Learning Toys to Enhance Your Childs Learning Style
January 21st, 2010
Author: Alison J Bennettbr
Source: ezinearticles.combr
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How does your child learn? Do they prefer to climb, sing or draw?
Why do some children learn to read easily at school while others prefer to climb out the window? Some children love to color within the lines, whilst others become frustrated?
One of the reasons is children have different learning styles which are dictated by their dominant sense: sight, hearing or motion.
Children who are able to use their dominant sense thrive. Children who cant may have problems meeting developmental milestones. So identifying and working with your childs learning style will help them. Learning toys are tools to help children develop skills. When chosen well they complement a natural learning style, and so help the learning process.
Which learning toy should you choose?
A child will love playing with a learning toy which complements their preferred sense. A visual child will love a building set, an auditory child a musical instrument and a kinesthetic child a trampoline. However children need to be encouraged to use their non-preferred sense and this is where learning toys really come into their own.
What do you think your dominate sense is?
What do you think is your childs dominate sense?
Take a step back and think about yourself.
Imagine you are at the beach. Do you mostly notice the vivid blue of the sky and the shimmer of the water? Or the crash of the waves and the high pitched call of the seabirds? Or perhaps the feeling of the warm breeze against your skin and the grittiness of the sand?
As we go through life we depend on our senses of sight, hearing and touch. But consistently youll find you are drawn to use one particular sense. We all have a dominant sense, or occasionally a combination of two, which is stronger and that we rely on more. And it doesnt seem to be something that we can choose.
We learn through our senses, and our dominant sense determines what we prefer to learn, how we like to learn, and the tools we enjoy using. Learning, as weve always known, is not a one size fits all.
Characteristics of a Visual Learner
These children learn from what they can see and often use their hands to recreate what theyve seen by drawing or modeling. Visual babies love to look at things such as mobiles. Visual learners tend to have excellent hand-eye coordination. Their fine motor skills are excellent.
Learning toys theyll like include:
Art and crafts
Modeling
Picture books
Puzzles
Board games
Video games
Computers and internet
Building toys
Science toys
Skills that do not come naturally to visual learners:
Speech – they may need help with learning the correct sounds.
Social skills – often revolves around speech and communication
Physical skills such as coordination and balance. Sports and fitness may need to be worked on.
Characteristics of an Auditory Learner
These children learn by listening and are drawn to sounds and spoken words. Auditory babies love to listen to music and voices. They often speak early, love to sing and read aloud, ask a million questions, and are good at following verbal instructions. These children love to be read to. These children are often very popular, with good social skills.
Learning toys theyll enjoy include:
Reading and singing
Stories, rhymes and poetry
Audio books
Music
Music boxes
Musical instruments
Skills that do not come naturally to auditory learners:
Physical skills such as coordination and balance. Sports and fitness may need to be worked on.
Fine motor skills – they may need help with writing.
Characteristics of a Kinesthetic Learner
These children learn through feeling and movement. These children often walk early. They have well developed gross motor skills; have great balance and are coordinated and so are drawn to sports and active play. They are easily distracted by having to sit still in class.
Learning toys theyll love include:
Climbing, jumping, running, swimming
Building
Riding toys, scooters and bikes
Ball play
Kites
Trampolines
Sand boxes
Swings and slides
Pretend play
Tactile toys
Skills that do not come naturally to kinesthetic learners:
Fine motor skills- they may need help with writing.
Speech – they may need help with learning the correct sounds
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