Using language by hand helps children be more creative

Manual language allows children to explore the properties of objects, initiating the process of creating unique, novel ideas.

Through a series of experiments, the team found that children who were encouraged to use hand language daily to describe objects would be smarter than other children.

The study was conducted by psychologist Elizabeth Kirk of New York University and colleague Carine Lewis of the University of Hertfordshire.

"Our findings are really valuable to parents and teachers. The results have shown that encouraging children to move their hands while thinking can trigger their breakthrough ideas. family and school offer simple instructions on how to do this, most of the child's ability will improve quickly , " Kirk said.

Families and schools should encourage children to use hand language.(Photo: Getty Images).

In the first study, scientists compared the creativity of children with spontaneous hand gestures with children who did not, or could not, do.

The group performed experiments with 78 children aged 9 to 11. Children were introduced to various images of familiar household items such as newspapers, fish boxes, meat, kettle. Children are instructed to look at each picture and create a list of imaginative uses of objects they can think of.

All children have unlimited time to improve their lists, and when they stop for a while, researchers quickly ask: "Is there anything else you can do with that item?" is not?".

The children participating in the experiment were asked this question twice, once normal and once wearing mittens, with the function of limiting hand gestures. After each questioning, the research team calculated the imaginary amount of objects that each child thought of. They also include the unique and diverse uses of objects found by children.

After the synthesis, research data shows that children with spontaneous manual language have more new ideas, more and more movements, more ideas. Even children with limited hand movement, their creativity still does not diminish, the number of applications they tell is still the same as those not worn. The team believes that this happens because in the heads of those children, there were too many previous ideas.

However, this fact caused Kirk and Lewis to ask the question: "Does encouraging children to use language by hand, really promotes creativity?".

Children with spontaneous manual languages ​​have more new ideas, more and more movements, more ideas.

To conclude, two people conducted the second experiment with 54 children from 8 to 11 years old. The steps are carried out like in the previous experiments. In some cases, they let the children think of their own ways, but in other times, they instructed them to use their hands to show the team: children can use these things in other ways How are each other?

The conclusion is positive when children with normal hand movements, average think of 13 applications. For those children who are specifically suggested to use their hands, on average, 53 applications are thought out. And motivating the use of hand gestures really promotes creativity in children. Suggested children using gestures and gestures create more interesting uses for everyday items than those who do not receive any instructions.

"Our research has contributed to developing evidence to illustrate the special importance of gestures in thinking. They will create very useful applications for use in the classroom. It is necessary to Children are encouraged by their parents and teachers to use their own language ", Kirk and Lewis conclude their research.

Other studies show that both boys and girls with their parents or hands-on foot dance have a richer vocabulary when starting school. Simple gestures such as nodding or shaking their heads expressing their consent or objections, spreading their arms to describe their parents' flight, all create differences in their perceptions.

Writing in the Journal Science, the scientists said: "For example, to answer the implicit question of the child - the arm pointing at the doll, the mother might say:" Yes, it is a doll ". Thanks to that, the mother provided an object-only word that could attract the child's attention. "