UPDATE: Lego Braille Bricks are available! Learn more about how to obtain free Lego Braille Bricks for institutions, schools and agencies here. The Lego Foundation has a slew of educational activities for pre-braille and braille learners! Learn more about Lego Braille Bricks activities here.
Lego unveiled today (April 24, 2019) the Lego Braille Brick project targeting braille literacy. The Braille Bricks are fully compatible with other Legos. Currently the Braille Bricks are being tested in various schools and in different languages. The anticipated final set of Braille Bricks will be approximately 250 bricks with letters, zero to nine numbers and math symbols; the kit will include games and interactive activities. According to the CNN article, Lego Braille Bricks will be distributed free of charge to institutions through partner organizations. The American Printing House (APH) will participate and help roll out testing in the US. Braille Bricks is currently not publicly available but is anticipated to be launched in 2020.
One possible scenario for using Lego Braille Bricks as an educational tool is for math. Aligning math numbers to complete math equations can be challenging on a Perkins Braille Writer or in a digital format on a tablet or computer. However, math equations can be easily aligned and manipulated using Braille Bricks.
How will you use Lego Braille Bricks?
By Diane Brauner
