parenting | Mimi and the Grands

Teaching Short Vowels-The M. I. Way

by Nancy "Mimi" Taylor

Now that I’ve finished my series giving a brief overview of Multiple Intelligences (M. I.), I want to share how I use these strategies when planning a unit of lessons for my grandsons. The first unit of study I am presenting to you will cover short vowels. I have so much information to share, I’ve decided to divide this information into two different posts. This post will cover three intelligences: Linguistic, Spatial, and Interpersonal. The lesson ideas for the other five intelligences will be presented in another post.

Since my grandsons are 2, 4, and 6 years old, I planned the units of study with an eye to modifying the various activities according to the readiness of each child:

Six year old Tigger had learned the short vowels in kindergarten, but I wanted to give him a good review before he started first grade in September. With Tigger, I would concentrate on short vowel sounds that were found in the middle of words (medial sounds) and review blending them with initial and ending consonants.
Kona, 4, already recognized all the uppercase and lowercase alphabet letters and had started to pick up quite a few consonant sounds. I decided he might be ready to learn about short vowels at the beginning of words. Possibly I would try medial short vowel sounds, blending sounds, and word families later on in the year.
Tahoe, 2, would not be ready to learn short vowel sounds, but I knew I could modify the lessons so his main focus would be on letter recognition and vocabulary development in the lessons.

Even though I am a retired teacher, I had only taught 4th and 5th graders, so I had never actually needed to teach short vowels before. Obviously, I would need to do some research and get advice from people who had taught short vowels successfully. And fortunately, there are many educators, homeschoolers, and afterschoolers who share their engaging lessons on their websites and blogs. I have been inspired by their ideas so much, and I happily share their links.

Crafts that visually match the letter with the short vowel sound are fun ways to help the grands learn. Their mom displays their crafts in their room, so they see these every day.

Usually I do at least one activity for each intelligence, although I may list many more activities in the lesson plan to give me choices depending on the needs of the grandsons. I planned to use two-three intelligences each day (about 30-45 minutes per day), depending on the length of the activity. When I planned this unit, I thought it would take about six weeks to complete with my grandsons. I would teach one short vowel a week, and then have a week to review all of them. Well, that was ambitious! While I did focus on one short vowel each week, I didn’t have time to do all the activities I thought would benefit my grands. So I extended our review week into as many as were needed, because I felt Kona needed a really strong foundation in short vowels before I proceeded to teach him how to blend sounds. Thank goodness I had the luxury of time when teaching my grandsons that I didn’t have as a classroom teacher. Additionally, I kept finding fantastic ideas on websites and blogs, so I kept adding activities to my unit plan. If you use this short vowel plan, it is best to do at least one activity in each intelligence, but please don’t feel you need to do all the activities I share in the post.

Before I begin, let me reiterate that many of these activities can be classified under more than one intelligence, (which makes sense since each of us has a blend of the eight intelligences). In my unit plans, I have organized the activities according to the intelligence that I feel is the most dominant.

Linguistic (Word Smart)

Read books-(All three grands) This is usually where I start my lessons each day. Before reading each book, we look at the pictures, make predictions, and discuss the vowel sound of the week. During the reading of the book, we discuss words with the vowel sound, and afterwards check on our original predictions. I found this wonderful website for lists of books that go with each letter of the alphabet:

http://www.themeasuredmom.com/books-to-teach-letter-a/

I perused this website each week and then ordered three books from the library for whichever short vowel I would be teaching. Here are my grandsons’ favorite books that I read to them for each short vowel:

short vowel a-The Apple Pie Tree by Zoe Hall
short vowel e- Eggday by Joyce Dunbar
short vowel i-Inch by Inch by Leo Lionni
short vowel o-An Octopus Followed Me Home by Dan Yaccarino
short vowel u- The Umbrella Day by Nancy Evans Cooney.

Audio books-(All the grands) Since I drive the grands around a lot, I like to keep an audiobook for them in the car. I have found audiobooks for many of the books I used in the library as well.

