Braille Games Day, 2005
Braille Games Day last Friday was Stacks of Fun!!
We started the day getting to know each other while icing biscuits and adding mini M&Ms to make braille dots. The kids had great fun writing their initials or words in braille on the biscuits then eating the left-over M&Ms.
We left the icing to set and launched into a boisterous game of Bottle Bowling! Everyone lined up for a turn, and there was loud cheering whenever anyone got a strike! Once we’d satisfied our need for Ball Speed, we headed off in to groups to play the wide selection of board games. Braille Uno, Snakes and Ladders, Braille Scrabble and Connect 4 were all very entertaining, as were the games made by SVRC staff: Toni’s Shrek Snakes and Ladders and Anne’s Addition Bingo, which was a big hit! It was really great to see the children helping each other as some explained how to play games they already knew to those who hadn’t played before. The older kids helped the younger ones with taking turns and reading out questions. While playing, kids were able to exchange ideas on many topics including secondary schooling, braille and talking watches, and the layout of braille on the Uno cards. (“I could do this to my cards!”)
The adults were able to step back and let the games run themselves. Parents, Visiting Teachers and helpers took the opportunity to share ideas on equipment and school support, some at the SVRC and some out at a coffee shop.
After we recharged our batteries at the somewhat subdued lunch, we returned to the popular games and tied ourselves in knots in a big game of tactual twister, with different textured spots on a tarpaulin.
“Left hand on the Rubbery!”
“Hey, Dad could make one of these!”
The kids said that they really loved receiving their own braille invitations in the mail. SVRC staff enjoyed the opportunity to see children test-drive some of the games they had made, and discuss their interests so they could plan to develop more books and games. One of the best outcomes of the day was the exchange of phone numbers, email addresses and invitations between families to catch up with each other again.
I would like to extend my thanks and congratulations to all of the participants in the day: Toni for the lovely invitations and design and adaptation of games, Anne for her games, Marion, Maria and the SVRC staff for planning and set up and participation on the day, VTs for their participation and encouragement, families for supporting the day by bringing the children, and especially the Great Crew - the Kids, who made Braille Games Day FUN!!
Games that we played – or, how to adapt your own
Tactual Twister
1.5m2 tarpaulin
15cm2 squares or circles of different textured materials eg short carpet,
fur fabric, rubbery fabric - 4 different textures, 6 pieces of each.
A twister spinner with small pieces of each of the materials to replace the
coloured dots; add braille to replace the print.
Connect 4
Adapt your connect 4 game by drilling large holes in the centres of the disks.
UNO
Braille the top left corner of each card using the Perkins Brailler.
The braille has 2 lines.
Top line: the number or a word to represent action on the card. (r for reverse;
+2 for draw 2)
Second line: the colour (r for red; b for blue).
Bottle Bowling
PET bottles (we used four - you decide how many)
Balls with bells in them - experiment with different sizes, or give a smaller
ball to the more experienced player.
A laneway made with locally found materials - we used small rubber mats for
the lane sides and an upended coffee table for the back board.
Shrek Snakes and Ladders
Glue tactual items onto strong board using a regular snakes and ladders board for inspiration. Toni used the Shrek theme found on the back of a Corn Flakes packet, but choose a theme popular to the players.
TIC TAC TOE
Travel game with tactual noughts and crosses that fit into a grid.
