LEGO Braille Bricks launched
Posted by Huw,
Last spring, LEGO announced that it was to produce kits to help blind children learn Braille.
They are now available and are being distributed across the world. Here's the press release explaining what they are and how to get hold of them:
LEGO Braille Bricks to launch in twenty countries over the next six months following successful pilot program
The LEGO Foundation and the LEGO Group roll out the first wave of the program in partnership with local sight loss organisations to help children with vision impairment learn critical thinking, problem solving and collaboration through play.
Billund, August 20th 2020: Today, the LEGO Foundation and the LEGO Group announced the official launch of LEGO Braille Bricks in seven countries, including Brazil, Denmark, France, Germany, Norway, UK, and USA. The program was first unveiled as a pilot project in April 2019 during the Sustainable Brands Conference in Paris, France – home ground of Braille inventor, Louis Braille.
Since then, the concept has been tested across various languages and cultural contexts and is ready to launch in six languages, including Danish, Norwegian, English, Portuguese, German and French. Four additional language versions will launch over the next six months, with the ambition that the concept will be implemented in a total of eleven languages across twenty countries by early 2021.
LEGO Braille Bricks introduces a fun and engaging way to help children with vision impairment develop tactile skills and learn the braille system. The bricks are moulded so that the studs on top reflect individual letters and numbers in the Braille alphabet while remaining fully compatible with the LEGO System in Play. The bricks also feature printed letters, numbers and symbols so that they can be used simultaneously by sighted peers, classmates, and teachers in a collaborative and inclusive way.
“With these Braille Bricks, the LEGO Foundation has created a totally new and engaging way for children with vision impairment to learn to read and write,” says David Clarke, Director of Services at the Royal National Institute of Blind People, which worked with the LEGO Foundation to develop and test the bricks in the UK. “Braille is an important tool, particularly for young people with vision impairment, and these cleverly designed bricks enable children to learn braille creatively while also engaging with their classmates in a fun and interactive way.”
The LEGO Braille Bricks toolkit is accompanied by a pedagogical concept that is based on Learning through Play and includes inspiration for brick-based activities to enhance learning and skill-development.
All of the pedagogical materials are available at www.LEGObraillebricks.com, a dedicated website that offers inspiration for pre-braille and braille activities to promote Learning through Play. However, the LEGO Foundation also plans to work with teachers of the visually impaired to continue to develop the LEGO Braille Bricks concept, and is calling on teachers to submit more ideas to continuously expand the pool of activities. This interaction will be facilitated online in a Facebook group – LEGO Braille Bricks Community – where teachers can meet to share best practices, creative ideas and playful experiences with LEGO Braille Bricks.
“As an educator, I know LEGO Braille Bricks will be so helpful in bringing together different kinds of learners,” says Paige Maynard, Teacher of the Visually Impaired and Developmental Interventionist at Visually Impaired Preschool Services in Louisville, KY. “Students with visual impairments will be able to play and learn alongside their sighted peers. The bricks bring the joy of play into braille and tactile skills instruction. They help remind us that the most impactful and long-lasting learning occurs when children are actively engaged in activities they enjoy.”
As LEGO Braille Bricks toolkits launch in each respective country, they will be distributed free of charge to select institutions, schools and services catering to the education of children with visual impairment. The LEGO Foundation will work together with Official Partners in each country to manage distribution of the toolkits and support localization and training of the teaching concept presented on www.LEGObraillebricks.com.
Each kit will contain 300+ LEGO Braille Bricks covering the full alphabet in the chosen language, numbers 0-9, and select mathematical symbols and punctuation marks. It will be available in five LEGO colours and will also include three baseplates and a brick separator.
“We are thrilled to launch the first wave of the LEGO Braille Bricks program and get the toolkits into the hands of children,” says Stine Storm, Senior Play & Health Specialist at the LEGO Foundation. “Throughout the testing and pilot program, we have received overwhelming support and positive feedback from children, parents, teachers and partner organisations who have experienced the LEGO Braille Bricks and see the potential of these toolkits to encourage learning in a new and exciting way. The possibilities for learning through play are endless, and we look forward to seeing how this can inspire children in their journey to learn braille.”
