LEGO Play is Your Superpower Playdate in Collaboration with Common Ground Malaysia

Last week, I visited Common Ground, Jaya One, Petaling Jaya to celebrate World Play Day. The LEGO Group has introduced its new Play is Your Superpower campaign, which aims to address the issue of youngsters playing too little on a global scale. The LEGO Group is encouraging families to give playtime a higher priority by highlighting its vital role in children's development and its ability to offer joy to families all throughout the world along with a worldwide Play Squad of supporters.

The campaign takes inspiration from a recent global survey that found that children spend only 2% of their week (or 7 hours) playing, and that 32% of children spend fewer than three hours each week playing. Comparatively, the study discovered that the typical adult spends 26 hours per week—or an average of more than 3.5 hours each day—scrolling on their smartphone.Given the critical role that play plays in developing a child's cognitive capacities, overall welfare, and most crucially, their ability to have fun, experts are concerned about the current play deficit.

The study also showed that 70% of parents prioritise achievement-based activities over unstructured play for their kids because they think doing so will help them succeed more in the long run. Adults are most frequently preferring sports groups, language instruction, and tutoring over recreational activities.

Dr Paul Ramchandani, Professor of Play at the University of Cambridge says, “There’s huge value in children taking part in all activities that provide them with a rounded education and skill set, but play offers children something really special. Through play, children develop essential skills that enhance every other area of their development, learning and growth. If your child has adequate time to play, they can develop skills including creativity, confidence, problem-solving and communication that will help them reach their full potential in later life.”

The LEGO Group’s new “Play is Your Superpower” campaign encourages families to reprioritise play

When asked, 57% of parents said the time their child spends on achievement-based activities has increased over the last three years, often at the expense of playtime. Alero Akuya, VP of Brand Development at the LEGO Group, said, “If we don’t recognise that factoring in time for a child to play each day is imperative to their wellbeing and future success, we’re going to have a generation of young adults missing vital skills. With this campaign we aim to re-frame the way adults see play and its many benefits, and encourage them to reprioritise it in their family lives. It should be just as important as reading them a bedtime story or helping them eat well to boost their health.”

A number of influential cultural icons have joined forces with the LEGO number to launch the campaign, and each of them credits their success to the skills they learned via play as children. Tan France, Naomi Watanabe, Bindi Irwin, and Stephanie Beatriz, members of the global Play Squad, will discuss the special superpowers that play has given them and why they think that every child should prioritise it.

Bindi Irwin

For passionate conservationist Bindi Irwin, childhood play taught her the power of connecting to others and the world around her, “As a child I would connect to my love for animals and our natural world through play. I would create my own imaginary worlds where I would run wild with every kind of animal. I wanted to connect with every species and learn more about them. My dad built me a treehouse and it was my favourite place in the world to play. It was where I could be a wild child! Surrounded by wildlife, next to the creek, it was where I felt most connected to nature and to my dad. That connection has meant everything to me and I’ve carried it through to my adult years. My world now revolves around wildlife conservation, encouraging others to care for our Earth and understand that we are all connected.”

Naomi Watanabe

For comedian, actor and social media star Naomi Watanabe, the power of self-expression that childhood play instilled in her has impacted every aspect of her life. Naomi said, “Childhood play always gave me an outlet to express myself in any way I wanted and, as an adult, I am grateful to have kept this quality. It has shaped who I am as a comedian, a performer, and a human being. I honour this by keeping an element of playfulness in everything I do, from the way I dress, to the clothes I create, to my impersonations and my love for entertaining other people. Everything has a bit of mischievousness!”

In order to turn its co-working spaces into "work-play" stations that combine the characteristics of cooperation, teamwork, and imagination, the LEGO Group has teamed with Common Ground Malaysia, the largest co-working facility in the country. To highlight the superpower of play and how crucial it is to incorporate play into your day, parents and children have collaborated on recreating their redesigned versions of the office through enjoyable activities in numerous Common Ground co-working spaces.

Rohan Mathur, Marketing Director of LEGO Southeast Asia shared, “The Rebuild the World campaign is one of our most highly anticipated events on our annual calendar. Witnessing it come to life inspiring creativity and imagination, while also fostering stronger connections beyond the confines of homes and classrooms, is truly exciting for us. This year, we’re extending its reach into the workspace, emphasising the importance of balancing work and play. We believe that adults, whether with their children, colleagues, friends, or loved ones, will benefit from engaging in the play activities. Through this initiative, we aim to highlight the transformative power of play, which transcends all boundaries!”

Yvonne Lee, Regional Country Manager of Common Ground Malaysia said, “We embrace the opportunity to transform our coworking spaces into havens where our community can rekindle their creativity through the LEGO Rebuild the World campaign. Our partnership with the LEGO Group is an exciting venture that resonates deeply with our diverse membership, comprising both parents and working adults. It brings them together on a personal level, fostering connections through the joy of play.”

Malaysian singer and local Play Squad, Ayda Jebat with her husband, Malaysian host and personality, Nabil Mahir (right) at the Play is Your Superpower event.

A five-minute short titled Play Is Your Superpower, starring Hollywood actress Jane Lynch as a work-obsessed CEO who learns the value of play by observing its effects on her employees through the eyes of children, was just produced by the LEGO Group to support the campaign. Adapted for Chinese families, Sun Li, a superstar actress, plays the CEO. Viewers may play along and discover their own silly superpower at LEGO.com. The movie is playable and full with easter eggs.

Locally, The LEGO Group has partnered with Common Ground Malaysia, the biggest co-working space nationwide to transform its co-working spaces that unite the elements of collaboration, teamwork, and imagination, emphasising the superpower of play and the importance of infusing play in your day

This is definitely a good initiative to allow not only children but adults as well to take a break, play and let their creativity flow. So if you're interested to find out more about the campaign or watch the Play is Your Superpower film, you can head over to their website here.

.: Peace Out :.