The more I learn about the brain, the more I realize how important it is for kids to learn about their brains. There is so much power in knowing how your brain works, and yet it’s not something taught in many schools. Many of us working with kids didn’t learn about the brain in school, including college, and yet it’s so important!
I have been working with kids for years and years, and I have been trained in a lot of behavior interventions, but I was never taught about the brain and how it relates to behavior. And now that I say that out loud, it just seems crazy. And I can guarantee I’m not the only one. I started studying about the brain on my own, and things just make so much more sense. It’s all so fascinating, and I love learning about the brain!
I decided I needed to start teaching the kids I work with about their brains, and it’s been so much fun. I generally use this for kids in elementary school or older. I created a Brain Builder Guide & DIY Brain Kit to help the kids I work with, and decided other parents, educators, and therapists could also benefit from it. This is the first lesson in the guide.
The brain has so many parts, it would obviously be too overwhelming to teach all the parts with kids, so I start with 5 main parts of the brain. We talk about the cerebrum, hippocampus, cerebellum, brain stem, and amygdala. I introduce it one week, and then we review it regularly after that. I love when we’re doing an activity and a kid tells me something like “I just used my hippocampus!”
Once the kids understand those 5 main parts of the brain, we start to discuss activities or games they can do to activate each part of the brain. Obviously, in most cases we can’t isolate just one area of the brain to activate, but this more about the kids learning that they have the ability to strengthen their brain.
In the Parts of The Brain Tutorial, you’ll receive worksheets to help you teach this lesson, and I also include links to games and toys that I use in my sessions to help kids work on strengthening their brains.
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These instructions are also found in the PDF