The concept behind LEGO Braille Bricks was first proposed to the LEGO Foundation in 2011 by the Danish Association of the Blind and again in 2017 by the Brazilian-based Dorina Nowill Foundation for the Blind. Since then, it has been further shaped in close collaboration with Blind communities in Denmark, Brazil, UK, Norway, Germany, France and USA, where testing was conducted in two waves over the course of nearly two years.
The first wave of LEGO Braille Bricks is now rolling out in those same countries and will launch in 13 additional countries in early 2021, including Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Finland, Ireland, Italy, New Zealand, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and the Netherlands.
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47 comments on this article
These are awesome.
Not even a promise of future deliveries for the rest of the world...
I want to meet the person who needs a brick separator for 2x4’s that don’t even have the full 8 studs, and even if it’s the baseplate, you just take the brick off.
Okay... I could see this working well.
@ALFIE22 said:
" I want to meet the person who needs a brick separator for 2x4’s that don’t even have the full 8 studs, and even if it’s the baseplate, you just take the brick off."
Do you mean a blind child who might have other physical disabilities? Sure, let's point and laugh at people like that.
This looks like a fantastic program and feels like such a no-brainer - the studs are already there! In a way.
Cool.
I wonder if some might end up on ebay anyway. Maybe if there is some public interest they consider making a set avialable in the shop. But it's a very niche thing. So I only see a low chance.
normal people: what a great, engaging tool to help children with disabilities!
AFOL: can I greeble with this
Awesome, I'll spread the good news now.
I feel very conflicted about this. Those would make great decorative bricks in a space hallway or containers for microscale spaceships.
But using them that way seems wrong somehow.
What an ingenious idea! It’s a shame it took them this long to think of it, but this will bring joy to sight impaired kids (and adults) all around the world*
*Or at least to those countries this will be available to initially. Hopefully it won’t take long to reach other territories.
As I said in a tweet to New Elementary, I do hope these will become generally available to the public, possibly as a LEGO Education product, so they can reach even more users and learners of Braille.
I’ve got a son with sever disabilities. This is a feelgood up, down and all around. Every time LEGO does anything that speaks to any segment of our community I’m delighted.
And it’s not wrong to think of these bricks as tools and as fun play pieces. They are both.
I think it's really a shame this won't be released and sold at the Lego shop. I would love to buy and display these in my classroom (I teach math in highschool). Roughly a third of my students will become nurses or take care of disabled kids or elderly, and this would be perfect for them (and it could attract those who never thought about working with disabled people).
Taken from the site:
"To get access to the LEGO Braille Bricks toolkits, you must be eligible to receive it. Please contact the Official Partner in your country for more information. Should your country not be mentioned, then we regretfully cannot cater to you at this point in time. The LEGO Foundation and the LEGO Group plan to introduce LEGO Braille Bricks in more countries in the years to come, so please stay tuned for more information."
Great that it's available to those for whom it is really helpful. After serving them, I do hope it will be available for everyone. Apart from being nice bricks it would certainly make more people aware of braille.
Are those new pieces????
@TomKazutara said:
"wait, you can't get those in the Lego Shop ?"
Have a look here and find the relevant partner: https://www.legobraillebricks.com./getbricks
What a great idea! Although they do look a tad strange
@ALFIE22 said:
" I want to meet the person who needs a brick separator for 2x4’s that don’t even have the full 8 studs, and even if it’s the baseplate, you just take the brick off."
Not a thoughtful comment at all. These bricks are a product specifically for the visually impaired. Some of those people may also have physical impairment. So a brick separator might be absolutely necessary for them.
A bit of thought and consideration goes a long way at times.
