You might wonder why we don’t just show kids a video of a helicopter. While videos are great for visual information, they don’t engage the brain the same way a physical object does. When a child holds a paper drone, they are using their fine motor skills to fold and cut. When they launch it, they are using their gross motor skills and spatial awareness.
Sensory Engagement
Hands-on learning is “sticky” learning. When a child feels the weight of the paper clip and hears the soft whirring sound of the paper blades, multiple parts of their brain are firing at once. This sensory input helps them retain the information much longer than if they had simply read it in a book.
Building Confidence
There is a unique sense of pride that comes from building something with your own hands. If a child’s first helicopter doesn’t spin, they have a problem to solve. When they fix it and it finally twirls to the ground, they haven’t just learned about physics they’ve learned that they are capable of solving problems. This builds the confidence they need to tackle harder subjects in the future.
