“That minifigure is their buddy”: the families benefitting from the LEGO® MRI programme

Sam and Ivy are two of the now millions of children who have found comfort facing MRI scans by exploring the process through the LEGO® MRI Scanner initiative.

“I found my first few MRI scans quite scary – I didn't like the noise and it felt claustrophobic,” Sam said.

For many children, MRI scanners are unfamiliar, loud and intimidating. A unique project rolled out globally by the LEGO Group since 2023 is helping to change that.

The LEGO® MRI Scanner is a set of more than 550 pieces designed to replicate the MRI experience. The LEGO Group donates sets to hospitals to help medical practitioners explain the MRI process to children and their families through play.

Sam, now 14, from Boston in the United States, was struggling through cancer treatment when the LEGO MRI set arrived at his hospital. Thinking it would cheer him up, the hospital’s child play specialist asked Sam to help build it. “I watched his confidence grow with this sense of purpose as he plugged away building,” said his mum Christina.

"It let me focus on something other than my illness,” Sam agreed. And as the model scanner took shape, he realised the set could help other kids facing their own medical challenges. Now Sam, who has been cancer-free for the past year, has advice for other children facing scans: "Absolutely use this LEGO model if you can. And don't worry, there is some noise, but you'll do great."

“There are times in hospital when children can't easily see any other kids or leave their room,” added Christina. “So for them that little LEGO Minifigure in the MRI model is their buddy. That's a friend that's going through the same thing they are going through.”

“This is one of very few official LEGO products designed exclusively to help children feel more at ease and supported during a challenging experience,” said Filipe Gaspar, who manages the MRI initiative in the LEGO Group’s Social Responsibility team.

Today, more than 10,000 sets have been donated to hospitals worldwide, and more than a million children have benefited from the playful learning they provide.

Like any parent whose child faces health issues, Rachel didn’t know where to start. How could she help her daughter Ivy understand the hospital’s MRI scanner – a huge, noisy, intimidating machine – or explain why she would need to lie completely still inside it for 30 to 40 minutes?

The clinical explanation was that the MRI would image Ivy’s brain to help doctors see if there was any damage from the seizures she’d been experiencing since she was very young.

“But when doctors talk, children can’t take it in,” Rachel said.

Playing with the LEGO MRI set changed that. Ivy was able to explore the scanner using Minifigures, ask questions in her own time and act out what would happen during the scan, helping any nerves to fade away.

Ivy had needed sedation for a previous scan but now, feeling informed and in control, sedation could be avoided completely. Something Rachel says was a big relief for the whole family.

The goal now is to expand the programme into more countries around the world, to reach more children with the benefits that this form of LEGO play brings.

For Filipe, there’s satisfaction in seeing that play can help children through some of their toughest moments. “We can’t solve their health challenges,” he said, “but we can make their time in hospital slightly easier through play.”