What's the purpose of having them come in 5 colors....? Not to be crass, but it doesn't make a difference in this case.
@Sandinista said:
"What's the purpose of having them come in 5 colors....? Not to be crass, but it doesn't make a difference in this case. "
Kids with visual impairments can have sighted friends you know!
@Sandinista said:
"What's the purpose of having them come in 5 colors....? Not to be crass, but it doesn't make a difference in this case. "
Most blind people have some degree of vision, even if print isn't accessible. But why shouldn't a tool for blind children look attractive? Especially if they are being used to educate sighted children too about what life is like for blind people.
Has it actually been launched though? Can't find anything of the listed partners' sites - No info for US, UK, OZ, CA or SE; the linked French site is even under construction, Danish site has only a newsbit linking back to legobraillbricks website etc etc.
Only useful info I found at aph.org says:
"LEGO Braille Bricks are only available for a limited time and are being distributed for free. APH’s Ex Officio Trustees (EOT’s) get the first opportunity: this is APH’s primary method for getting educational tools to students.
Second and third shipments will be available to professionals and teachers affiliated with schools, education and support centers, and other institutions who are serving students with blindness or visual impairment.
The bricks will not be available for parents or general consumers to order. The goal of the LEGO Foundation and APH is to ensure the kits are available to children for years to come. By distributing them to schools and educators, we can be sure students coming in and out of the classroom will have access.
For initial distribution, TVIs will need to work with their EOT to procure kits for their students. This will look different by region. Some EOTs may work through an IRC, or check out system. Other EOTs may mail kits directly to schools or teachers." /---/
"LEGO Braille Bricks are developed by the LEGO Foundation, the non-profit foundation affiliated with LEGO Corporation. They cannot sell anything they develop, which means kits are not available for purchase."
I'm glad that Lego is making these available to people that need them. If they put them in regular Lego shops, you AFOLs would buy them all up for the unique pieces. Save these bricks for those that need them.
@TheWackyWookiee said:
"Okay... I could see this working well."
Pun intended?
@PDelahanty said:
"I'm glad that Lego is making these available to people that need them. If they put them in regular Lego shops, you AFOLs would buy them all up for the unique pieces. Save these bricks for those that need them."
Well, these will probably never be available for people who'd need them most, in so-called third-world countries. While there is an abundance of different braille-learning solutions readily available in all the richest countries where this is launched. Neither Norway or Canada or others NEED this FIRST, but it is so much easier for the company to launch this in countries that already have networking in place to quickly and effortlessly implement these kits (and get positive press coverage in the process), than try to do it somewhere in Africa or India.
Yes, I do think it is a publicity stunt that doesn't really help that many. Braille dots are tiny, nothing like Lego studs, and thus whatever feeling one learns from these bricks must be forgotten and properly relearnt for the everyday standard braille. The only cognitive "skill" that remains from these bricks is recognizing the Lego logo on the stud... What if instead of Lego, these sets would have first been made and distributed by... Lepin? There wouldn't be similar collaboration and praise, now would there?
@blogzilly said:
"And it’s not wrong to think of these bricks as tools and as fun play pieces. They are both."
Absolutely. If LEGO made these available through S @H as a set and as individual parts through Bricks and Pieces and they were popular with AFOLs for greebling, unusual building uses, creating nameplates etc, that would incentivise LEGO to produce more. That would be good for visually impaired kids, good for sighted AFOLs and good for LEGO: a win-win-win situation.
I wonder why they don't sell them to the general public via LEGO.com.
Ever thought about the idea that people without visual impairments would love to use these sets to learn Braille as well, or to have them in the house when their kids are visited by friends with visual impairments?
I mean, LEGO Education would be the perfect brand for the set. Sometimes I just don't get TLG's reasoning.
I'm kind of amazed that this hasn't been done yet
While it is great they are doing them, why not make them available to buy??
