Multi-sensory Engagement

Our interest in exploring Whole Body Math started with observations that math hands-on activities and games have a table-top bias – they are mostly played on table-tops while seated, in the format of dice games, card games, and board games. In response, we focused on gross motor engagement and developed activities that can be played while standing, walking, hopping, jumping, and moving around in larger spaces.

As we researched activities to try in our classrooms, we came across multi-sensory engagement activities developed by occupational therapists. It made us realize that math activities also have a visual and verbal bias – they rely more heavily on visual and verbal than other modes of engagement. When we count, we point to the object as a visual cue and say the number verbally. When we sort or make patterns, we talk about attributes such as color, size, and shape, but rarely the feel of the surface (smooth, rough, or fuzzy) or the sounds objects make when they hit the table. An eye-catching difference in colors is the most distinctive features of many commonly used manipulatives, such as Unifix cubes, Mathlink cubes, and counting bears, which are otherwise similar in shape, size, and how they feel in our hands. The realization of the visual and verbal bias prompted us to explore the different senses our bodies can use to understand the math around us.

…math activities also have a visual and verbal bias – they rely more heavily on visual and verbal than other modes of engagement.

This month, we share four activities that engages multiple senses to experience math. Listen, Count, and Guess engages the sense of hearing in counting, and we also make a connection to a listening activity from At Home with the Reggio Emilia Approach as a resource to those of you who are engaged in remote learning. Making Shapes with Resistance Bands engages muscle receptors in experiencing geometric shapes as children stretch the resistance bands to create different shape and make them bigger or smaller. Tracing Falling Objects with Our Bodies centers around the math concept of comparing, and provides children with opportunities to experience and express the falling of objects with their whole bodies. In 3D Shape Exploration, second graders used their sense of touch to developed a deeper understanding of three dimensional shapes by constructing cubes with toothpicks and modeling clay. The activity can be modified for different ages and understandings, as well as different 3D shapes. 

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