Spring 2009
Looking for some Summer Fun?
Try a more BRAIN FRIENDLY way to review
and study with your kids
BRAIN-TRAIN ACTIVITY #2:
Black Light Brain Booster
Purpose: To increase learning and retention of academic information and have positive parent/child time in a fun, brain-stimulating environment.
Materials: Fluorescent markers (yellow and pink work great)
Blank cards (larger options more brain stimulating - 5” x 9”, large index cards)
Black Light in dark area
A S.M.A.R.T. way to help your children learn, practice, and retain any information. Items under a black light are more brain stimulating and therefore learned better. Make sure to give your child time at the beginning to check out the light’s magic – their white clothes, shoelaces, your white teeth, etc.
Instructions for setting up Black Light activities:
Try it with anything the child is learning or wants to learn:
• Letters and/or Sounds
• Numbers
• Math Facts
• Word Families
• Sight Words
• Words she wants to learn
• Friends’ & Relatives’ Names
• Pictures
• Shapes
1. Using fluorescent markers or paint, print cards (or have the
child make) with whatever academic content is to be
learned new or practiced. Bigger cards are more brain
stimulating (e.g., 5” x 9”).
2. Find a dark area in which to use a black light to illuminate
the cards. Could be a small windowless room, a closet, a
storeroom, etc. A long tubed black light covers a bigger area
than a round bulb. Two foot long black lights can rest on a lap
or table easily or be mounted on a wall. They can usually be
purchased at stores like Wal Mart, Menard’s, and Home Depot.
Some places also sell a 4’ length.
PROCEDURE: NOTE: This activity is not a test. Do not ask the child to give a response.
- In the dark area with the Black Light on, show the child one card at a time, quickly, and say its content. Tell what the card says, DO NOT ask, “What is this?”
- Repeat this procedure with up to 20 cards of similar content (words, number facts, pictures, etc. – whatever needs to be learned or practiced).
- After several times, if children want to repeat it after you, they may.
Later, after more INPUTS, they may say it with you.
- When the child is able to successfully identify the cards, she may say the content without you. Once the child can independently say the card instantly many times, it is mastered. Remove totally mastered cards and add new cards using the same procedures, maintaining a total of 20 cards. A child could be working on more than one stack of 20 cards at a time (e.g., letter or number cards, sight word cards, addition flash cards, etc.).
- HAVE FUN WITH YOUR CHILDREN AND THE BLACK LIGHT!
Fun Black Light Variations:
- Children can copy or write their own words, numbers, or whatever content they are practicing. They love watching their own writing glow in the dark. Regular white paper works well with fluorescent markers or kids love to use wipe off whiteboards and markers, as well – the small lap kind are great or an easel or wall mount type.
- Children can put a pile of fluorescent flash cards in order on the floor (e.g., ABC order, numbers in order, words in alphabetical order, etc.).
- Try dot-to-dot sheets with a fluorescent marker.
- Play jacks with fluorescent jacks and fluorescent balls (great for hand-eye coordination).
- For pure fun, try juggling glow in the dark scarves or tossing and catching the scarves with a partner. Some stores sell GLO BONES – glow in the dark dinosaur bones to create different creatures. Kids also love to draw pictures under the black light!
Notes on INPUT method:
• Instead of showing cards to kids and have them figure out the answer or what the card says (OUTPUT), show the answer or tell them what the card says (INPUT). Show them the card 5+2=7 as you say “5+2=7 many times (INPUT) before you ever show them the card 5+2=___ and ask them what 5+2 is (OUTPUT).
• There’s no stress on your child as she learns, because you are giving her the INPUT.
• Children don’t learn in the OUTPUT mode. They learn from many, many INPUTS in the INPUT mode.
• This INPUT method can be used easily without a black light, as well, with anything your children need to learn or practice!
|