Discussions–(All the grands) As I went about my day with the grands, I would point out words to the grandsons that started with short vowels and have them repeat the word and isolate the vowel sounds. For example, as I gave each grand a bowl of applesauce for a snack, we would discuss the short a sound in applesauce and have the boys repeat the word first and then say the vowel sound.

Bottle caps, letter stamps, or dry erase boards–(Modified for each grandson) I cut out pictures of things with the short vowel sound from magazines or completed workbooks and pasted them on paper. The grandsons could use the bottle caps (that I created), the dry erase board to write the letters themselves, or letter stamps (purchased) to indicate which vowel sound matched each picture.

I saved milk bottle caps and wrote the vowels on them. They can be used to match up with pictures cut up and pasted from Tigger’s completed workbooks.

Personal reading –(Tigger)We used the Progressive Phonics books that matched the vowel sound we were discussing that week. He read them with me, but later on he will be able to read them by himself.

http://www.progressivephonics.com/

Make lists- (All the grands) At the end of the week, make a list of all the words that we discussed during the week with the vowel sound. Tigger and Kona could illustrate the list as well.

Word Puzzles–(All the grands) I purchased these word puzzles a while back and used them with this unit of study. Tahoe, 2, recognizes the “o” letter the best and loves to find all of them and place them in the puzzles. Kona, 4, will place all the vowels in the puzzles, and has just begun to blend sounds with some of the pictures. Tigger, 6, has been using all the word puzzles to practice his blending of sounds as well.

All the boys love these word puzzles. Tahoe loves to find all the “o” letters and place them in the puzzles, while these puzzles help Tigger with his blending skills.

Spatial Intelligence (Picture Smart)

Letter crafts-(All the grands)-The grands really enjoy crafts and I always start their craft session with a picture that can be created from the vowel sound. Some of the grands’ creations are pictured near the beginning of this post. While I found lots of ideas on different websites, I had to be careful that the craft ideas I chose were depicting something with the short vowel sound. For example, I wouldn’t make a craft of an eagle for “e” since “eagle” doesn’t begin with the short vowel sound. There are step by step directions for some letter crafts on this fantastic website:

http://crystalandcomp.com/2013/08/u-is-for-underwater-a-letter-of-the-week-preschool-craft/

Other crafts-(All the grands)-Ideas for other crafts to go with each short vowel are endless. (For example, the amount of craft ideas for “apples” could keep the grands busy for a year!) This is the website I usually visit first for craft ideas:

http://www.themeasuredmom.com/letter-o-crafts-preschool-kindergarten/

I also found a terrific project on stamping “pumpkins” that I adapted to use with short vowels at this website:

http://www.coffeecupsandcrayons.com/sight-word-pumpkin-patch/

Kona says the short vowel sound before stamping a “pumpkin” on the letter.

Videos-(All the grands) Another way to use the spatial intelligence is through videos. I found so many wonderful videos that teach the short vowel sounds. Here is our favorite site:

http://www.sightandsoundreading.com/teaching-the-short-aa-letter-sound/

Playdough mats- (All the grands)-While I created these playdough mats myself, you can find printable mats on many websites including the one I used for my inspiration:

http://thisreadingmama.com/alphabet-playdough-mats/

: Playdough mats are a great activity to help learn the short vowel sounds using the spatial (as well as bodily kinesthetic) intelligence. These are ones I created with construction paper.

: Add playdough to finish.

: Playdough mats are great spatial activities. Kona completed the inchworm.

Interpersonal (People Smart)

Dramatic play (All the grands)-In dramatic play participants may pantomime and speak. There is often a created story line. Encourage and participate in dramatic play using words that start with the short vowel sounds. Props can be used, although “pantomiming” the props is easier and adds to the creativity. Here are some ideas to try:

short a: astronauts taking a space walk from the Space Lab

short e: collecting eggs; washing elephants

short i: building an igloo; using different ingredients to make a salad (or soup, cake, smoothie, casserole etc.)

short o: pretending to be an octopus trying on new clothes

short u: exploring an underwater habitat

Kona really enjoys our cooking sessions together. Here he is adding cinnamon to his mini apple turnovers.

