Let a child explore the scan before the scan.
Before an unfamiliar scan, a child can move a LEGO patient through a miniature scanner and ask what happens next. The small model gives healthcare staff a shared way to explain the real procedure.
DK DenmarkIn practice. A Danish LEGO hospital programme pairs a miniature MRI model with staff guidance for playful preparation.
What to keep in view
The model supports preparation; it does not guarantee reduced anxiety, sedation or successful scans for every child. Staff adapt the conversation to the child and clinical setting.
Make the unfamiliar sequence tangible
LEGO supplies non-commercial MRI models to hospitals alongside guidance for staff. Children can move a minifigure through the scanner and explore the surrounding rooms. The useful product is the model plus a guided conversation about what will happen during their own scan.
Rehearse the unfamiliar experience through play before asking a child to undergo it.
Preparation happens through conversation
Our reading: an explanation becomes an activity the child can lead. The small model gives adults a way to discover misunderstandings before the high-pressure moment, rather than expecting reassurance alone to make the procedure understandable.
Read next.
Make a useful start part of a public service.
Both make a consequential family experience more approachable through tangible objects, supported by a wider public or clinical service.
Turn the isolation window into a shared surface.
Both bring play into healthcare settings. One helps explain an upcoming procedure; the other supports shared activity across an isolation barrier.