Kinesthetic Learning

Kinesthetic Learning

The English language finds many of its root words in the Greek language. When we understand root words, even if we don’t know what a word means, we can intuit its meaning by putting together roots, prefixes, and suffixes. For instance, - geo means earth and - ology means the study of, so geology means the study of the earth. 

The Greek word for movement or motion is - kinesis. And we know that - ology means the study of. So, kinesiology means the study of movement or motion. There is an entire science discipline devoted to the study of movement.

In the world of education, many years have been spent looking at learning styles and coming up with classifications for students and the ways that they learn best. Some students are visual learners who learn best by seeing pictures, diagrams, charts, and organizational models, while others are auditory learners who learn best by listening to lectures or presentations, or participating in discussions. Some students learn best by reading and writing where they read, take notes, and make lists. Some students are social learners (interpersonal), who thrive in groups, collaborating and communicating, while others are solitary learners (intrapersonal), who work better alone, using self-study and reflection. Some are logical learners (analytical/mathematical), who rely on logic and reasoning to learn. Some are naturalistic and learn best when connecting to nature and the environment. Then there are the kinesthetic learners (physical) who learn best through hands-on experiences and movement. While it is absolutely true that almost all students learn best by some combination of these learning styles, most can pick out one style which suits them best.

Obviously today we are here to talk about connecting learning with movement, or kinesthetic learning. There are lots of fun activities that you can do with kids to get them up and moving, competing, and learning, all at the same time.

Around the World

This game works great in a classroom setting with any number of children and with any subject matter. It can be played with kids of any age or grade level. The premise is simple. The first student stands behind the seat of the second student. They are each asked the same question: a math fact on a card, a science question, history, English, whatever. If the person standing answers correctly first, he or she moves to stand behind the 3rd student, and play continues. At any point, if the person sitting answers first, the person standing takes their seat and the person who was sitting is now the stander, moving around the room. The winner is the person who makes it back to the starting position first. 

Classroom Baseball

This game is a team sport for academics. Pick teams in whatever fashion works best for your class. Draw names on popsicle sticks, play boys vs. girls, have students pair up and then split the pairs into two teams. Anything you’ve found that works well for you, go for it. When one team is “at bat” the other team is watching and someone is keeping score on the board. A fun twist is to have them name their own teams. Work out where home base is going to be, as well as first, second and third base. Shove desks and tables out of the way. Most kids love this kind of disruption in their classroom. Especially if the class is usually regimented. It can almost feel rebellious a little to have the desks all wonky and moved around the room. The teacher “pitches” questions. The team at bat has one person at home plate. If they answer the question correctly, they move to first base. Then the next person comes up to bat. If a question is answered incorrectly, that is an out. Three outs and the teams switch. The watching team is now up to bat and the other team watches and keeps score. Scores are made when someone travels all the way around the bases. So 4 questions need to be answered correctly for a “run” to be recorded. Just like the last game, this can be used in any subject, with any type of question. You could use it to prepare for an upcoming test, or to practice math facts, to study science terms, history dates, parts of speech. Anything goes.

Bell Ringer

This is another individual game. Each student is at their desk. This game is used when you want students to work on looking up information in some type of text. The students each have the book or reference material in front of them. The teacher has set up a bell at the front of the room. He or she asks a question which requires the students to look through material to find the answer. When they believe they have the correct answer, they rush to the front to be the first one to ring the bell. They then give the answer. If they are correct, they get a point.

Hand Jive

This is a fun game that gets kids up and moving. It is a great game for young kids learning the alphabet, skip counting, practicing their math facts, or for spelling practice. Pair students up. They will stand facing each other with their arms out, palms up. Then they will take turns spelling words or skip counting or saying the alphabet while using their right hand to slap (not hard, think of the childhood games where they slap hands and say rhymes) the right palm of their partner, and then use their left hand to slap the left palm of their partner. Then play switches and the partner does the next 2 slaps. Here’s an example. Say you are using it for skip counting 4’s. The first person will take their right hand and slap their partner’s right palm and say 4. Then they will take their left hand and slap their partner's left palm and say 8. Then their partners will do the same but they will say 16 and 24. Then it switches back to the first person who will say 32 and 40. And it goes on as high as you want. This activity does double duty because it forces students to cross the midline of their body and that is a great tool for organizing the brain. This can be used with any number of students. It is especially useful in a homeschool situation where you just have a few kids, or even just a student and their teacher or parent.

Paper Crumble

Here is a dexterity game that kids love. This takes no knowledge base but it is a fun activity to get kids moving and thinking. It’s a great step-back break. Everyone stands away from desks and tables and everyone gets a piece of paper. They hold it in their right hand. On go, they crumple the paper into a ball, using only the right hand. They may not use their body or any table, desk or chair. They may only use their right hand muscles. Once everyone has crumpled their paper into a tight ball, they switch it to their left hand. On go, they now must straighten the paper back out into its rectangular shape, again not using anything but their left hand muscles. Round 2 has them crumple with their left hand and straighten with their right. This is not a competitive game. There are no timers or winners. Everyone works at their own pace. This is another great homeschool activity.

There are so many more activities that you can do. Go on a scavenger hunt! Make an obstacle course with question stations, vocabulary stations, spelling stations, pronunciation stations, color or number stations! Have kids form a circle with hands joined in the middle and then try to work out how to untangle without dropping hands! Even kids who are not kinesthetic learning will enjoy playing these games. Give one a try.

Thanks for reading! The Speech & Smile Team