Mind mapping is a graphical way to represent ideas and concepts. It is a visual thinking tool that helps structuring information, helping better analysis, comprehend, synthesize, recall and generate new ideas.
Most children are visual learners with great imagination. They think in pictures. Pictures whether printed or imagined play a crucial role in the learning process. Children are constantly interrelating concepts and mentally illustrating what is visible. It comes naturally to them.
Mind mapping is extremely fun way to associate with kids. It equips them to store information in a much smarter and efficient way. Kids always love to sketch and draw, which is completely in line with their thinking. Mind mapping also helps to develop higher-level thinking and improve their reading comprehension.
Parents need to allow their kids to explore brain-thinking on their own. Mind mapping is every kid’s secret weapon to help them remember better, come up with creative ideas, save time, get better grades, excel at school and most importantly have more fun.
Mind mapping is often recommended as a way to support children with dyslexia and Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), who face many challenges in their life.
Before teaching children to mind map, parents themselves must learn the art of mind mapping which will help them to give the right guidance. Here is a one good method which I would like to suggest to all the mothers who can try with their kids above 5 years old.
Take a piece of paper, write the word ‘Birthday’ in big bold letters in the center of the paper. Ask the child what it reminds them of. He/she may say party. Don’t stop them here. Keep conversing. Ask them what else they think of. Child will say- Cake, Candles, Friends, Presents, Celebrations. With this he/she gets to learn more than 5 words in less than a minute. This method helps children to boost their memory and become fast learners.
Mothers can also follow another method. Draw a tree and ask them to do the same thing and see the word associations that they come up with. This helps them to teach their kids to – remember things, plan something, write an article, and most importantly think creatively. Letters, Number, Animals, Objects, Plants, Colors, Learning English, Geometric Shapes are some of the examples of mind maps for kids.
I have listed down few tips which will help mothers to coach their kids to mind map-
- Assist child to develop their own ideas rather than commanding your own ideas
- Ask them to draw and be as creative as they can. A sheet of paper and some color pens will help them
- Make your child draw while you narrate a story from a book
- If there are differences, then sit together and help them understand the gaps
- Repeat these steps with more complex stories, and situations. Observe how your child depicts the ideas in the form of images
- The final step is that you let them go through a book alone and allow them to create images and story themselves
According to Tony Buzan, Australia was the first country to apply mind maps in the education of autistic children and has done so with amazing results. The reason it works so well is because it makes use of right and left sides of your brain, taking the more analytical left side and using words and relationships. It also benefits from the more creative or colorful right side, using images and colors that kids enjoy the most.