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Play unlocks essential skills

Through play, children build a holistic set of skills that help them take on the future with confidence. 

Research shows that when children play, they are having fun, experimenting and developing different skills without even thinking about it.

A well-designed play activity can help build five ‘super’ skills: physical, social, emotional, cognitive and creative.

Within these super-skills, the LEGO Braille Bricks activities aim to work simultaneously on skills commonly used in school (academic skills) and those specific to visually impaired children (VI skills).

COGNITIVE SKILLS


Concentration, problem solving and flexible thinking by learning to tackle complex tasks and building effective strategies to identify solutions.

LITERACY

  • Identify the 6 dots in a braille cell 

  • Discover typography

  • Understand alphabetical order

  • Name, read, write letters

  • Read, write words

  • Develop vocabulary

  • Improve spelling

NUMERACY

  • Name, read, write numbers

  • Understand numbers, express quantities

  • Use numbers to show a rank, a position

  • Recognise the place value

  • Count quantities

  • Compare, order numbers

  • Calculate with numbers

  • Recognise odd and even numbers

  • Recognise and use geometric concepts

PROBLEM SOLVING

  • Collect / organise information

  • Make hypotheses

  • Develop process of doing

  • Develop strategies to succeed

  • Develop memory

Examples of activities on cognitive skills 

Pre-braille

  • Bi-manual
  • Pretend play
  • Spatial concepts
  • Tactile discrimination

Crossroads

Feel the one-way road. Add another brick to build a crossroads.

Basic braille

  • Bi-manual
  • Numbers
  • Spatial concepts
  • Tactile discrimination

The Snake

What’s that slithering across the baseplate?! Watch out, it’s a snake!

Braille

  • Fine motor skills
  • Numeracy
  • Strategy

Battleships

Missed! Missed! Sunk!… Who’s going to sink all the ships and win the battle?

CREATIVE SKILLS

Coming up with ideas, expressing them and transforming them into reality by creating associations, symbolizing and representing ideas and providing meaningful experiences for others.

  • Develop imagination

  • Develop storytelling

  • Reproduce, create patterns

  • Imagine tactile representations

  • Make sounds

  • Retell or create simple stories

  • Write as a leisure activity

  • Engage in imaginative play

  • Engage in pretend-play sequences

  • Use a toy to represent a real object

  • Design with bricks

Examples of activities on creative skills 

Pre-braille

  • Fine motor skills
  • Spatial concepts
  • Tactile exploration

Caterpillar to Butterfly

How do you turn a caterpillar into a butterfly? By giving it beautiful wings!

A young girl sitting at a table, appearing thoughtful while playing with lego braille bricks. Thought bubbles around her show a black cat, a yellow taxi, and a tropical island with palm trees, representing her imagination.

Braille

  • Creativity
  • Literacy
  • Socialisation

The Story Factory

Pick 3 random bricks, transform them into an amazing story.

Braille

  • Creativity
  • Literacy
  • Socialisation
  • Writing

Market Shopping

Only buy things that start with the letter you pick. And don’t forget your list!

EMOTIONAL SKILLS

Understand, manage and express emotions by building self-awareness and handling impulses. Staying motivated and confident in the face of difficulties.

  • Develop motivation to read 

  • Control emotional engagement

  • Develop self regulation

  • Develop confidence

  • Accept rules

  • Listen and empathise

  • Comply with simple directions

  • Stay motivated

  • Accept new tactile experiences

Examples of activities on emotional skills 

Pre-braille

  • Brick orientation
  • Multi-sensory
  • Pretend play

Make the River Flow

Create an unbroken line… and make the water flow!

Basic braille

  • Classification
  • Imagination
  • Letters
  • Pattern of dots

Free the animals

All the animals are prisoners. Save them by making them swim or fly.

Braille

  • Fine motor skills
  • Literacy
  • Spelling
  • Writing

Word Tower

How many letters will you need to guess the secret word?

PHYSICAL SKILLS

Being physically active, understanding movement and space through practicing sensory-motor skills. Spatial understanding and nurturing an active and healthy body.

SPATIAL CONCEPT

  • Recognise spatial relationships

  • Discover the “spatial organisation of a page”

  • Discover the “spatial organisation of a braille cell”

  • Locate objects

  • Oriente objects

  • Build a construction

FINE MOTOR SKILLS

  • Know the characteristics of shapes, objects…

  • Recognise shapes

  • Compare, sort, match

  • Develop grasp and release

  • Develop hand and finger strength

  • Develop bilateral hand use

  • Develop tactile exploration

  • Develop tactile discrimination

  • Develop tactile tracking skills

  • Develop coordination

BODY CONCEPT

  • Recognise body parts

  • Develop gross motor skills

AUDITIVE SKILLS

  • Improve listening skills

  • Improve auditory skills

Examples of activities on physical skills 

Pre-braille

  • Fine motor skills
  • Spatial concepts
  • Tactile exploration

Playdough Shapes

Play with bricks and playdough.

Basic braille

  • Body image
  • Gross motor skills
  • Pattern of dots
  • Socialisation

Body Braille Twist

Can you 'write' a giant 3-dot character using your whole body?

Braille

  • Comparing
  • Fine motor skills
  • Numeracy

Throw your numbers

Throw them high and see how much you get!

SOCIAL SKILLS

Collaborate, communicate and understand other people’s perspectives through sharing ideas, negotiating rules and building empathy.

  • Develop social interactions 

  • Accept turn taking

  • Maintain attention

  • Ask relevant questions

  • Participate actively

  • Cooperate and share

  • Understand, follow instructions

  • Engage in play with peers

  • Participate with others

  • Request and accept help from others

Examples of activities on social skills 

Pre-braille

  • Bi-manual
  • Brick orientation
  • Tactile exploration

Tic Tac Toe

Let’s play Tic Tac Toe with bricks that are awake or asleep.

Basic braille

  • Body image
  • Gross motor skills
  • Pattern of dots
  • Socialisation

Body Braille Twist

Can you 'write' a giant 3-dot character using your whole body?

Braille

  • Literacy
  • Spelling
  • Strategy

Snowman

The snowman is melting. Hurry! Find the word that will save him from disappearing.