LEGOs are a favorite childhood activity – did you know that LEGO are also educational? Educational Technology and Mobile Learning shares 7 Skills Kids Can Develop from Playing Lego article. Education.com shares more information about LEGOs in The Learning Power of LEGO article.
We know that LEGOs can be educational. So, how do we incorporate LEGOs into the classroom? Scholastic shares math ideas in the Using LEGOs to Build Math Concepts article. Using the basic LEGO bricks, these hands-on math activities are perfect for students with visual impairments or blindness (VIB).
Are you interested in more LEGO learning activities? Check out these Montessori school LEGO activities: Free LEGO Printables and 70+ LEGO Learning Activities. These creative activities cover a range of topics and are geared for younger students.
Mark Riccobono, a father who happens to be blind, shares his personal story of how he and his sighted son build LEGO kits together. Here are Mark’s condensed tips:
To read all of Mark’s comments, go to Dad’s 8 LEGO Tips on the Great Expectations website. While on their website, be sure to check out the Iggy Peck, Architect book and related activities for students with visual impairments!
The following video shows Mark and his sons creating a LEGO kit.
For his thirteenth birthday, Matthew received the best present ever! A family friend, Lilya, created an accessible version of the Battle of Almut LEGO kit, describing every blueprint, giving names to every LEGO piece and organizing the pieces into zip-lock bags with braille labels. With these accessible directions, Matthew was finally able to create his LEGO kits independently! Since then, Matthew has had a number of LEGO kit instructions converted to be accessible. Matthew has shared two sets of digital instructions with Paths to Technology. (See attachments below for LEGO 60032 Artic Snowmobile and LEGO 41103 Pop Star Recording Studio.) Matthew promises to share more instructions in the near future!
Read about Matthew and his Love Affair with LEGOs.
Interested in Braille Bricks – LEGO-like bricks with Braille letters? See the Braille Bricks: Braille LEGOs post.
The classic LEGO bricks have now gone hi-tech in the classroom! For information about the LEGOs Education program, that includes LEGO kits, curriculums and software, read the Hi-Tech LEGOs post.
UPDATE: Braille Lego Farm Book on Amazon.
https://www.perkins.org/sites/elearning.perkinsdev1.org/files/lego%2060032%20arctic%20snowmobile_0.doc https://www.perkins.org/sites/elearning.perkinsdev1.org/files/lego%2041103%20pop%20star%20recording%20studio_0.doc
By Diane Brauner