Cooking -(All the grands) Since this activity requires adult supervision due to my grandsons’ ages, I have categorized this in the interpersonal section. When my grandsons are more independent readers, I will categorize cooking under linguistic since they will be reading and following the directions in recipes. My grandsons love to cook, so I always include some type of culinary activity with each short vowel:

short a: Make applesauce or mini apple turnovers. (Actually, we made both but on different days.). To make the applesauce, I peeled and cut two Granny Smith apples and placed them in a two quart microwaveable casserole dish. My grandsons added a little water, honey, lemon juice, and a few dashes of cinnamon. After microwaving for three minutes, my grandsons helped me mash the cooked apple pieces. They had to wait for the applesauce to cool before eating.

I found the mini apple turnover recipe at this link:

http://brownchrista9.wordpress.com/2014/09/18/simple-apple-activities-that-would-make-johnny-appleseed-proud/

Short e: scrambled eggs-Use your own recipe or try this one:

http://www.kidsacookin.ksu.edu/Site.aspx?page=Recipe&Recipe_id=4488

short i: Italian bread salad. I discovered this recipe, but haven’t tried it yet.

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/mid-summer-italian-bread-salad/

short o: olive and cream cheese spread-Mix 3-4 ounces cream cheese with a small drained can of chopped olives, and a tsp. of mayonnaise. Spread on crackers, bread, or in celery.

short u: upside down cake- I will be trying this recipe:

http://www.bettycrocker.com/recipes/easy-pineapple-upside-down-cake/c4d3321d-fad9-41cb-8f29-8d91a4279b07

Shell game (All the grands) Even the youngest grandson enjoyed playing this simple activity. I found this short vowel game on this website:

http://www.coffeecupsandcrayons.com/vowel-sounds-practice-game/

Shell game with short vowels:Rocky and Kona loved this game, however instead of a pom pom, they substituted one of their cars.

Well, those are some activities for three of the multiple intelligences. My grandsons have enjoyed these activities so much, and my hope is that by engaging all their intelligences, I am helping my grandsons become lifelong learners.

Next week, I will publish a post explaining how I used the remaining five intelligences to teach my grandsons the short vowels.

I hope you are finding these Multiple Intelligence activities useful as you plan lessons for children in your care. If you would like to see more of these unit studies as I create them, you can become a follower of this blog.

Education Multiple Intelligences Short Vowels

16 Comments »

Multiple Intelligences in Your Home Part 8

by Nancy "Mimi" Taylor

Does your child wonder how things work? Do your children like to count their toys or organize them into categories? These would be indications of their logical-mathematical intelligence. This intelligence is also called “number smart” because it usually involves a thought process using symbols or numbers.

I can see my grandsons using their logical-mathematical intelligences when they play. The children in your care probably do these same things. For example, they count the number of trains they can fit on their train tracks, the number of grapes I give each of them (to be sure they are each getting their equal share), and they count backwards from ten when they are launching their space shuttle toy. I love their fascination with their mom’s measuring tape. Just the other day, Kona found the measuring tape and was measuring the height of the chairs by the kitchen counter. (Not sure why.) Tigger is really interested in coins right now, especially since he learned that they can add up to different amounts of money. He likes to play with the pennies, nickels, dimes, and quarters that I keep in his car seat cup holder while I drive him home from school.

LOGICAL MATHEMATICAL

Our logical-mathematical thinking allows us to reason, see patterns, and solve problems. People who are strong in the logical-mathematical intelligence are good at analysis so they are drawn to games that require strategy. Besides being strong in calculations, they additionally enjoy science experiments, doing puzzles, and solving mysteries. The character Sherlock Holmes was created as a logical-mathematical thinker. Real people who would be considered having strengths in the logical-mathematical intelligence would be Bill Gates or Albert Einstein. As adults, people with strengths in this area might pursue careers such as doctors, scientists, accountants, or detectives.

Tahoe can’t resist a chance to play this math game by himself. It is best to let children play with the manipulatives for awhile first before teaching them the rules of the game.

