As a result of a global study concerning societal impacts on young girls’ creativity, The LEGO Group has launched a campaign that strives to encourage creative expression in girls and change the language that adults use when speaking to kids. The More Than Perfect/The Language of Play program aims to challenge societal norms by highlighting the role and power of play in unleashing girls’ creativity.
According to a new study commissioned by The LEGO Group and conducted by Edelman DXI, a survey of more than 61,000 parents and kids ages 5-12 in 36 countries found that girls feel pressured to be perfect as early as 5 years old and believe that boys receive more recognition for their creativity.
The study shows that 76% of young girls have creative confidence, but as they get older, 66% of all girls are worried about sharing their ideas, compounded by the idea of perfectionism and anxiety surrounding making a mistake. Around 71% of parents surveyed agree that the burden and pressures of perfectionism are likely to hold girls back from developing and sharing their creative ideas.
Findings indicate that there is a significant societal bias disproportionately impacting girls when it comes to language used by adults. Society is seven times more likely to use the terms “sweet,” “pretty,” “cute,” and “beautiful” for girls while boys are twice as likely to hear “brave,” “cool,” “genius,” and “innovative.”
“What we say early sets in deep. Biased language reinforces traditional gender roles, which can play a role in limiting girls’ creativity and perpetuating systemic inequalities. It can confine them to narrow categories, such as valuing aesthetics over innovation,” says Jennifer B. Wallace, author and Harvard-trained parenting researcher. “This implicit bias can hamper girls’ confidence and restrict their opportunities in male-dominated fields. Challenging these biases is essential for fostering an inclusive society where girls can fully explore their creative potential. Every girl deserves the freedom to explore her creativity without fear or pressure.”
The study also reveals that more than half of kids think adults listen to the creative ideas from boys more than ideas from girls. Around 68% of parents agree that society takes male creative ideas more seriously than those from females.
As a result, The LEGO Group has designed a short film, a guide, and other resources that highlight how adjusting language can result in a brighter, more creative future for girls. The short film More Than Perfect celebrates the endless creative potential that girls can tap into when they’re encouraged to play without limitations.
Since girls report being uplifted by compliments such as “imaginative,” “brave,” and “inspiring,” the film explores the effect that language has on girls’ creative confidence and showcases different reflections from girls and reactions from their parents.
The LEGO Group also launched a guide in collaboration with Wallace titled 10 Steps to Fostering Creative Confidence. It is designed to help parents, caregivers, and others nurture creative confidence in kids.
The guide’s 10 steps include championing progress over perfection, celebrating setbacks, playing with words, building frustration tolerance, cultivating a growth mindset, dialing down pressure and praising the process, considering play your superpower, introducing inspiring role models, challenging your own comfort zone, and checking your progress.
In addition to the guide and film, The LEGO Group introduced a series of free creativity workshops in select LEGO Stores and online at lego.com for kids ages 6 and up. The building workshops focus on entertainment, space, gaming, dreams, and imagination. New content developed with Peppy Agency, created to engage kids with the idea of creative confidence, will launch on LEGO Life next month.
The LEGO System in Play will also be highlighted as a resource for creative encouragement. According to the study, the LEGO System in Play is highly valued by girls as an avenue for experimentation. While more than 82% of girls accredit LEGO as a resource that helps them express creativity, disregard perfection, and overcome mistakes, around 61% of parents feel that LEGO is considered more relevant to boys than girls.
“In an increasingly [artificial intelligence] AI-driven world, creativity is the magic that will set us apart. LEGO play, whether it’s free building or instruction-based, helps develop essential skills that are equally relevant to all children in today’s world,” says Alero Akuya, Vice President of Global Brand at The LEGO Group. “Through building and rebuilding, it becomes a bedrock for creative confidence, courage, and self-belief. And this is key, because when girls have the space and freedom to express themselves fully, they are unstoppable. They are playful inventors, curious scientists, daring dreamers, and bold adventurers — and that’s exactly what our play unstoppable movement celebrates.”
The LEGO Group is also partnering with Save the Children and the LEGO Foundation on a new program to highlight and address these issues and their impact on girls in select countries.
To learn more about the study and campaign, visit lego.com.
