To coincide with World Braille Day, today the LEGO Group have launched the Braille Brick kit in additional languages. The LEGO® Braille Bricks began life as an educational tool created in partnership with the LEGO Foundation. A retail version was launched in August 2023, with both the English and French alphabet available in selected regions. Additional languages now available include Spanish, German and Italian. Learn more below.
From classroom to playroom: LEGO® Braille Bricks – Play with Braille now available in new languages and German, Italian and Spanish are in the mix!
The launch marks a significant milestone in the development of more
inclusive learning through play experiences.
With both braille and printed letters, numbers and symbols on each brick, and games designed for all ages, the new ‘LEGO Braille Bricks – Play with Braille’ set makes learning braille more fun and accessible to everyone.
Now available for purchase online at LEGO.com in new languages from January 4th 2024, with English and French available since August 2023.
Billund, Denmark – January 4, 2024: To mark World Braille Day and in response to global demand, the LEGO Group announces three new languages to its LEGO® Braille Bricks – Play with Braille product. The set is aimed at kids aged 6+ and designed so that anyone who is curious about braille, be they blind, partially-sighted or sighted, can have fun getting to know the braille system at home with their family in a playful, inclusive way.
Until August 2023, LEGO Braille Bricks had only been distributed free of charge by the LEGO Foundation to organisations* specializing in the education of children with vision impairment. 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. Requests to make the bricks more publicly available then led to the creation of LEGO Braille Bricks – Play with Braille, to give families the opportunity to enjoy the benefits and practice their tactile skills at home.
Following the launch of English and French language versions in August 2023, which saw overwhelmingly positive response and has since been recognized as a TIME Best Invention 2023, families are now able to also purchase the product in Spanish, German and Italian on www.LEGO.com.
Martine Abel-Williamson, President, World Blind Union, commented: “For blind and partially sighted children, and adults for that matter, it makes all the difference if they can share their journey of learning braille with the people they love the most. For the blind community, braille is not just literacy, it’s our entry to independence and inclusion into this world, and to have LEGO Braille Bricks made available for the wider public is a massive step forward to ensuring more children will want to learn braille in the first place. And because it’s based on a product that so many families already know and love, this is really an invitation for all family members to have fun building tactile skills and getting familiar with braille using the same tool.”
LEGO® Braille Bricks – Play with Braille 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. The Play Starter Activities are now available in Spanish, German, Italian, English and French.
Lisa Taylor, mum to 7-year-old Olivia and 4-year-old Imogen, commented:
“Olivia first discovered LEGO braille bricks at school and they had such a big impact on her curiosity for braille. 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.”
Rasmus Løgstrup, LEGO Group Lead Designer on LEGO Braille Bricks said: “Play has the power to change lives; when children play, they learn vital life-long skills, so we were thrilled by the reception that LEGO Braille Bricks received in educational settings. We’ve been inundated with thousands of requests to make them more widely available, so we just knew we had to make it happen, and with the new additional languages we can help reach even more families!
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.”
LEGO Braille Bricks – Play with Braille set is priced at 89.99 EUR / 89.99 USD and available for purchase at LEGO.com/Play-with-braille.
The LEGO Foundation will continue to carry out research and distribute LEGO Braille Bricks educational kits free of charge through partnering national blindness associations and other partnering organisations. The LEGO Foundation supports children under the age of 18.
Italian Alphabet: ItalyUKIrelandGermanyFranceDenmark
German Alphabet: GermanyUKIrelandFranceDenmark
Spainish Alphabet: SpainUKIrelandGermanyFranceDenmark
