Beginning as a wooden toy company in in the village of Billund, Denmark in 1932 by master carpenter and joiner, Ole Kirk Kristiansen, the name Lego was formally adopted by the company in 1934, and comes from the Danish phrase “leg godt”, meaning “play well”, although they later discovered it also means “I put together” in Latin. Handy, eh?

The First Foundations

Lego Duplo was first launched internationally for children under five back in 1969, and the bricks came in four colours: yellow, blue, white and red. Designed for children from 18 months to six years, Duplo bricks were the larger, more toddler friendly version of their older sibling. Twice the height, width and length of standard Lego, they were much easier to use and also made for a handy missile to throw at friends, family or the babysitter when the opportunity arose. Duplo became a product brand in 1975, and has been renamed twice, to Lego Preschool in 1977 and Explore in 2002.

Let’s Get Complicated

But after the simplicity of Duplo, and the adventures of Lego Space and Pirates had worn off, there was Lego Technic which soon became the ultimate big (geek) boy’s toy. Created in 1977, and originally known as a Technical Set, or Expert Builder Sets, Lego Technic was comprised of traditional studded construction of previous Lego sets, but also had a number of new parts which were designed to reproduce realistic technical functions. Axels, plates, wheels, tyres, and gears were just some of the special parts that allowed these sets to move. Launching with just four sets, which included a tractor, helicopter and a forklift, Technic has evolved into a sophisticated motorised toy phenomenon, with fans of all ages from all over the world completing to produce new products in the monthly Lego Technic challenge.

But few realize the valuable and far-reaching benefits that learning to juggle can have, both physical and mental. Juggling is a physically active pastime that has been shown to improve hand-eye coordination and motor skills, as well as ambidexterity, as the hands must move independently of one another.

Those who learn to juggle also improve their cognitive abilities. Juggling is actually very mathematically complex, and jugglers must understand the patterns of the flying balls, set targets for where to throw and do so accurately, and must keep a steady rhythm throughout. Kinesthetic and physically active learners tend to be more adept at juggling, picking it up quickly before passing the skill on to others.

A landmark study showed that mastering juggling can actually increase the amount of grey matter in certain areas of the brain, dealing specifically with processing and storing visual information.

Juggling has also been used in schools nationwide to reach through to high-risk or truant students. Juggling is a way to get through to hard-to-reach children and motivate them to try something new. Learning how to juggle helps the children develop crucial learning skills that can be transferred to any other activity or challenge. Juggling teaches focus, practice, careful observation, and problem solving. The students must break the ‘problem’ down into its component parts, then gradually combine the parts to perform the act. It also teaches about perseverance, as the students must work through the dropped balls in order to succeed.

Juggling also functions well as a stress-relief activity. Juggling, because it requires careful coordination of body and mind, promotes a state of being called ‘relaxed concentration.’ Afterwards, the mind feels refreshed and less stressed.