To encourage the engagement of a child’s logical-mathematical intelligence, these materials or activities could be provided at home:

blocks (building, attribute, etc.)

iPad apps (such as Counting Caterpillars and Marble Math, Jr.)

board games (math specific or just ones that use dice or numbers to move spaces)

educational children’s shows that focus on math (like Team Umizoomi)

rulers, measuring cups, measuring spoons, thermometers

multiples of any favorite toy (my grands love to count their cars and trains)

geoboards

construction sets

toy clocks

tangrams

having items for them to categorize (buttons, leaves, small toys)

card games (like Go Fish)

dominoes

toy phones, computers, and calculators

shopping ads

science experiments that use numbers (Where is your shadow at 10 a.m. Noon, 2 p.m. and 4 p.m.?)

number lines (could be created with sidewalk chalk on your driveway)

shape sorting toys

creating patterns together (red button, green button, red button, green button, etc.)

cutting food into fractions (apple in halves, sandwich in fourths)

explaining how you solve a life problem using math (I can get 2 avocados for $1, so I’ll get 4 avocados for $2.)

I hope this series has given you some basic information into the eight intelligences that we all possess, as theorized by Dr. Howard Gardner. In future posts I will show how I apply this theory when planning learning units for my grandsons.

In my next post, I will discuss a different topic; the best books I’ve read over the past few months. Reading is one of my favorite pastimes, other than watching the grands, of course. I hope you’ll be able to relate to the struggles I have had in finding time to read, even in retirement. And if you are looking for a good book to read, maybe one of my recommendations will strike your fancy.

Education Multiple Intelligence Overview

Leave a comment »

Multiple Intelligences in Your Home Part 7

by Nancy "Mimi" Taylor

I have chosen to explain linguistic (and logical mathematical) intelligence in my later posts because these two intelligences are the ones that often come to mind when people think of giftedness. Historically, most people were judged on their intelligence according to their ability in reading, writing, and mathematics. Those were the mental capabilities tested in most IQ tests. But according to Howard Gardner’s Theory of Multiple Intelligence, each individual has their own unique blend of the eight intelligences, and can be gifted in other ways. I wanted my readers to explore the other six intelligences first before I discussed the intelligences which may be more familiar to them. This post will provide an explanation of the linguistic intelligence. (By the way, people who read blogs are often strong in this intelligence.)

LINGUISTIC INTELLIGENCE

This intelligence is also known as being “word smart” because it has to do with an acuteness towards language relating to speaking, listening, reading, and writing words. People who have strengths in this intelligence enjoy expressing themselves through words, and may have the ability to learn other languages easily. Often people who are highly linguistic may choose careers as journalists, editors, writers, motivational speakers, politicians, teachers, religious leaders, interpreters, and tour guides.

To encourage children to develop or strengthen their linguistic intelligence, here are just a few materials and activities that you might use:

To encourage the linguistic intelligence, it is helpful to have a variety of genres of books, writing materials, and audiobooks.

lots of children’s books of different genres (fiction, non-fiction, poetry, etc.)

children’s magazines and other appropriate printed material

alphabet puzzles

alphabet magnets

picture dictionaries

letter stamps and stamp pads

writing paper or journals

individual dry erase boards (with dry erase markers and erasers)

iPad apps (such as Reading Raven)

educational children’s show on reading (such as Wallykazaam)

making up stories together

using sign language

family discussions

listening to audiobooks

telling riddles and jokes

singing and/or listening to songs

reading signs when traveling

playing word games like Scrabble and Boggle

I hope this series is providing a nice overview of Howard Gardner’s Theory of Multiple Intelligences. If you would like more information on his theory, Dr. Gardner has written several books including Frames of Mind: The Theory of Multiple Intelligences (published in 1983 so it does not cover the naturalist intelligence which he added later).

The last part of this series will cover the logical-mathematical intelligence. Future posts that currently are in draft form include a long blog on using multiple intelligences to teach short vowels, and a more personal article on how I exercise my linguistic intelligence: some of my favorite books of the past few months.

