Play Club: when bricks become something bigger.

There’s something powerful about dumping out a bin of loose bricks onto a table.

At Bricks of Hope, we call it Play Club — but it’s so much more than play.

Play Club is a program we offer to hospital partners where we bring our community brick bins — filled with loose LEGO® bricks, minifigures, specialty pieces, and tiny treasures — directly to inpatient and outpatient families.

Instead of simply delivering sets, we sit down together. We build together. We laugh together. We let the mission come to life right in front of us.

Recently, we hosted Play Club at Shriners Children's in Chicago, and it was one of those days that reminds you exactly why this work matters.

The tables were covered in bright colors — wheels, windows, animals, capes, hair pieces, bricks and pieces in every shape imaginable. The room slowly filled with inpatient and outpatient families. And some making a beeline straight for the bins.

One young patient was on a mission from the very beginning.

She wasn’t interested in building a castle or a car. She wanted animals. Every single animal.

With total determination, she dug carefully through the bins. Myself and other volunteers helped her sift through layers of bricks. And then — a cute little cat.

Giggles.

A parrot.

More giggles.

A tiny dog.

The biggest smile and endless giggles.

Each time we uncovered another animal, her excitement bubbled over. She lined them up proudly, counting and recounting her growing zoo. It was simple. It was pure. And for that moment, the hospital didn’t feel like a hospital. It felt like joy and happiness.

Across the room, another patient sat quietly. Watching but not engaging.

One of our volunteers gently started building nearby — no pressure, no big introduction.

Just brick by brick, creating something small and inviting. A minifigure appeared. Then a little vehicle. Then a silly hat placed on top.

The young patient slowly started to let down their guard and begin building with our volunteer.

No big announcement. No dramatic shift. Just the quiet beginning of connection.

Slowly, the build grew. So did the conversation — first through bricks, then through smiles, then through words. By the end of the session, that same patient who had started the Play Club closed off was laughing with volunteers and proudly explaining what they were building.

Play Club isn’t about perfect builds.

It’s about shared tables. It's about small breakthroughs. It’s about laughter echoing in a hospital.

When we bring our brick bins into spaces like Shriners Children's Chicago, we aren’t just delivering toys. We’re creating space — space for imagination, for control in an environment that often feels out of control, for connection in moments that can feel isolating.

Loose bricks may seem simple.

But in the hands of a child searching for animals . . . in the hands of a patient learning to trust . . . in the hands of a volunteer ready to meet them where they are . . .

They become something much bigger.

They become joy. They become communication. They become hope — built one brick at a time.

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