Kinesthetic learners, also known as tactile learning, prefer to learn by being actively involved using their body, hands, and their sense of touch. When a person is exercising or walking and can think clearly, when they cannot seem to sit still, when they enjoy various types of physical activities or using their hands to make things, then they have a tendency to have a physical or tactile learning style. A physical, kinesthetic learning style exhibits itself in various ways. Perhaps a person enjoys carving or sewing, detailed tasks, using their hands or they may enjoy manual labor such as gardening. Kinesthetic learners may enjoy using their sense of touch to notice the differences in various fabrics and textures. They may also be a person that frequently uses their hands a lot while talking. When younger, tactile learners may have also taken toys apart out of curiosity to find out how these toys worked.
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Some people with a kinesthetic learning style often feel confined or trapped in a classroom setting. Simply sitting back and listening to a lecture isn’t appealing to them at all. They would much rather be out of their seat moving around and interacting. If this is you, there are some kinesthetic learning strategies that will be useful. In this situation, kinesthetic learners will do well by keeping their mind and hands busy by taking notes. When the person is giving a lecture, tactile learners can benefit by imagining how they would feel actively doing the things being described. For instance, if the lecture is about the rain forest, using tactile learning for your benefit, imagine yourself hiking through the forest. Use your mind to imagine and identify any sounds or smells that may be encountered on the hike.
Whenever possible, tactile learners should use any physical objects in the preparation of their study materials. This can include using flash cards in math, or feeling, holding, and touching any objects being studied in a biology class. Experiential learning is another of the various kinesthetic learning strategies which is great for all learning types but even more beneficial for kinesthetic learning. Experiential kinesthetic learning strategies help with kinesthetic learning as the person gets away from a computer being used or leaves the classroom all together and actually experiences what is being studied. For younger students, this means something similar to a field trip but for adult kinesthetic learning the person may need to develop their own form of a field trip.
If you have a kinesthetic learning style it may also be useful to role play or act out concepts being studied. For instance, if human behavior is being studied, it may benefit the learner if they act out various behaviors being discussed. Be sure not to neglect drawing diagrams as this is considered to be a physical activity so incorporate it into note taking when possible. While you perform and learn, try to focus on staying aware, centered, relaxed, and calm. This will help you in gaining control over your physical state. These strategies are just a few that will help those with a kinesthetic learning style. Try incorporating a few to see how much easier learning can become. You may also want to visit the links below to learn more about this learning style as well as find more tips and strategies.