Education Multiple Intelligence Overview

Leave a comment »

Multiple Intelligences in Your Home Part 6

by Nancy "Mimi" Taylor

If you are someone who likes to be a part of a team, loves being around friends, and shows concern for others, you may be very strong in the interpersonal intelligence. The root word “inter” means between or among. So interpersonal intelligence refers to the connections between or among people.

INTERPERSONAL INTELLIGENCE

Children who are strong in this intelligence relate and communicate to people very well. They are usually extroverted, have empathy for others, enjoy persuading others to their point of view, can see other people’s perspectives, and like to be in charge of groups of people. Mother Theresa and U. S. President Ronald Reagan would be examples of people who were strongly interpersonal.

Keep in mind that people can be both strong in the intrapersonal (self smart) and interpersonal (people smart) intelligences.

: To encourage a child’s interpersonal intelligence, have them play with material or equipment that requires participation by more than one person.

To support and strengthen a child’s interpersonal intelligence, provide materials and opportunities in which the child needs to engage with others. Here are a few ideas:

play dates

board games (or any game that requires collaboration)

play equipment that requires more than one person

chatting on phone with grandma (or other relatives and close friends)

role playing (tea parties, how to order at a restaurant)

team sports

giving opportunities to lead an activity or group

cooking with adults

volunteering (with an adult)

introducing them to people in the community (neighbors, librarians, grocers, police officers)

The last two posts in this series will give overviews of the linguistic (word smart) and logical-mathematical (number smart) intelligences. Then I will begin a series on applying the Theory of Multiple Intelligences to the teaching of short vowel sounds.

Education Multiple Intelligence Overview

Leave a comment »

Multiple Intelligences in Your Home Part 5

by Nancy "Mimi" Taylor

Have you ever craved some “alone” time during the day? You know, just a chance to go off by yourself to think, read, write, or just regroup? Or perhaps you were part of a team at school or work, but would rather have done the project by yourself? This would be your brain engaging the intrapersonal intelligence. Intra means “within or inside” so intrapersonal intelligence is sometimes also called “self smart”. People who are strong in this intelligence are often self-motivated, independent, introverted, organized, goal-oriented, and enjoy self reflection. They can also have very strong feelings or opinions about things going on around them.

INTRAPERSONAL INTELLIGENCE

You can recognize the intrapersonal intelligence in young children whenever they tell you they want to do something “by myself” or want to play alone. My grandson, Tigger, is very “self smart”. When he was about three years old, he would discuss the day’s plans with me before he had breakfast. Tigger would tell me what he thought we should have for breakfast, what games we should play, when we should go outside to play, which crafts we should make, go over the lunch menu, his nap, and what television shows he could see after his nap. By the time he was five, he had learned to tell us when he needed to be alone. This usually occurred as soon as he returned home from school, or had been playing with his younger brothers for awhile. To provide for this need, his parents have given him two choices for his “alone time”: he can play alone in his room, or he can relax in a special “tipi” his parents have improvised for this use in the great room (shown below).

To encourage a child’s intrapersonal intelligence, designate or create an area in your home or classroom where children can have some “alone” time.

Many elementary school teachers that I have visited have knowingly created special places in their classrooms for quiet reading (a sofa, bean bag chairs, loft, tent, or plump pillows) where their students can get cozy with a book. These are great spaces to encourage a child’s intrapersonal intelligence.

Below I have listed some items, materials, or activities you can use in your home to support the intrapersonal intelligence with the children under your care. As always, remember that many of the supplies can fit into more than one category of intelligence:

special place for “alone time”

materials for their hobbies or interests they can do by themselves

art supplies

writing supplies

construction sets

scrapbooks

picture books

headphones

giving them choices

asking them to talk about their feelings

discussing their goals with them

In the next part of this series, I will present the opposite to intrapersonal intelligence. This would be the “people smart” intelligence or interpersonal intelligence. Remember, according to Howard Gardner’s theory, everyone has their own unique blend of all eight intelligences. That means people aren’t necessarily either intrapersonal or interpersonal. I know many people who are very strong in both of these intelligences, so you can be “people smart” as well as “self smart”.

