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Games to Play With a Kinesthetic Learner

Just like eye color and foot size, people also differ in learning styles. A learning style describes the method of instruction by which an individual learns most effectively. The main learning styles include visual, auditory and kinesthetic. Hand-eye coordination activities, theatrics, building and moving one's body are all kinesthetic ways of acquiring new knowledge.

Mancala
- This traditional African game uses a wooden board with six indentations on either long side and two larger indentations on either short end. Each indentation contains six beads or seeds, which the players take turns distributing down the rows of indentations in a lap formation. Players must count while dispersing their beads. The first person to empty his row of indentations wins. The physical representation of the beads provides a hands-on application of counting and numbers.
Twister
- This party game is also an effective tool for teaching young kinesthetic learners colors and directions. The spin-dial directs children to place a certain limb on a certain colored circle, for example, the left hand on blue. Play with one child at a time, so the focuses on correctly matching his left foot to the red circle instead of worrying about his friends falling on him. Create your own Twister map by gluing felt circles on a white, plastic table cloth. Make the game appropriate for older kids by adding different shapes like squares and triangles on your home-made game board.
Vocal Charades
- Vocal charades lets players use their voices so long as they don't say the exact word they're acting out. Choose words that are developmentally appropriate such as cold and hot for young children. Assign scientific or historical words for older children, like friction, evaporation or the revolutionary war. Players must perform a theatrical interpretation of his assigned word while his teammates guess the answer within a certain time frame. By performing these concepts, the kinesthetic learner solidifies his own understanding of the material in a new, experiential way.
Running Map
- Running map is an effective way to teach a kinesthetic learner geography. Begin by drawing the desired map on white plastic tablecloth. The map lays on the floor and the player runs to stand on whichever location you call. For example, if the map was of the United States and you called out New Mexico, the player would run and stand on New Mexico. Pause in between locations and point out the surrounding states to the player so he learns the geographic context.

Kids Games