General News
LEGO® Braille Bricks on sale for the first time
Freya Lucas
Sep 01, 2023
Save
Following an overwhelming response from around the world, LEGO® Braille Bricks are now available to purchase ahead of World Blind Awareness Month in October.
The launch marks a significant milestone in the development of more inclusive learning through play experiences, with the blocks featuring both braille and printed letters, numbers and symbols on each brick, and games designed for all ages.LEGO Braille Bricks – Play with Braille makes learning braille fun and accessible to everyone, available in both English and French, and are available from 1 September, with pre-orders now open. Additional languages will follow in 2024.
Aimed at children six years of age and up, the bricks have been designed to allow anyone who is curious about braille, be they blind, partially-sighted or sighted, can have fun getting to know the braille system in a playful, inclusive way.
“As long standing partners of the LEGO Foundation, Vision Australia is proud to be a part of the launch of LEGO Braille Bricks to LEGO.com. Together, we have been distributing LEGO Braille Bricks to children who are blind or have low vision since 2021. By increasing access to this tool, children, and families outside of the blind and low vision community will be able to understand the different ways people who are blind or have low vision learn, access information, and interact with the world. With an incredible reception locally to the childhood favourite, we believe that this move will allow more Australians to play,” Ron Hooton, CEO, Vision Australia said.
Until now, LEGO Braille Bricks have only been distributed free of charge by the LEGO Foundation to organisations specialising in the education of children with vision impairment including Vision Australia.
Since the launch of these educational kits in 2020, feedback from parents, carers, grandparents, children, and educators has continually highlighted the positive impact the bricks have and how they transform the way children with vision impairment can learn braille.
For Lisa Taylor, mother to seven year old Olivia and four year old Imogen, the development is a welcomed one.
“Olivia first discovered LEGO braille bricks at school and they had such a big impact on her curiosity for braille,” she said.
“Before then, she found it hard to get started with the symbols but now she’s improving all the time. To have a set at home changes everything. We can play with braille together as a family and she can introduce braille to her little sister in a way they both love.”
“LEGO braille bricks are accessible for her without being really different for other kids, so she gets to play and learn just like every other child. That makes her feel included which is so important, not just to Olivia but any child.”
The Play with Braille set includes 287 bricks in five colours: white, yellow, green, red and blue.
All bricks are fully compatible with other LEGO products and the studs on each brick are arranged to correspond to the numbers and letters in the braille system, with the printed version of the symbol or letter situated below the studs.
The set also includes two baseplates to build on and comes in packaging with braille embossing. To enhance the play experience and support pre-braille skill development, a series of supporting play starters are available on LEGO.com and will teach players how to orient, attach and stack the bricks through well-loved games such as Rock, Paper, Scissors, which all members of the family can take part in.
“We were thrilled by the reception that LEGO Braille Bricks received in educational settings,” Rasmus Løgstrup, LEGO Group Lead Designer on LEGO Braille Bricks said.
“We’ve been inundated with thousands of requests to make them more widely available, so we just knew we had to make it happen! It’s been a fantastic journey collaborating with children, families and experts from around the world to develop the product and online activity packs.”
“Our partners have been instrumental also in advising on what colourways should be used for the bricks, product packaging and digital experiences to ensure this is optimised for individuals who experience low vision and vision loss. We know this is a strong platform for social inclusion, and can’t wait to see families get creative and have fun playing with braille together.”
With its ongoing commitment to make its play experiences more inclusive, the LEGO Group has also partnered with the free mobile app Be My Eyes. The popular app connects blind and partially sighted people with companies to help with everyday tasks through a live video call. As part of the partnership, LEGO Customer Service colleagues will provide confidential, live visual assistance through the app covering support from a wide range of topics from unboxing, to general product support.
"The fact that the LEGO Group is investing in inclusion is huge because so many people in the blind and low vision community already love and enjoy LEGO products,” Mike Buckley, Chairman and CEO, Be My Eyes, commented.
“Be My Eyes is incredibly honoured to partner with the LEGO Group to enable and inspire the creativity of blind and low vision builders across the globe."
LEGO Braille Bricks – Play with Braille is priced at 149.99 AUD and now available for pre-order in English and French versions ahead of launch 1 September 2023. In early 2024, the set will also be available in Italian, German and Spanish versions.
Don’t miss a thing
Related Articles
