OCCASIONALLY Lego bricks make their way into Dr Nicolas Geeraert's university lectures as a way of making abstract psychological concepts better understood.

They do not fit as naturally as they would explaining complex mathematics or engineering, but this much-loved toy has a justified place in the classroom, the senior lecturer says.

Returning to Essex University as a proud runner-up in the final of Channel 4's Lego Masters, an accolade he shares with his 13-year-old son Kobe, also proves why their obsession with primary-coloured bricks is valid.

He said: "Lego is a great route to anything STEM-related [science, technology, engineering, maths]. Sometimes teachers can be nervous of teaching maths, for example, because they think the children won't like it, but Lego gives that opportunity, even with very young kids, to learn mathematical concepts.

"It's not so straightforward to bring Lego into my lessons, but I use it in my statistics and psychology lectures where I want to demonstrate something and make it more tangible, and memorable.

"My students knew before, but they'll definitely know now I like the odd bit of Lego."

And because the apple does not fall from the tree, Kobe, who was the only child left in the series, echoes his dad's positivity towards the bricks being used as a learning aid.

"My secondary school already has some Lego for ICT because there’s a certain game Lego has made [Bits and Bricks] and they use that to teach programming," the Ingatestone Anglo European School pupil replied.

"Normally I don’t really express my creativities, but the show was an excellent opportunity to do that.

"I do build Lego, but not as often as I’d like to. It was amazing - really fun."

Gazette:

Nicolas and Kobe Geeraert have always enjoyed Lego play

In Mr Geeraert's world where Lego is much more than a toy, Lego Masters was a "show waiting to happen" and proof that it is okay to play and build, no matter your age.

Each programme tested an array of disciplines from the playful to the technical.

Judging was led by Matthew Ashton, vice president of design for the Lego Group.

For the semi-final, the pair were tasked with recreating a fictional story in bricks, as narrated by their panel of judges - three youngsters.

They had just three hours.

He said: "That was the best thing we did during the competition, and possibly the hardest of them all. One team was eliminated which left us in the grand final, in which we could do anything we wanted on a two by two-metre square.

"Kobe and I built this fantasy world of 'kabouters' which is the Dutch word for gnomes, which was well received, but ultimately only one team could win.

"At times the sheer number of bricks was overwhelming. We’ve built big before but never to that scale."

The gnomes might have been dad's idea, Kobe admits, but throughout the series, which included ten days of building solid showstoppers, they brainstormed lots of ideas, particularly for the Pure Imagination Challenge.

Kobe added: "At first we played with a life-size Wendy House, which would’ve been difficult. We also had the idea of a futuristic city and a city where something strange has happened, so all the buildings would be alive, for example.

"But we settled for the gnomes because we thought it was a very good idea and a city has been done before. Gnomes were original."

Alongside the winner, the Geeraerts will display their final builds at Lego House in Billund, Denmark, where the bricks were invented.

It opens on Thursday, and might just tip Kobe's interest in Lego design over the edge.

Mr Geeraert, 41, said: "Now he’s seen it all so close, this is also something which is an aspiration, but time will tell.

"Natural history and biology are more his subjects than psychology like me. I'd be correct in saying David Attenborough is one of his heroes."

Back home in Wivenhoe, these Lego enthusiasts will continue upping the ante on their designs as they always did, however they now share a very unique feat.

He added: "It’s been an incredible experience for us to do it as father and son.

"There’s been highs and lows. There may have been in the region of 25 filming days and not all of them went smoothly, but we got through it.

"He’s always been a confident kid, but he's grown a lot through this experience so I hope he gets out of it that it’s great to put your mind to something."

To catch-up on the four-part series, click here.