Pre -Braille Games

As we all know, toddlers and preschool students learn best through play. When working with a student who is blind, that is the key age to get in those pre-braille skills. Below, I listed a few of my favorite pre-braille games/activities. Feel free to comment and share your child's as well! 

Candyland

Make Candyland tactile by assigning each color its own texture. Now your child can participate in game time with his or her peers AND is learning to match and identify textures.  (I can't take credit for this idea because I stole it from my amazing supervising teacher during student teaching.)

Dominoes

A couple years ago, my grandfather asked me to go through his game closet and take anything I thought my students may enjoy. I was lucky enough to come across Pavilion Games: Double 12 Dominoes. These dominoes pieces are actually tactile which make them perfect for practicing Pre-Braille skills! 

Go Fish

 

Create a tactile Go Fish game by attaching a tactile shape to each pair. Now your child can participate in a game of Go Fish with his or her friends and is working on identifying and matching tactile shapes.

Memory

Glue textures onto index cards and create a game of Memory. As your child's Pre-Braille skills improve, create a memory game with Braille symbols and eventually Braille letters.

Scavenger Hunt

Attach 2 of each shape in APH's Feel 'n Peel Point Symbol sticker packs to index cards. Attach a magnet to the back of 1 of each pair and tape to the other. Put the taped index cards on the wall in a hallway. (You want to put them at arm level so that your child will come in contact with them when trailing the wall.) Put the magnet cards on a small magnetic white board. (You can find these in the office/school supply section of Walmart) Have your child trail the wall and find matches.

Touch and Match Boards

I purchased this Touch 'n Match board through a teaching catalog when I first started teaching. A simplified version is available in APH's catalog.

Lucky Duck

Lucky Duck happens to be mine and my students favorite Pre-Braille game. Instead of matching colors and shapes, we attached textured shapes to the bottom of each duck, giving each shape a different texture. We now match shapes and textures instead of colors and shapes! For my students with multiple disabilities, we concentrated on one of those skills at a time.

Fish for Braille

At the end of last school year, I purchased  Lakeshore Magnetic Fishing Set. Using contact paper, I attached a Braille letter to each fish. I start by using a couple letters and have my students match them. As their skills advance, I have them identify each letter as they catch a fish. If they correctly identify the letter, they will get to keep it. If they incorrectly identify it, we discuss the right answer and then throw it back.