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Pre-Braille & Early Tactile Skills
Pre-braille skills give students the opportunity to explore a range of textures and objects with their hands to help develop their tactile awareness, develop their understanding of concepts through fun and enriching activities and support haptic ability (to process and understand what they are feeling). This is an essential step before learning to read braille.
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Tactile tracking cards
Simple A5 cards with rows of tactile materials to encourage students to track along the line.
They can describe the textures, count the number of shapes.
They can describe the textures, count the number of shapes.
Tactile materials
Using a range of materials can encourage students to become confident touching a range of textures. Including corrugated card, sandpaper, Wikki Stix, feathers, sticky foam sheets and shapes, textured paper, polystyrene, pipe cleaners, sticky gems and more!
Braille Tracking Lines
Having a good posture, with forearms on the table and using both hands to track along a line of braille dots is a key skill as a pre-cursor to learning braille.
These rows of patterns encourage new braillists to track a line, feeling for changes as they go.
It is essential they learn to move their hands at a steady pace and this activity can develop early confidence. They also provide a good discussion around what they can feel and how the row changes as they track.
These rows of patterns encourage new braillists to track a line, feeling for changes as they go.
It is essential they learn to move their hands at a steady pace and this activity can develop early confidence. They also provide a good discussion around what they can feel and how the row changes as they track.
Adapting Books
Touch and feel books are a great start point for new braillists.
Using sticky braille paper to add words, phrases or full text make these off the shelf books accessible.
The touch and feel elements and another level of interest to the book and help to encourage an interest in early reading. Use of vocabulary to describe the textured parts of the picture helps tactile development.
Using sticky braille paper to add words, phrases or full text make these off the shelf books accessible.
The touch and feel elements and another level of interest to the book and help to encourage an interest in early reading. Use of vocabulary to describe the textured parts of the picture helps tactile development.
Tactile Peg Matching
Tactile skill development is a key part to learning braille and accessing a tactile curriculum.
This simple resource uses a paper plate with sticky foam shapes and pegs with a match foam shape. The student can then clip the peg onto the plate next to the matching shape on the plate.
The peg action also helps to develop fine motor skills.
The colours are irrelevant on this resource with the focus on the texture/shape. The paper plate could be substituted for cards, rim of a box or other materials.
This simple resource uses a paper plate with sticky foam shapes and pegs with a match foam shape. The student can then clip the peg onto the plate next to the matching shape on the plate.
The peg action also helps to develop fine motor skills.
The colours are irrelevant on this resource with the focus on the texture/shape. The paper plate could be substituted for cards, rim of a box or other materials.
Repeating Patterns
This activity offers a multitude of learning opportunities.
Tracking along the line of foam shapes. Using tactile/haptic skills to work out what the shapes are, Counting the shapes. Identifying big/small. Then tactile discrimination to find the next shape in the sequence. Orientation skills to be able to stick it in the correct place in the pattern. Understanding of repeating patterns.
Tracking along the line of foam shapes. Using tactile/haptic skills to work out what the shapes are, Counting the shapes. Identifying big/small. Then tactile discrimination to find the next shape in the sequence. Orientation skills to be able to stick it in the correct place in the pattern. Understanding of repeating patterns.
Opposites Books
Creating simple books to develop understanding of opposites and develop language are great and easy to make.
This one illustrates long / short and uses a range of textures to develop tactile confidence.
These could be made with different materials for big / small, high / low or for other concepts like types of line e.g. curved, straight, zigzag, wavy. These would also work well for 2D shapes.
This one illustrates long / short and uses a range of textures to develop tactile confidence.
These could be made with different materials for big / small, high / low or for other concepts like types of line e.g. curved, straight, zigzag, wavy. These would also work well for 2D shapes.
Conceptual Understanding
We use the same words to describe many different objects so supporting the development of conceptual understanding is so important.
By present lots of objects with the same word label gives opportunity for discussions about size, purpose, materials, similarities and differences - and there is not a garden fork in this image!
This activity can be applied to many words/objects and is good for tactile exploration too.
By present lots of objects with the same word label gives opportunity for discussions about size, purpose, materials, similarities and differences - and there is not a garden fork in this image!
This activity can be applied to many words/objects and is good for tactile exploration too.
Texture Tiles
This box of texture tiles contains pairs of wooden tiles with different textures on each including; sandpaper, cork, velvet, carpet, fluffy and more.
They can be used for matching games, feely bags, stacking into a tower, counting in twos and more.
These can easily be home-made too!
They can be used for matching games, feely bags, stacking into a tower, counting in twos and more.
These can easily be home-made too!
Pegboard Puzzles
This particular pegboard puzzle has a different texture layer on the baseboard. This style of puzzles give opportunities for tactile exploration, understanding of shapes, different lines and orientation. Some pegboard puzzles also make a sound when the piece is inserted give audio feedback too!
Stacking Rainbow
Stacking activities provide opportunities to develop co-ordination, tactile manipulation and orientation skills. They can be stacked into a rainbow or turned upside down. Stacking bricks are equally as good.
This also lends itself to discussions and learning around shape, curved/straight lines and size ordering.
This also lends itself to discussions and learning around shape, curved/straight lines and size ordering.
Buttons
Buttons make a great and versatile tactile resource for pre-braille skills. They can be used for tactile exploration with rich vocabulary to describes sizes, textures and shapes.
They are good for conceptual understanding - not all buttons are the same. They can be used for ordering by size, finding odd one out, sorting, matching and for feely bag games.
They are good for conceptual understanding - not all buttons are the same. They can be used for ordering by size, finding odd one out, sorting, matching and for feely bag games.
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