Skip to content
Activity and strategy

Obb and Bob Braille Practice with Nonsense Words

This fun interactive game gives beginning braille readers practice recognizing nonsense and real words, which promotes decoding skills and reading comprehension.

Obb and Bob is a phonics game where the children need to read the words and decide if it is a real word or a nonsense word.  This game is an interactive game, but I have created the printed/brailled version.  The sheet has been created by a teacher on a word document, just adding some cells on and the pictures of Obb and Bob. It has been laminated to make it last longer. Then we get to adapt it!

“Obb and Bob are brothers. They both love to eat but they like to eat different things. Bob loves to eat snacks with real words on them. Obb likes to eat snacks with fake words on them.”

laminated sheet of paper  with two word lists, one with real words and one with nonsense words
Laminated sheet of paper with two word lists, one with real words and one with nonsense words

Materials

  • Velcro
  • Wikki Stix
  • Spare laminated card
  • Sticky back braillepaper

Preparation

I made the table with Wikki Stix, but any other material that you can stick on it will do exactly the same. I find Wikki Stix really helpful to adapt last minute activities!

two plastic bags filled with small cards with words on them
Two plastic bags filled with word cards in print and braille

I used some spare laminated card to write some words on them and then I brailled the words on the sticky back braille paper and stuck it on. Once they were ready, I cut the top right corner as this is how the child checks that the card is the correct way up.

Then I added some Velcro on the table making sure that there was enough space in between to be able to put the cards on.  Then I just added the names “Obb” and “Bob” on each alien and under the words “nonsense” and “real”.   In the example below, the nonsense words in Obb’s column are “zurp” and “jork”.  The real words in Bob’s column are shed, church, slow.

two columns on a piece of paper, one for nonsense words and the other for real words
Two columns on a piece of paper with a dividing line of Wikki Stix. Word cards in print and braille are in the correct column: one for nonsense words and the other for real words.

This is my “quick” version of Obb and Bob adapted for a blind child in a mainstream school in a way that everyone can play together.   It is a fun way for beginning braille readers to practice decoding skills and reading comprehension.

Variations

For children who are partially sighted, it might be a good idea to use a coloured card that provides good contrast for their vision. 

Collage of Obb and Bob: Word game for beginning braille readers
SHARE THIS ARTICLE
Volkswagen bug braille drawing
Activity and strategy

Volkswagen Beetle Braille Drawing

A page in the balloon book with 3 circular balloons an the sentence says, Balloons for "name".
Blog

Creating Multi-Sensory Experiences to Promote Literacy

Two craft flowers
Lessons and materials

Planting Rainbows