How Doodling Can Boost Your Child’s Learning

How Doodling Can Boost Your Child’s Learning

Is your child the one that always comes home with doodles in the margins of their notes and worksheets? Do they always have a pencil in hand sketching away and seem like they’re not paying attention at all? Actually, the opposite may be true. Before you reprimand your child for their drawings, consider the fact that it may be improving their learning.

· It can help with focus and concentration.

Paying attention during a particularly dry or tedious lesson can be tough, especially for kids. Doodling keeps their mind active and can actually allow them to pay more attention. Studies have shown that doodling — even if it doesn’t appear connected to the subject matter — can improve memory, concentration, and retention of information. Students may be able to better recall what the teacher was discussing while drawing.

· It allows students to make meaningful connections.

Drawing pictures that relate to the information can create meaningful connections for students. They are able to write down concepts in a way that makes sense to them. Whether it’s a sketch to help them remember the definition of a term, a sequence of events, or a scientific process, they are recording it in pictures they recognize and that hold meaning in their mind.

· It provides visual reminders and cues.

Doodles can spark recall of information. When studying health, writing down a D with a picture of the sun can remind students that vitamin D comes from sunlight. When they see a sun, it can bring them back to a particular point in the discussion which triggers more details. They can also use doodles to block out, circle, point to, underline, or otherwise call out specific words or sentences that are important.

· It activates different parts of the brain.

Drawing uses different parts of the brain than writing, so by doing a combination of both, students are activating their brain in various ways to remember and recall information. Some students are naturally very visual learners, and seeing information rather than reading it makes more sense to them. With doodling, they’re listening to the information or reading it, then transforming it into a picture. They must determine what the key message is that they want to remember and jot down.

So, before you discourage your child from doodling, consider that it may actually be their way of trying to pay attention and write down information in a way that they’ll remember and that makes sense to them. At Crafting Scholars, we build customized curriculums based on each student’s learning styles, strengths, and thought processes. If your child is a strong visual learner, drawing pictures may actually be a great way for them to take notes, study, and organize their thoughts. Learn more about how we support student success by contacting us today.