Left Brain/Right Brain Activities

There has always been interest around the whole idea of left brain versus right brain and how people learn. In a nutshell, the left side of the brain is responsible for logical, analytical thinking. It is used for language, including reading, writing, and speaking, and critical thinking and reasoning.

The right side of the brain is the emotional, intuitive side that is engaged in imaginative, subjective thinking. Since the initial research from the 1960s was brought into the mainstream public, people have been fascinated with figuring out which side of the brain they favored and how they learned best.

As research has continued and developed, it has become more clear that when the brain is functioning properly, the communication between the two sides of the brain is seamless. While people may favor one side over the other and prefer activities based on one side, learning is most effective when activities that engage both sides of the brain are used.

So how does this impact learning activities and teaching for children? Even if a child favors activities that relate more strongly to one side of the brain, the best learning experiences come from a variety of activities that allow for logical, analytical thinking and also utilize imaginative, creative thinking.

For example, think about a field trip to a historical site. The left-brain learner will be reached through listening to lectures about the time period, researching the architecture and people of the community, discussing some of the concepts and ideas that are relevant to the period and thinking of implications of the site.

The right-brain learner would enjoy role-playing activities, creating artistic representations of the site, listening to the music of the time period and thinking about the emotions the people of the period may have felt. These activities can be used in conjunction with one another to appeal to a large group of kids or to give an individual child a well-rounded experience.

The important thing with looking at left-brain versus right-brain tendencies in children is to understand that both sides are necessary in different situations and work together to help with different learning scenarios. With a little bit of planning, activities that engage both sides of the brain can take place to fully educate a young mind into a creative, analytical, logical, wonderful person.