The RoboSteamSen project (2023-1-ES01-KA220-SCH-000155379) is co-funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Education and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA).

Multi-Sensory Learning

Typology
Methodological
Resource description
Multisensory learning refers to structuring a lesson to encourage children to engage more than one of their senses while learning. This learning approach supports employing activities that appeal to their visual, aural, kinesthetic, and tactile senses.
Multisensory learning is founded on the theory of whole brain learning, which claims that the most effective approach to teaching ideas is engaging multiple senses and several brain regions. For example, adding a visual component such as pictures to a reading aloud activity may help children improve their literacy abilities.
Are you looking for ways to use multisensory learning to assist your children in developing improved skills? In this article, we explore multisensory learning, how it impacts development, and multisensory activities to implement in your classroom.
Multisensory instruction is one of the most successful ways to engage children in learning. The evolution of the human brain has enabled it to learn and develop in a multisensory world. Our brain is involved in everything that we do, including how we learn, and when our various senses are activated as we learn new information, we are able to retain that information more effectively.
Multisensory learning builds on this concept of how our brains work, and often engages different senses such as visual, auditory, or tactile materials in lesson plans and activities. By incorporating the use of multiple senses, different regions of the brain are stimulated, helping children strengthen their memory of how to do a task.
Difficulties to which it could be applied
Executive Functioning and Flexibility, Repetitive Behaviors and Restricted Interests
  • Repetitive behavior
  • Mental rigidity, need to follow routines
Sensory Processing and Sensitivities
  • Sensory-perceptual self-stimulation behaviors
  • Sensory Information Management
  • Discomfort sensory-rich environments
  • Atypical response to sensory stimuli
Repetitive Behaviors and Restricted Interests, Sensory Processing and Sensitivities
  • Specific sensory preferences
Repetitive Behaviors and Restricted Interests, Specialized Skills and Talents
  • Memory and attention to detail
  • Intense focus
Repetitive Behaviors and Restricted Interests
  • Repetitive movements
Learning and Cognitive Challenges
  • Reading, writing or maths challenges
  • Individualized learning strategies accommodations
Emotional Regulation
  • Regulating Emotions
Executive Functioning and Flexibility, Learning and Cognitive Challenges
  • Time management
  • Organization and planning of tasks and activities
Executive Functioning and Flexibility
  • Seeing things from different perspectives
Emotional Regulation, Social Communication Challenges
  • Use of nonverbal cues
  • Pragmatic language skills
  • Literal interpretation of language and abstractions
  • Limited language use
  • Expressing Feelings
Emotional Regulation, Executive Functioning and Flexibility
  • Avoidance behavior or meltdowns
Learning Objetives
  • Cognitive and Behavioral Flexibility
  • Develop functional writing skills
  • Distinguising Meaningful contents
  • Emphasize self-reliance
  • Engage in abstract thinking and Symbolic Though
  • Enhancing Sensory Regulation Strategies
  • Strategies for Effective Studying
  • Executive functions
  • Improve Restricted Interests and Repetitive Behaviors
  • Improving Attention and focus
  • Learning Arts concepts
  • Memory improvement
  • Organization of class structure
  • Organization of space
  • Organization of time
  • Promote reading comprehension