I have bought Braille books, Braille writers and put together basic material for Braille/sight learning learning activities for elementary kids, In a non-covid time, these would have been a Great resource to add. For anyone trying to learn to practice Braille, or homeschoolers, these also would be great to buy. .. It seems silly to produce a great educational resource and limit who can get access... at least make a coast option.
I would like to read a review of this product by a blind / visually impaired person when these are released. I can't help thinking having to feel through a box of blocks to find the letter or number you are searching for might get tedious rather quickly.
@holdre007 said:
" @PDelahanty said:
"I'm glad that Lego is making these available to people that need them. If they put them in regular Lego shops, you AFOLs would buy them all up for the unique pieces. Save these bricks for those that need them."
Well, these will probably never be available for people who'd need them most, in so-called third-world countries. While there is an abundance of different braille-learning solutions readily available in all the richest countries where this is launched. Neither Norway or Canada or others NEED this FIRST, but it is so much easier for the company to launch this in countries that already have networking in place to quickly and effortlessly implement these kits (and get positive press coverage in the process), than try to do it somewhere in Africa or India.
Yes, I do think it is a publicity stunt that doesn't really help that many. Braille dots are tiny, nothing like Lego studs, and thus whatever feeling one learns from these bricks must be forgotten and properly relearnt for the everyday standard braille. The only cognitive "skill" that remains from these bricks is recognizing the Lego logo on the stud... What if instead of Lego, these sets would have first been made and distributed by... Lepin? There wouldn't be similar collaboration and praise, now would there?"
Let's stop with the "Africa is a third world country." It's a whole continent, and not everybody there is poor. There are disadvantaged people outside of Africa and India, believe it or not.
Also, this is a brand new product. It's only starting with a limited release. Who's to say this won't benefit people everywhere down the road?
I don't know anything about Braille. Does the size of the dots prevent people from learning the patterns, or do they have to be a specific Braille size?
Would like to buy these, but I have no legit need for them, just have a general interest. Hopefully they will be able to release widely for purchase, perhaps benefiting an appropriate foundation or something.
@Sandinista said:
"What's the purpose of having them come in 5 colors....? Not to be crass, but it doesn't make a difference in this case. "
Visual impairment doesn't mean no sight at all. Many visually impaired people have some vision and colour may help while differentiate the different blocks during the learning process. So yes, it does make a difference in this case
What a perfect use of Lego bricks!
@CCC said:
" @Bricklunch said:
"I would like to read a review of this product by a blind / visually impaired person when these are released. I can't help thinking having to feel through a box of blocks to find the letter or number you are searching for might get tedious rather quickly.
"
A bigger issue is that these blocks are so big, they cannot be read by scanning a word. Instead, the pattern has to be read downwards and so each letter read individually. Thus they are more for letter recognition rather than reading practice. More like letter blocks for young kids."
Good point, well made.
An effective learning tool *and* an excellent texturing piece? Sign me up!
The insensitivity and ignorance in this comment thread is incredible.
@PDelahanty said:
"I'm glad that Lego is making these available to people that need them. If they put them in regular Lego shops, you AFOLs would buy them all up for the unique pieces. Save these bricks for those that need them."
You know what... you make a great case there. I believe this is one of the unique cases where LEGO would want to protect the intended use for these bricks, and they have every reason to do so.
@tfcrafter said:
"The insensitivity and ignorance in this comment thread is incredible."
I don't even find it incredible lol, ignorance to disability is nothing new. OTOH, I am pleasantly surprised by how many people have been correcting others here.
@Zander said:
" @blogzilly said:
"And it’s not wrong to think of these bricks as tools and as fun play pieces. They are both."
Absolutely. If LEGO made these available through S @ H as a set and as individual parts through Bricks and Pieces and they were popular with AFOLs for greebling, unusual building uses, creating nameplates etc, that would incentivise LEGO to produce more. That would be good for visually impaired kids, good for sighted AFOLs and good for LEGO: a win-win-win situation."
@AustinPowers said:
"I wonder why they don't sell them to the general public via S @ H .
