The LEGO Group have produced ‘add-on‘ packages to its LEGO Braille Bricks – Play with Braille set, covering 6 more languages which include Danish, Swedish, Finnish, Norwegian, Dutch and Portuguese. The set is already available in English, Spanish, German, Italian and French.

For a better understanding and to learn more, watch the video below and read through the official statement.

Official details:

From classroom to playroom: LEGO® Braille Bricks now widely available for Nordic, Dutch and Portuguese speaking fans!

The award-winning LEGO® Braille Bricks – Play with Braille set is now available in six new language versions through top-up pack solutions at LEGO.com/pick-a-brick.

With both braille and printed letters, numbers and symbols on each brick, and games designed for all ages, the ‘LEGO Braille Bricks – Play with Braille’ set makes learning braille more fun and accessible to everyone.

By adding top-up packs to existing sets, fans are now able to try out LEGO Braille Bricks in Danish, Swedish, Finnish, Norwegian, Dutch and Portuguese.

The Pick A Brick initiative marks another milestone in bringing LEGO Braille Bricks and inclusive learning through play experiences to more families.

Billund – June, 2024: The LEGO Group today announced a special top-up package solution to its LEGO Braille Bricks – Play with Braille set, which will bring the total number of alphabets supported to eleven. Until now, the product has been available exclusively in English, Spanish, German, Italian and French. By adding top-up packs to existing English and Spanish sets, this unique tactile experience becomes accessible for Danish, Swedish, Finnish, Norwegian, Dutch and Portuguese speaking families. 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 September 2023, LEGO Braille Bricks had only been distributed free of charge by the LEGO Foundation to organizations 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.

English and French alphabet versions launched in September 2023 with Italian, Spanish and German alphabet versions following in January 2024. The launch received overwhelmingly positive response and has since been recognized as a TIME Best Invention 2023 and was recently honored Accessible Product of the Year by SCOPE Disability Equality Awards 2024.

How it works

Users will need to combine a full LEGO Braille Bricks – Play with Braille set alongside one of the top-up packs to complete one of the six new alphabets.

The LEGO® Braille Bricks – Play with Braille set 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.

The top-up packages are pre-selected LEGO Braille Bricks featuring special characters from the additional alphabets. Danish, Swedish, Norwegian, Finnish and Dutch top-up packs are compatible with the English LEGO Braille Bricks set while the Portuguese top-up pack is compatible with the Spanish set. An element guide helps users combine the top-up packs and LEGO Braille Bricks sets for optimal play value; this includes removing some of the existing bricks and exchanging them with the new elements.

To enhance the play experience and support pre-braille skill development, a series of supporting play starters is 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.

Rasmus Løgstrup, LEGO Group Lead Designer on LEGO Braille Bricks said:
“Play has the power to change lives. When children play, they learn vital skills, so we were thrilled by the reception that LEGO Braille Bricks received in educational settings and the thousands of requests to make them broadly available meant we just had to make it happen!

It’s been a fantastic journey collaborating with children, families and experts from around the world to develop the product and online activities. 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/braille-bricks while the six top-up packs are available for purchase on LEGO.com/pick-a-brick priced at: NO: 73,40 NKK / 6,20 EUR, SE: 109,48 SKK / 8,68 EUR, DK: 48,60 DKK / 6,20 EUR, FI: 4,96 EUR, PT: 9,92 EUR and NL: 2,48 EUR.

The set bagan life as an educational tool in conjunction with the LEGO Foundation. In August 2023 a retail version was released with a selection of both an English and French alphabet. The new added languages are Spanish, German and Italian.

Learn a lot more below via the video and press release.

Official details:

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.

These special bricks help visually impaired children and adults learn Braille, along with giving them the freedom of play. Today LEGO announced that the sets are available for pre-order at LEGO.com, with a general release date of 1st September.

LEGO Braille Bricks – Play with Braille (40656) comprises of 287 pieces and comes in five colous: white, yellow, green, red and blue. All bricks are obviously fully compatable with other LEGO products with these studs on each brick 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.