I’m hoping this series is providing a good overview on The Theory of Multiple Intelligences. In future series I will be explaining how I use multiple intelligence strategies when I teach my grandsons specific concepts. I can’t wait to share with you all of my ideas!

Education Multiple Intelligence Overview

Leave a comment »

Multiple Intelligences in Your Home Part 3

by Nancy "Mimi" Taylor

In the next installment of this series, the focus is on the musical intelligence. For most of us, music is an important part of our daily lives. We might wake up to music on our clock/radios, sing in the shower, play music from a cd while driving, hum a song while walking down a hallway at work, or listen to some romantic rhapsodies during a candlelight dinner with our sweetie. Businesses recognize the power of music on our brains too. Most large stores play tunes as you shop, commercials use popular songs to help you remember their product, you hear music on the phone when you are placed on hold, and you probably hear relaxing rhythms while getting a massage.

Music stimulates many parts of the brain including the areas that handle our emotions and memories. It is no wonder that we can remember certain events from our life by recalling the music that was a part of it. We often remember movies by their theme songs. Patients with dementia may not remember their children’s names, but can sing the words to their favorite songs from their teenage years. And music can be a powerful teaching tool as well. I know that if I need to look up the word “ilium” in a dictionary, I need to sing the alphabet song to remember to look after the “h” words. (I always get the order of h, i, j, and k mixed up otherwise.) So teaching by engaging the musical intelligence is a very powerful strategy.

MUSICAL INTELLIGENCE

People with strengths in the musical intelligence learn, feel, and think through sounds, rhythms, patterns, chants, and melodies. They may be very good at deciphering codes and identifying patterns in many things including numbers. Additionally, those with a strong musical intelligence will spontaneously hum, tap, clap, dance, or whistle songs.

Here are just a few items that can be used to encourage the musical intelligence. Homemade musical instruments (like a pot and wooden spoon) work just as well as purchased instruments.

Toys, materials, and activities to encourage musical intelligence in young children include:

Simple musical and rhythm instruments (purchased or homemade)

Songs on CDs and tapes

Nature sounds

Background music on the radio

Audiotapes of children’s nursery rhymes or poetry

Singing with or to your child

Videos of songs or finger plays (like “Five Little Monkeys”)

Musical stuffed animals (for naptime)

Books with rhythmic language patterns (like Dr. Seuss)

Toys that play music or sounds (such as toy telephones)

I hope you are finding this series helpful in planning a multiple intelligence rich environment for the children in your lives. Feel free to comment on materials that you use to encourage the musical intelligence.

In the next installment of this series, I will explain the naturalist intelligence.

Education Multiple Intelligence Overview

Leave a comment »

Multiple Intelligences in Your Home Part 2

by Nancy "Mimi" Taylor

In the first part of this series I covered the bodily-kinesthetic intelligence. When you see young children trying to climb up your sofa, putting on a cape and mask before zooming around the house, or making “snakes” with Playdoh, they are engaging their bodily-kinesthetic intelligence.

However, when you see children mixing two watercolors together, piecing together Lego blocks to look like the picture on the Logo box, or watching a children’s video on your iPad, they are using their spatial intelligence.

SPATIAL INTELLIGENCE

Children with strengths in the spatial intelligence are attracted to the color, line, and shapes of their environment. Another part of this learning style is the ability to think in pictures and see visual relationships. Allowing young children the opportunity to daydream, manipulate models, and express themselves through art media would be consistent with the spatial intelligence. Visual presentations such as posters, videos, and demonstrations should also be made available when engaging children through the spatial intelligence.

Here are some materials that are provided to my grandsons to encourage their spatial intelligence.

As I begin the list of some items that might be part of an enriched spatial multiple intelligence environment, keep in mind that some items fit into more than one category. For example blocks can be found in spatial (for creating structure and spaces), but blocks also require fine motor coordination so they are additionally bodily-kinesthetic tools.

