Educational Games in Braille for Your Students: Five Fun Choices to Use in the Classroom
Educational games are essential in the special education classroom to engage children and help them learn. Math may be boring, but combine it with a rousing game of Uno and they will want to play it all the time, willingly using their senses to learn complicated math problems.
The recent surge in the game industry for the visually impaired made it easier for teachers to find fun, engaging educational games that stimulates a child’s mind, comprehension skills and ability to problem solve. This not only benefits children on an educational front, but also on an independent living front. Educational games can also be incorporated for every age group as well, including toddlers, preschoolers and school children.
These five educational games for the visually impaired strengthen their math, problem solving and comprehension skills.
5 Educational Games for the Visually Impaired
1. Megaword. The visually-friendly cousin of Scrabble, Megaword revamps this exciting word game with bigger, easier to read tiles with a Braille overlay, a brightly-colored board and a solid border to keep the tiles in place. It helps visually impaired children learn new words, learn how to use it and how to create a strategy to win. $69.95 at IndependentLiving.com.
2. Braille Sudoku. The Braille version of the popular strategy game Sudoku, Braille Sudoku challenges children to use their math skills to make every row match up to the same number. Featuring raised border lines and colored, Braille-marked tile pieces for easy placement, this is an essential educational tool for special education teachers. $44.95 at MaxiAid.com.
3. Braille Math Blocks. This visually-friendly set of Braille-coded blocks help children learn math interactively by combining the blocks into a math problem. It is an often recommended educational game in elementary schools because it helps children comprehend math problems easier. It supports simple addition and subtraction problems. $16.95 at BrailleBookStore.com.
4. Braille Talking USA Jig Saw Puzzle. This interactive educational jigsaw puzzle enhances a child’s memorization and problem-solving skills, and is an important addition to any special education classroom. Each state is removable, coded with Braille for easy reading and fits snugly into its own spot on the board. When a child places it into its correct spot, the board will announce the state and its capital. Over time they will learn each state and capital, just by playing this fun, interactive educational board game. $22.95 at IndependentLiving.com.
5. Solitaire Board Game. Though it does not teach any math, reading or other valuable educational skills, it does enhance a visually impaired child’s ability to use all of their senses to solve a puzzle. Children must use their keen sense of forward thinking to figure out how to eliminate 31 out of 32 pegs. The large, round pegs are easy to grasp and place. $9.95 at BrailleBookStore.com.
Remember, although games can help visually impaired children learn better, it won’t replace a solid lesson paln. Games can be incorporated into lesson plans periodically as a reward for good behavior.
