Legos Can Be More Than Child's Play for People With Dementia

“The need to be able to see, hear, be comfortable and safe are basic and universal and should be addressed first,” she says. Turning off the television, for example, allowed for greater focus. “I would make sure ... that the participants are sitting comfortably, have enough table space [and] the room is well lit,” Kasperovich adds.

She also reduced traffic through the activity room as much as possible. One participant found a painting on a wall distressing, so Kasperovich moved the woman so she no longer faced the painting.

Social dynamics between participants were also important. Sometimes it helped to separate participants so they didn’t sit too close to one another. Involving caregivers and visiting family members was challenging at times. Some were “open-minded” and saw beyond the stereotypes that Duplos are for toddlers, she says, while others didn’t believe the toy bricks were worth trying. Still, she tried to stay positive, giving genuine praise beyond “good job” to offer something more descriptive, such as “Your tower is well-built, and it’s very sturdy.”

For a small group of people with mild or severe dementia, playing with Duplo bricks appealed to multiple senses and sparked curiosity.

Courtesy Natalia Kasperovich

Setting out a few, but not too many, blocks seemed to work best. “Some people build faster, some people slower,” she says. “We don't want to overwhelm them with [a] huge pile.” One man, for example, had an engineering mindset, she remembers. He “wanted to see why and how two bricks connect.”

Instead of handing him a pile, she gave him two bricks shaped like half-moons. Each had studs and holes on both sides, so “no matter how you turn them, they connect.” She says she chose those pieces so he would be successful and made the half-moons available to him at each session along with other pieces, so he had “a chance to succeed and have this kind of wow ... get into it,” she says.

It’s calming; it’s creative

Sarah Kremen, M.D., an associate professor of neurology and director of the behavioral neurology program at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, had her own wow moment when she learned about Kasperovich’s work.

Courtesy Natalia Kasperovich

When some people with dementia are bored, or not stimulated very much, they sit and stare or fall asleep, she says. They don’t have enough cognitive ability to initiate something themselves anymore, she says. “If you don’t bring it to them, they’re just not going to do it.”

Her team encourages caregivers to find activities that offer cognitive and social stimulation. “What I really loved about this was also the tactile stimulation and the visual stimulation,” she says.

Kremen also sees Duplo play as a non-pharmacological way to redirect someone with dementia who’s struggling with agitation or frustration. “Somebody might be punching or kicking — things are pretty bad. So ... let’s try to get them engaged in something they might want to do,” she says.

A caregiver might turn on music, change the topic of conversation or encourage the loved one to go on a walk. Duplo play offers an additional option. “This would ... be a really nice behavioral therapy, where somebody might be attracted to the colors or feeling something, almost going to the basics of our senses,” Kremen says. “It’s a pleasurable thing. It’s calming. It’s creative.”