children's learning styles
Scripture: Psalm 49:3
Preparation: You'll need one clear bowl, four
clear cups with a different color of water in each (red, yellow,
green, and blue), and one cup of diluted bleach for each
Experience: Give your teachers examples of
learning styles, such as visual, kinesthetic, and auditory.
Form groups of four and give each person either a cup of green,
yellow, red, or blue water. Place an empty bowl in the center of
Ask your teachers to identify which learning style most represents
their teaching style, and have them share examples of how they use
a particular style to teach. As each teacher talks, he or she pours
the colored water into the bowl. The water should become very dark.
Once everyone has given his or her style of teaching, have each
person in the group hold the bowl of colored water and look through
Ask: How easy or difficult is it to see through your group's water?
How is this like or unlike how our teaching styles may look to
children who learn differently?
Have one person from each group add the bleach to the water.
Debrief: Ask: What happened when the colors mixed?
How is this like or unlike how kids understand information when
it's presented in a way other than how they learn best? What
happened when bleach was added to the murky water? How can we make
our messages clear to kids who learn in different ways?
Say: We can have all the Bible knowledge in the world and a
preferred way of teaching, but if we don't teach the way our
students learn best, the message won't be clear. Let's work to
expand our teaching styles to include each child's learning
Take Action: Give teachers a bottle of water with
the message: "Thanks for keeping it clear!" Have teachers choose a
learning style they're unfamiliar with and practice teaching in
that style in class the following week.
Teachers Prayer: "God, help us use a variety of
teaching styles and be consistently considerate of the learning
styles of our children."
This article was seen in Children's Ministry Magazine.
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