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Lorem Ipsum Dolor Spring 2016
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Build-it-braille
Did you know that Mega Bloks from Mega
Brands are the perfect braille building blocks?
These blocks are readily available in toy stores
and the single and triple blocks can be formed
to make an interactive braille cell!
Fisher-Price
The Stack 'n Surprise Blocks Musical Croc
Block Wagon and the Count and Build Snail
Pail (pictured here) from Fisher-Price feature
the perfect 6-dot cells for young children.
These interactive toys are great for getting
little hands on braille early!
The American Printing House for the Blind
(APH) has a fantastic device called the Swing
Cell for teaching the concept of the braille cell
splitting and has pegs to place in the dots. A
couple of parents who have participated in
Braille Babies were so fascinated by the use of
Mega Blocks as a device similar to APH's
Swing Cell, that they fashioned various hooks
to make their own split cell out of these blocks.
To use the Mega Blocks cell, make two
braille cells and present letters for your child
to copy. Also, try constructing an actual
braillewriter for fun out of Mega Blocks!
These activities work best with Mega Blocks
and not some of the other interlocking blocks,
as the availability of single and triple blocks
found in many Mega Block kits yield to
making a 6 dot cell.
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