Games to Support Braille Literacy

Learning braille can be fun for all students. Reinforce braille letter recognition and teach vocabulary words with the following games from Chapter 6 “Adding Spice to a Braille Reading Program with Activities and Games” of our new APH Press book, Guidelines and Games for Teaching Efficient Braille Reading, 2nd ed.

The Wiggle Worm Game

The page should be placed upon the table so that the head of the worm is nearest to the player. Each player will begin the game with a marker in the space to the right of the worm’s head and continue moving their token until they reach the tail of the worm. The first player to reach the tail wins the game. The number of spaces that each player may move will be indicated by the roll of the die. If the player can read the name of the letter on that space, they may stay there; if they cannot read the letter, they must go back to the beginning space again.

Fishing for Words

Word cards are brailled, folded, and pinned shut with a large straight pin. Be sure to use steel pins or hair pins because a magnet will not pick up ordinary pins. The pinned cards are placed in a large fishbowl. The child lowers a piece of string with a small magnet attached to the string into the fishbowl and pulls out a “fish.” If the child can read the card correctly, they may keep it. If they cannot read the card correctly, the card goes into another fishbowl to be used at a later time. The fish that are caught may be strung on a piece of fishing line and hung by a pin from the bulletin board. Each day the child reads the “fish” caught the day before and then tries to catch other fish that are left in the bowl.

Treasure House Game

This game may be played after the student has mastered initial and final consonant sounds and short vowel sounds. The student is given a small wooden chest full of familiar objects. A treasure house (18″ x 18″ box which has dividers placed inside). Short vowel sounding words are brailled and taped to the bottom of each square. The student is directed to select an object from the treasure chest and place it where it belongs in the treasure house. A point is given for each correctly placed object.

Wheel of Fortune

A large circle is cut out of cardboard. The vocabulary words from the student’s reader are brailled and taped around the edge of the circle. The circle is attached to a sturdy piece of cardboard with a loose-fitting brad placed in the center. A large cut arrow points from the bottom of the cardboard up toward the center of the circle at the bottom. The wheel is spun, and when it stops, the student is asked to read the word nearest the tip of the arrow. The student is given one point for each word read correctly.

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