Alyson Thomsen

Alyson Thomsen is often referred to as “The LEGO® Lady” by the many children that she plays and builds with; and is somewhat preoccupied by what can be achieved with LEGO® bricks and a bit of imagination! A former Senior Teacher in Gloucestershire, Aly moved from the UK to Denmark with her husband and two young sons, when an employment opportunity arose at LEGO® Systems. Having no previous experience of building with LEGO®, Aly was suddenly immersed in a world of plastic bricks and her creativity and imagination were piqued by the endless opportunities of brick-filled play. She considered herself incredibly fortunate to be invited to train as a LEGO® Education Certified Trainer, before being catapulted on to America with her family for a further two amazing years, living in the beautiful state of Colorado. Aly’s brick collection was fairly impressive by the time that she arrived back in the UK, and she was so enthusiastic about developing a creative curriculum based around LEGO® that she decided to set up her own educational consultancy “Bricks2Learn” and began to take her creative construction ideas into schools. Noticing that she was working with an increasing number of children that were struggling socially and emotionally within the school setting, Aly began her journey into the therapeutic world; consequently Thera-Build® was conceived. She works with schools, charities and Trusts to provide quality commissioned projects for children, and also provides training for parents, carers and professionals in the use of LEGO® as a therapeutic tool. Aly is always on the lookout for LEGO® sets and is constantly generating new playful ideas for the children in her care. She loves to travel, enjoys eating and spends an inordinate amount of time watching box-sets whilst cleaning, sorting and organising her bricks!