Here are some ideas for spatial materials:

Drawing utensils such as crayons, markers, and sidewalk chalk

Paper: construction, fingerpainting, sketching, tissue

Paints: fingerpaints, watercolors, temperas, dot paints, brushes

Playdough, slime, modeling clay

Glue stick, glue bottle, glitter glue

Foam board (or precut foam board shapes)

Craft sticks, pipe cleaners, pom-poms, google eyes

Recyclables such as egg cartons, boxes, paper towel rolls

Access to media to see children’s videos, apps, or games

Posters for children (animals, cars, trains, alphabet, numbers and shapes, or anything that interests them)

Puzzles and mazes

Maps and globes (The grands especially love to keep the souvenir maps they get at zoos.)

Construction sets or materials (i.e. Legos)

Model sets to make cars, boats, spaceships,etc.

Art books and craft books

Art books and magazines are also great materials to have available. Since our grandsons are still fairly young, these materials are used by the adults who provide the arts and crafts activities for the grands.

There are so many other materials that could be used to encourage a child’s spatial intelligence. I get new ideas all the time from other bloggers. Feel free to comment on materials that you have found useful.

In the third part of this series, I will cover the musical intelligence.

Education Multiple Intelligence Overview

Leave a comment »

Multiple Intelligences in Your Home Part 1

by Nancy "Mimi" Taylor

For young children, learning is not always planned. It just happens….all the time. That is why parents and educators try to create a stimulating environment for children filled with a variety of colorful posters, books, blocks, crayons, and other toys. Spontaneous investigation and play with these materials is extremely important.

In providing an appealing environment for your home (day care room, classroom), why not offer items for each of the eight intelligences? You most likely have done so instinctively, even if you’ve never heard of the Theory of Multiple Intelligences before reading this blog.

So I am starting a series to highlight some items for young children that would lend themselves to each of the intelligences. This is not an exhaustive list, but should be useful in considering materials you already have or want to get to help children utilize each of their eight intelligences.

I’ll start with a brief overview of each intelligence before listing some components of a multiple intelligence rich environment.

BODILY-KINESTHETIC INTELLIGENCE

This intelligence involves learning through fine and gross motor activities. With this intelligence, people process information through their tactile senses, movement, and expression. Basically any physical activity or hands-on activity would fit into this category. Creative dramatics such as role playing, pantomimes, and charades are also using the bodily-kinesthetic intelligence.

Keep in mind that many bodily-kinesthetic materials can also be categorized under the other intelligences. For example, crayons are found in the bodily-kinesthetic intelligence (because they contribute to fine motor skills) as well as spatial intelligence (because crayons can create pictures). Toys and other supplies to promote bodily-kinesthetic learning opportunities include:

Some of our bodily-kinesthetic toys and materials.

Playdough, silly putty, and slime

Dry erase boards and markers

Coloring book with crayons and markers

Safety scissors

Lacing and beading toys

Balls of all sizes, including balance balls and nerf balls

Scooters, bikes

Pull toys

Sensory bins 0f rice, beans, pasta, or kinetic sand

Mini trampolines

Dress up clothes and fabric remnants (to create their own fashions)

Blocks, Legos, and other construction sets

Toy cars, trucks, buses, airplanes, helicopters

Toy tools and kitchen utensils

Stacking cups or rings

Sandbox toys

Water table toys, squirt guns, (and bathtub toys for the home)

Plastic containers with lids (could be empty and cleaned yogurt tubs)

Outdoor play equipment such as basketball hoops, swings, slides, climbing ropes

Hula hoops, pool noodles, and jump ropes

Butterfly nets

Musical instruments such as xylophones, drums, and maracas

Play tunnels (could be made from large cardboard boxes)

Puzzles and mazes

Exercise videos for children

Well, this list could go on and on, but you get the idea. Feel free to comment on other bodily-kinesthetic materials you use in your home or classroom for young children.

In Part 2 of this series, I will blog about materials for the spatial intelligence.

Hip Homeschool Moms

Education Multiple Intelligence Overview

2 Comments »

Mimi and the Grands

Educating Through Multiple Intelligences

Teaching Short Vowels-The M. I. Way

Multiple Intelligences in Your Home Part 8

Multiple Intelligences in Your Home Part 7