GAMES TO DEVELOP MENTAL IMAGING – VISUALISATION  

“I never think in words, only pictures.”  

Thomas Alva Edison  

The ability for children to possess a mental image of the rods is vital as this will speed up progress considerably.  

FREE PLAY should continue alongside activities where you offer more direction.  

 e g “Build Cinderella’s castle using only red and white rods.”  

 Apparently Albert Einstein first became interested in the Theory of Relativity after imagining himself travelling on a beam of light.  

Daydreaming, exercising our imagination, is one of the brain’s most powerful abilities.  

 Another of the senses, touch, is now introduced via games – ‘touch games’.   

These games are designed to ensure children can recognize the rods by touch alone.   

Although color is a powerful stimulus for memory recall and understanding it is possible for children with impaired vision or no vision at all to derive tremendous benefit from the rods.   

Children who have little or no sight usually develop this sensory ability to a very high degree. It has been suggested that rather than being disabled these children should be regarded as differently-abled. (Eric Jenson)  

Ask children to hold their hands behind their  back.  

 Give them two rods to hold.  

 Can they guess which colors?   

As they become more confident increase the level of difficulty by giving them three or four rods at a time.  

Try placing rods in a bag as children  becomes more skilled at guessing.  

If the game becomes too easy children will get bored. Too difficult and they will be discouraged.  

At a more advanced level try The Number Bond Game.