See official images and learn more about these amazing bricks below.

Official details:

BRINGING BRAILLE FUN HOME:
LEGO® BRAILLE BRICKS ON SALE FOR THE FIRST TIME

• Following an overwhelming response from around the world,
LEGO® Braille Bricks are now available to purchase online at LEGO.com.
• 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 fun and accessible to everyone.
• Available in English and French from 1st September 2023 with pre-order starting 24th August and additional languages to follow next year.

Ahead of World Blind Awareness Month this October and in response to global demand, the LEGO Group announces LEGO® braille bricks are available to purchase for the first time through LEGO.com. The new product -LEGO® Braille Bricks – Play with Braille –is aimed at kids aged 6+ and has been 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 members in a playful, inclusive way.

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.”

Until now, LEGO Braille Bricks have 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. This overwhelming response has 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.

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.”

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.

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!

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.”

With its ongoing commitment to make its play experiences more inclusive, the LEGO Group has also partnered with the free mobile app Be My Eyes. The popular app connects blind and partially sighted people with companies to help with everyday tasks through a live video call. As part of the partnership, LEGO Customer Service colleagues will provide confidential, live visual assistance through the app covering support from a wide range of topics from unboxing, to general product support.

Mike Buckley, Chairman and CEO, Be My Eyes, commented: “The fact that the LEGO Group is investing in inclusion is huge because so many people in the blind and low vision community already love and enjoy LEGO products. Be My Eyes is incredibly honored to partner with the LEGO Group to enable and inspire the creativity of blind and low vision builders across the globe.”

The LEGO Group is also pleased to announce that LEGO® Audio & Braille Building Instructions will now become a permanent offering. Inspired and co-developed by entrepreneur Matthew Shifrin who is blind, this experience gives builders the option of having select LEGO building instructions available as audio or text for braille readers.

LEGO Braille Bricks – Play with Braille is priced at 89.99 USD and now available for pre-order in English and French versions ahead of launch September 1st 2023. In early 2024, the set will also be available in Italian, German and Spanish versions.

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.

(40656) LEGO® Braille Bricks Play with Braille – English version availability:
United Kingdom: 79,99: GBP
Ireland: 89,99 EUR
United States: 89,99 USD
Canada: 119,99 CAD
Australia: 149,99 AUD
New Zealand: 169,99 NZD

(40655) LEGO® Braille Bricks Play with Braille – French version availability:
France:89,99 EUR
Canada:119,99 CAD
Switzerland:109,00 CHF
Luxembourg: 89,99 EUR
Belgium: 89,99 EUR

• Brazil
• Denmark
• France
• Germany
• Norway
• UK
• USA

The second wave include:

• Australia
• Austria
• Belgium
• Canada
• Finland
• Ireland
• Italy
• New Zealand
• Portugal
• Spain
• Sweden
• Switzerland
• Netherlands.

LEGO first announced the new bricks last year, and have come along way since then. Focusing on Braille they will create a new & unique way of learning.

These new bricks will be distributed for free, in select regions, through official partners, institutions, schools, and services catering to blind and visually impaired children. The bricks will consist of the Braille Bumps being arranged on top of the 2×4 bricks using the common stud.

For photos and more details please see below, or visit the official website here:  www.legobraillebricks.com.

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Official description:

LEGO® Braille Bricks to launch in twenty countries over the next six months following successful pilot program

The LEGO Foundation and the LEGO Group roll out the first wave of the program in partnership with local sight loss organizations to help children with vision impairment learn critical thinking, problem solving and collaboration through play.

Billund, August 20th 2020: Today, the LEGO Foundation and the LEGO Group announced the official launch of LEGO Braille Bricks in seven countries, including Brazil, Denmark, France, Germany, Norway, UK, and USA. The program was first unveiled as a pilot project in April 2019 during the Sustainable Brands Conference in Paris, France – home ground of Braille inventor, Louis Braille. Since then, the concept has been tested across various languages and cultural contexts and is ready to launch in six languages, including Danish, Norwegian, English, Portuguese, German and French. Four additional language versions will launch over the next six months, with the ambition that the concept will be implemented in a total of eleven languages across twenty countries by early 2021.

