Our brain is made up of two sides – left brain and right brain. The left side of the brain controls the right side of the body and the right side of the brain controls the left side of the body. Each side also has preferred behaviours and activities:
Left Brain
The left side of the brain likes tasks which are:
- Logical
- Sequential
- Analytical
- In steps
- Has an end point
People who prefer left side activities like subjects and experiences which are:
- Focussed on reasoning
- Think in words
- Identify the important details
- Have a process
- Move in sequential order
- Each step is completed
- Have clear expectations
Right Brain
The right side of the brain likes tasks which are about:
- Arts
- Creativity
- Intuition
- Expression
- Lots of options
People who prefer right side activities will like subjects and experiences which:
- Allow movement
- Allow creative thinking
- Are innovative and allow them to find solutions
- Are holistic
- Have visual cues or info
Are you brain dominant?
Different activities use different sides of the brain, and this means that one side can sometimes get stronger than the other. Our brain is a muscle and it grows and gets stronger the more we use it – so if we use both sides we can make it really strong and it makes it easier to learn and solve problems
The left side of the brain is great for:
- Maths
- Science
- Language
- Reading
- Speech
- Writing
- Puzzles
The right side of the brain is great for:
- Art
- Drama
- Dance
- Design
- Story telling
- Sport
- Music
- Sewing
If a person’s personality shows a preference for one side’s thinking over another they may demonstrate:
- Frustration
- High emotions if they cannot complete things
- Rejection of ideas
- Dislike of activities
Strengthen your whole brain
Encouraging our brain to use different skills, can strengthen our abilities, as well as increase confidence. This allows us to develop resilience and more creative thinking approaches to tasks. Our brain is a muscle so the more we use it the stronger it gets – our brain hates to get bored so working it as much as you do your body is really good for it!
We can support children to reduce frustration and a sense of failure by:
- Give chance to find solutions
- Give time to be innovative
- Give visual pointers
- Encourage group thinking
- Use metaphors to explain concepts
- Encourage movement and role play
- Keep boundaries and expectations consistent
If children are frustrated, it does not mean that you should give up on introducing new tasks, but rather that there needs to be adaptations made to allow them to engage and encourage their brain to use other types of thinking.
Support it by:
- Break sequential tasks down into smaller tasks so there is a sense of achievement to encourage building concentration
- Create activities where children take their own innovative idea and then plan the processes and sequences to develop it
- Break sequences into visual prompts and then extend with logical stages
Each week we can have fun and make our brains stronger – this also means that we will feel happier and will be able to find more solutions to problems and solve questions quicker!
Some activities include:
This week, we are sharing some activities to strengthen the left side of the brain, for children who prefer their right side of their brain.
© Dandelion Training and Development – All Rights Reserved
Further help
For more articles about mental health visit – HERE
To learn more about child and adolescent mental health visit – HERE
For resources to support child and adolescent mental health visit – HERE