
Tic Tac Toe
Let’s play Tic Tac Toe with bricks that are awake or asleep.
In a grid of 9 squares, which bricks will win with 3 in a row, the ones asleep or the ones awake?
Goals
To help visualise simple geometrical concepts like rows, columns, and diagonals.
To encourage collaboration and communication with a playing partner.
To encourage problem solving and flexible thinking.
To play Tic-Tac-Toe with LEGO Braille Bricks, start preparing a grid on the baseplate.
We prefer sausages of playdough for the grid. That way, nobody can confuse the grid with the bricks themselves.
For the pieces, one player will use the bricks vertically, the other horizontally.
The first player places a vertical brick in one of the squares and says where.
The second player memorises this position either mentally or by touching the grid.
Then they place another brick horizontally.
The aim is to form a straight line of three bricks.
It’s a game of strategy, but also of memory. You have to remember each of your moves and those of your opponent.
“Middle right! Three in a row! You won….”
The adult prepares

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1 baseplate
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10 random bricks in bowl
Divide the baseplate into 9 squares to create a Tic Tac Toe grid (3×3 squares). The grid can be made using flat or thin LEGO bricks, sausages of playdough, or large rubber bands.
The children play

1
Player 1 places an “awake” (= correct reading position) brick in one of the 9 squares.
Player 2 places an “asleep” brick in one of the 9 squares.

2
Both players continue playing, until one player wins by getting 3 bricks in a row (up, down, across, or diagonally)
If all 9 squares are full, without 3 in a row, the game is over: it’s a tie.
Facilitation tips
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Preliminary exercise: explain the difference between “asleep” and “awake” bricks.
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Explain the concept of directions: up, down, across, diagonal.
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Try this activity on tactile paper.
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Increase the size of the board to 4-by-4 (4 in a row to win).