A study carried out by the University of Derby has found that LEGO can play a vital role in the development of maths skills in children.

Children's construction performance and maths: controlling task complexity and predicting mathematics performance was conducted to examine the relationships between spatial and mathematical abilities in children.

A student from the university worked with 96 children, aged seven to 14, from Etwall Primary School, Granville Community School and John of Rolleston Primary School. The study revealed that there is a link between LEGO building skills and mathematics performance.

Dr Miles Richardson, head of psychology at the university, worked with the student to conduct the study.

He said: “LEGO construction skills were found to be a unique predictor of maths performance, independent of factors that we already know about. We hope the findings will encourage the development of play-based ways of engaging children to develop skills that are essential for maths.”