This past weekend my husband and I enjoyed the beautiful weather at the botanical gardens. Orchids were being featured and we were reminded again of God’s expansive imagination and creativity! So many variations!

God’s imagination and creativity are not limited to orchids or even plants. He has made each one of us unique and different. That is why it is so important to craft lesson plans that appeal to a wide variety of personality types and learning styles. After all, the whole reason for teaching kids about spiritual matters is so that they would learn the truth of who God is and how much He loves and desires a relationship with them.

It’s easy to forget that not everyone is like you! Even when you have a solid understanding of learning styles over time you can drift back to what comes naturally to you. Here is a quick reminder of the various learning styles you might encounter in your classroom:

Wordy Wanda – The Linguistic Learner

The things that excite her: words, listening, reading, writing, memorization, reasoning, speaking and debating.

Logic Larry – The Logical Math Learner

The things that excite him: numbers, abstract thinking, logical reasoning, organization, problem solving, and computers.

Picture Paul – The Visual/Spatial Learner

The things that excite him: art, opportunities to use his imagination, metaphors, and directions with very few words.

Musical Mary – The Musical Learner

Things that excite her: rhythms, singing, instruments – pretty much anything musical!

Body Betty – The Bodily/Kinesthetic Learner

Things that excite her: the chance to touch everything, stretch, anything she can do with her hands (Play-dough, crafts, building with blocks) and a long walk when needing to thing things over.

People Pete – Interpersonal Smart

Things that excite him: parties, people, cooperative and interactive activities, and just connecting with people!

Reflective Ruth – Introspective/Intrapersonal Smart

Things that excite her: the chance to be alone, personalizing stories and events, opportunities to think, praying, one-on-one conversations.

Which Learning Style are you? How does your style of learning influence the way you present a lesson? How can you make sure to include activities that will appeal to other Learning Styles?