Through our sight, hearing, voice, touch and sense of smell, we as humans can all share our unique experiences of life with others and have them understand us in return. Without the five senses, we would know very little about our world and the bodies we inhabit. So it comes as no surprise then that studies have found that our ability to process information is greatly boosted by engaging multiple senses within learning activities.
In the classroom environment, the idea of multi-sensory learning can be harnessed to improve creativity and really make lesson content stick.
Here are some ways you can incorporate multi-sensory concepts into your lesson plans.
Sight
There is a bit more to visual learning than looking at pretty pictures, but of course incorporating colourful and interesting artwork into your classroom will only inspire your students, so get as much as you can on the walls. Also, think of ways in which you can subtly introduce colour into your black and white worksheets. For example, when revision time comes around, helping your class order the key information into a colour-coded system will provide them with the extra memory cues needed for the exam hall.
Looking tasks can also help with cognitive development. For example, hiding some key words in a word search can aid spelling, ‘spot the difference’ games teach children the importance of looking at the finer details and ‘where is..?’ games can aid memory recall.
Sound
Studies have shown that playing calming classical music in the classroom improves spatial-temporal reasoning skills in what is known as the ‘Mozart Effect’.
Spatial-temporal reasoning is our ability to creatively visualise concepts and order the information into patterns. So if you are setting a creative task, try putting on some classical music in the background to give your pupils an inspiring boost.
Many children by the time they reach school age will also be familiar with nursery rhymes and will have learned to sing a few songs on their own. If you’ve ever had what is known as an ‘earworm’ you will also know the feeling of having a song involuntarily stuck in your mind. Teachers can utilize this phenomenon and seek out educational songs online to teach children a range of concepts in a way that feels very natural and fun for them.
Taste
Everyone has a favourite food and for most people, eating your favourite dish creates feelings of nostalgia as you fondly remember the holiday or occasion where you most enjoyed eating said food. These memories and the act of eating in general, is a pleasurable and engaging activity, so why not utilize these experiences in your classroom and use food as a tool for teaching children something new?
If you are learning about another culture, sampling some of their traditional cuisine in class can inspire a lively class discussion, which will in turn aid long-term memory. Additionally, getting the children to prepare the dishes themselves will help the kinaesthetic learner interact with the materials and solidify the lesson in their mind. Also food preparation incorporates aspects of science, so if you’re learning about irrevocable reactions, try using some experiments like making jelly or boiling an egg to show the real-life context and make the lesson more relatable.
Smell
Like our hearing, smell is another sense that is linked to our memories and creates powerful associations in our minds on a subconscious level. Ensuring that your classroom smells clean and fresh will unconsciously tell the pupils that it is a comfortable and nice place to be, but in an obviously more educational way, getting children to smell items like food and plants whilst they are learning about them will help the lesson stick in their long-term memory. You could even get them to describe what they smell and build their critical thinking ability at the same time.
Touch
When babies get to a certain age and learn to crawl, their sense of touch becomes vitally important as they use it to test and explore the world around them. Throughout our lives we all continue to learn things kinaesthetically i.e. learning by doing, and in the classroom environment, teachers can use objects and artistic materials to motivate pupils and develop their student’s ability to find creative solutions on their own.
If you have any comments on bringing multi-sensory learning experiences to the classroom, please share your tips in comments below.
