As Maria Montessori once famously said: ‘Play is the work of the child’. Or as Albert Einstein once put it:
‘Play is the highest form of research’ – Albert Einstein
That is why we are super excited about a new collaboration between Portuguese nonprofit – Dorina Nowill Foundation and Lew’Lara\TBWA, which helps build visually impaired kid’s literacy through playing with Braille Bricks. These lego blocks are imprinted with braille letters and allow children to construct words and sentences without the use of a braille typewriter, which does not allow them to correct their mistakes.
It is a fantastic toy for both literacy and inclusion. Children can play with the bricks to make structures and words, which helps them to use more sophisticated tools for communication, such as the braille typewriter. It is incredibly inclusive for collaborative play by the visually impaired and non visually impaired alike.
On the (seemingly abandoned) Braille Bricks website, you could play with Braille yourself and see how it works. Write a message in Braille or save an image of your initials! However, Vision Australia has a resource page about Braille Bricks. It is not possible to buy them from Vision Australia, however, they do provide kits to educators, schools and therapists working with children from four years old to children under 18.
The Foundation is encouraging toy makers to consider manufacturing this toy so that it can be available worldwide. We would love to see a toy maker take on this project, which would give so many visually impaired kids a great toy to learn to read and write.
If you know anyone who might be interested, or you want to learn more about the project, get in touch via their website.
Image credits:
designquixotic.com – (link under maintenance 17.9.2024) http://designquixotic.com/
Design faves – http://www.designfaves.com/2016/07/braille-bricks-are-an-innovative-learning-tool-for-blind-children
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