to making more changes throughout 2024. If you have a helpful suggestion for making LEGO Life Magazine neurodivergent-inclusive, head over to LEGO to sign up for the free magazine and write-in to LEGO about any of your suggestions.
The LEGO Foundation also supports other organizations that promote inclusive learning.
Have you heard about The LEGO Foundation’s Play for All Accelerator Programme? This program provides two—to three-year grants to innovators who promote inclusive learning for neurodivergent children.
These five organizations were just announced as grant winners:
- Social Cipher: A video game-based platform that uses storytelling to facilitate social-emotional learning and increase a sense of belonging to neurodivergent children.
- Kokoro Kids: An early-learning platform where children can develop cognitive and emotional skills via play
- Mom’s Belief: A holistic-care provider that provides individual educational plans and play-based toolkits to neurodivergent children
- onebillion: A nonprofit publisher of adaptive literacy and numeracy software for marginalised children
- Little Journey: A mobile app designed to reduce anxiety around healthcare interactions
We wanted to share these organizations as their products and services may be helpful to Hip readers and their families!
Fans are excited to see LEGO stores become sensory-inclusive and so are we! 💙
According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, 1 in 36 children has autism.
If your family or community has been touched by autism, like some of us here at Hip2Save, you know how important and awesome it is to see a major company like LEGO taking the initiative to be inclusive.
Those with neurodivergence are important, valuable members of our communities with a lot to contribute.
Having the tools to succeed is vital for each and every person and we think it’s fantastic that LEGO is dedicated to making sure everyone can enjoy the benefits of their products and stores. After all, playing with LEGO bricks can spark creativity, foster problem-solving skills, build spatial awareness, lower anxiety and stress, and more!
LEGO posted a few fan reactions regarding the upcoming changes, and it seems patrons share in our excitement:
“When I heard about this project, I just beamed. I was so excited. I’ve been waiting for this - to just be able to go to the store, where the employees understand, and the store is ready for my child. It’s exciting. Having KultureCity involved gives me so much confidence that my child will enjoy the experience and the sensory bags will make us come to the store more often.”
“To have sensory bags in a LEGO store when I was a kid would’ve changed my whole perspective on the communities I could be a part of. Being able to experience the LEGO store at my own pace would have allowed me to connect to so many other people and LEGO fans, and truly feel like I belong. This move will allow for people like me, a full-grown adult, to experience everything the store has to offer and let children visiting the store have their own perspective on their own lives changed in a positive way. That’s something that can’t be replaced.””
Are you excited to see LEGO become sensory-inclusive? We’d love to hear what these changes mean to you!
Sign up for the FREE kids event at LEGO on April 20th and 21st!
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