Ever thought about the idea that people without visual impairments would love to use these sets to learn Braille as well, or to have them in the house when their kids are visited by friends with visual impairments?
I mean, LEGO Education would be the perfect brand for the set. Sometimes I just don't get TLG's reasoning. "
@tamamahm said:
"While it is great they are doing them, why not make them available to buy??
I have bought Braille books, Braille writers and put together basic material for Braille/sight learning learning activities for elementary kids, In a non-covid time, these would have been a Great resource to add. For anyone trying to learn to practice Braille, or homeschoolers, these also would be great to buy. .. It seems silly to produce a great educational resource and limit who can get access... at least make a coast option."
@minicoopers11 said:
"Would like to buy these, but I have no legit need for them, just have a general interest. Hopefully they will be able to release widely for purchase, perhaps benefiting an appropriate foundation or something."
From https://www.aph.org/lego-braille-bricks/
> LEGO Braille Bricks Q&A
>> Can I Buy A Kit?
"LEGO Braille Bricks are developed by the LEGO Foundation, the non-profit foundation affiliated with LEGO Corporation. They cannot sell anything they develop, which means kits are not available for purchase."
@darkstonegrey : so a multi-billion-dollar corporation denies itself the right to produce and sell a set that one of its own subdivisions has developed just because said subdivision is a non-profit organization?
Even if the set is given away for free to eligible institutions doesn't mean TLG themselves can't produce and sell a version of this to the general public.
They could use different packaging, like their Educational brand, and nobody would mind. I mean why, just why? It makes zero sense.
Oh wait, reading the last sentence back makes me realize it is indeed highly realistic, as not making sense seems to be a basic underlying principle of many of TLG's decisions in recent years.
@AustinPowers said:
" @darkstonegrey : so a multi-billion-dollar corporation denies itself the right to produce and sell a set that one of its own subdivisions has developed just because said subdivision is a non-profit organization?
Even if the set is given away for free to eligible institutions doesn't mean TLG themselves can't produce and sell a version of this to the general public.
They could use different packaging, like their Educational brand, and nobody would mind. I mean why, just why? It makes zero sense.
Oh wait, reading the last sentence back makes me realize it is indeed highly realistic, as not making sense seems to be a basic underlying principle of many of TLG's decisions in recent years. "
It makes perfect sense given non-profits cannot make profit from their developments. Circumventing that would elicit legal action against the LEGO foundation from government as well as loss of non-profit status. This isn't TLG's decision to make.
Can't help noticing that none of the printed material, packaging etc. seems to have any tell-tale raised markings of any sort on it...
@darkstonegrey said:
"It makes perfect sense given non-profits cannot make profit from their developments. Circumventing that would elicit legal action against the LEGO foundation from government as well as loss of non-profit status. This isn't TLG's decision to make."
No one said the LEGO Foundation should sell these. They can give them away for free just as they intend to do.
But like I said TLG could produce and sell a variant of this without any impact on the Foundation. TLG could even donate the proceeds of the sales to the Foundation or some other charity if need be, but other than that, why not? As long as the Foundation doesn't sell this for profit, where's the problem?
It's just an excuse to not distribute this more widely.
@Snazzy101 said:
" @ALFIE22 said:
" I want to meet the person who needs a brick separator for 2x4’s that don’t even have the full 8 studs, and even if it’s the baseplate, you just take the brick off."
Do you mean a blind child who might have other physical disabilities? Sure, let's point and laugh at people like that."
It's clear that the comment was not meant to be offensive to the visually or physically impaired. Also would't a brick separator require more dexterity that simply removing the brick? As someone who was worked with those with disabilities I would think so.
I'm honestly surprised that Lego hasn't done this before.
Its looks like a great concept. I think its a good idea that its a non-profit thing to prevent selling on ebay, but it could have been that a percentage of profit for every set brought goes to blind or visually impaired or disability charities.