LEGO Braille Bricks introduces a fun and engaging way to help children with vision impairment develop tactile skills and learn the braille system. The bricks are moulded so that the studs on top reflect individual letters and numbers in the Braille alphabet while remaining fully compatible with the LEGO System in Play. The bricks also feature printed letters, numbers and symbols so that they can be used simultaneously by sighted peers, classmates, and teachers in a collaborative and inclusive way.

“With these Braille Bricks, the LEGO Foundation has created a totally new and engaging way for children with vision impairment to learn to read and write,” says David Clarke, Director of Services at the Royal National Institute of Blind People, which worked with the LEGO Foundation to develop and test the bricks in the UK. “Braille is an important tool, particularly for young people with vision impairment, and these cleverly designed bricks enable children to learn braille creatively while also engaging with their classmates in a fun and interactive way.”

The LEGO Braille Bricks toolkit is accompanied by a pedagogical concept that is based on Learning through Play and includes inspiration for brick-based activities to enhance learning and skill-development. All of the pedagogical materials are available at www.LEGObraillebricks.com, a dedicated website that offers inspiration for pre-braille and braille activities to promote Learning through Play. However, the LEGO Foundation also plans to work with teachers of the visually impaired to continue to develop the LEGO Braille Bricks concept, and is calling on teachers to submit more ideas to continuously expand the pool of activities. This interaction will be facilitated online in a Facebook group – LEGO Braille Bricks Community – where teachers can meet to share best practices, creative ideas and playful experiences with LEGO Braille Bricks.

“As an educator, I know LEGO Braille Bricks will be so helpful in bringing together different kinds of learners,” says Paige Maynard, Teacher of the Visually Impaired and Developmental Interventionist at Visually Impaired Preschool Services in Louisville, KY. “Students with visual impairments will be able to play and learn alongside their sighted peers. The bricks bring the joy of play into braille and tactile skills instruction. They help remind us that the most impactful and long-lasting learning occurs when children are actively engaged in activities they enjoy.”

As LEGO Braille Bricks toolkits launch in each respective country, they will be distributed free of charge to select institutions, schools and services catering to the education of children with visual impairment. The LEGO Foundation will work together with Official Partners in each country to manage distribution of the toolkits and support localization and training of the teaching concept presented on www.LEGObraillebricks.com.

Each kit will contain 300+ LEGO Braille Bricks covering the full alphabet in the chosen language, numbers 0-9, and select mathematical symbols and punctuation marks. It will be available in five LEGO colours and will also include three base plates and a brick separator.

“We are thrilled to launch the first wave of the LEGO Braille Bricks program and get the toolkits into the hands of children,” says Stine Storm, Senior Play & Health Specialist at the LEGO Foundation. “Throughout the testing and pilot program, we have received overwhelming support and positive feedback from children, parents, teachers and partner organizations who have experienced the LEGO Braille Bricks and see the potential of these toolkits to encourage learning in a new and exciting way. The possibilities for learning through play are endless, and we look forward to seeing how this can inspire children in their journey to learn braille.”

LEGO Braille Bricks

The concept behind LEGO Braille Bricks was first proposed to the LEGO Foundation in 2011 by the Danish Association of the Blind and again in 2017 by the Brazilian-based Dorina Nowill Foundation for the Blind. Since then, it has been further shaped in close collaboration with Blind communities in Denmark, Brazil, UK, Norway, Germany, France and USA, where testing was conducted in two waves over the course of nearly two years. The first wave of LEGO Braille Bricks is now rolling out in those same countries and will launch in 13 additional countries in early 2021, including Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Finland, Ireland, Italy, New Zealand, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and the Netherlands.