Kinesthetic Learning Style: Definition, Characteristics & Benefits in 2025

Published On: January 25th, 2025·By ·

Kinesthetic learning, also called tactile learning, is a style of learning where people learn best through physical activities like touching, moving, or doing hands-on tasks.

Kinesthetic learners are often called “hands-on learners” because they need to be actively involved in what they're learning to truly understand and remember it.

They enjoy activities like building, crafting, and creating, and they often doodle while listening. 

Unlike auditory or reading/writing learners, who prefer to listen or read, kinesthetic learners learn best by doing and experiencing.

In this article, we’ll explain everything educators need to know about kinesthetic learning, including its benefits, characteristics, and practical examples of how to support these learners.

What Is Kinesthetic Learning?

According to the Cambridge Dictionary, kinesthesia refers to the awareness of where your body parts are and how they are moving.

It describes a learning style that focuses on physical activity and hands-on experiences as the main way to understand and learn new information.

For kinesthetic learners, just reading or listening to information might not be enough to fully grasp or remember it. They need to engage in hands-on experiences.

For example, if you’re teaching about how to plant strawberries, you might read about it, watch videos, and have group discussions. However, a kinesthetic learner will truly understand and retain the information only if they actually plant the strawberries themselves.

Kinesthetic learning is one of four different learning styles in the VARK model.

The VARK model is a framework used to describe different learning styles. It was developed by Neil Fleming in the late 1980s. This model categorizes learners into four main categories based on their preferred learning method:

  • Visual learners: Prefer to learn through visual aids such as diagrams, pictures, and videos.
  • Auditory learners: Learn better through listening, either through lectures, discussions, or podcasts.
  • Reading/Writing learners: Prefer to learn through written material, such as books and articles.
  • Kinesthetic learners: Learn through hands-on activities and physical experiences.

How Kinesthetic Learners Learn

As mentioned, kinesthetic learners learn through real-life experiences and physical activity. They tend to learn best by doing, touching, and manipulating objects.

Kinesthetic learners enjoy acting out scenarios, which helps them better understand the material and apply it to real-world situations.

Kinesthetic learning takes place in normal daily life, too. For instance, imagine wanting to learn how to ride a bike. No amount of instructions will help as much as getting on the bike, falling a few times, and learning how to maneuver the whole process.

Kinesthetic learners possess unique strengths that make them excel in some activities, including:

  • Great hand-eye coordination: They can skillfully use their hands and eyes together, making them good at tasks like drawing, building, or playing sports.
  • Quick reactions: They respond swiftly to changes or challenges, which helps in activities requiring fast decision-making.
  • Excellent motor memory: They remember actions and movements easily, which is why they excel in tasks learned through practice and repetition.
  • Very good experimenters: They enjoy learning by doing and often find creative solutions through hands-on exploration.
  • Excellent at sports: Their physical abilities and coordination make them naturally talented in various athletic activities.
  • Perform well in art and drama: They express themselves effectively through physical activities like acting, dancing, or creating art.
  • High levels of energy: They are active and energetic, making them eager participants in dynamic, movement-based tasks.

The table below shows the differences between a kinesthetic learner and a visual learner.

Kinesthetic Learners Visual Learners
Have better memory retention when they're actively doing something while learning Have better memory retention when they can see visual representations of the topic.
Prefer active learning environments where they can move around and engage with the material. Prefer visually stimulating environments.
Benefit from using movement and physical activity techniques, such as role-playing and experiments. Benefit from techniques that involve visual aids, such as flashcards, diagrams, and charts.

Characteristics of Kinesthetic Learning Style

Kinesthetic learners thrive through hands-on activities and physical engagement, which are essential for their learning process. They learn more effectively by doing rather than by seeing or listening.

When they actively engage in tasks, they form a physical connection with the concept, helping them remember it better. This approach also provides instant feedback on their actions, allowing them to make adjustments and improve their understanding.

In young children, kinesthetic learning traits are easy to spot. They might mimic others' actions, want to touch and explore objects, take things apart, or struggle to sit still for long periods.

Here are some common traits of kinesthetic learners:

  • They excel at visualizing how objects fit together and often do well in activities requiring physical coordination, such as sports or dance.
  • They are highly active and prefer tasks that involve movement.
  • They can multitask effectively, performing physical activities while processing information at the same time.
  • Understand concepts better through hands-on experiences.
  • Tend to lose focus in traditional classroom settings.
  • Learn best through movement and physical activity.
  • Prefer learning outside the classroom environment.
  • Enjoy working with tools or instruments.
  • Thrive on trying new activities and exploring different methods.
  • Need regular study breaks to stay focused and energized.

Knowing their characteristics and learning styles will help you identify kinesthetic learners in your classroom and provide opportunities for active learning, which will help them thrive and reach their full potential.

Benefits of Kinesthetic Learning Style

Kinesthetic learning engages the body and mind together, improving understanding and retention. This has several benefits for students.

Let’s explore the benefits of the kinesthetic learning style.

Improved Comprehension

Inadequate teaching methods can make it difficult for kinesthetic learners to absorb material as effectively as others. For instance, a lack of hands-on activities can prevent them from fully engaging with the content.

Kinesthetic learners may also struggle with written assignments and tests, as they prefer learning through physical activity. If a teacher focuses solely on written work, these learners may feel disconnected from the lesson.

When educators fail to recognize the value of different learning styles, kinesthetic learners may miss out on opportunities to engage effectively, leading to frustration and disengagement.

However, when teaching is tailored to kinesthetic learners' needs, their understanding and academic performance can improve significantly, leading to greater engagement and success.

Supports Cognitive Development

Many studies suggest that thinking and movement are connected in our brains. Pairing cognitive activity with movement is an effective way to help kinesthetic learners stay focused and interested in the material they are learning.

Movement also helps kinesthetic learners understand concepts by providing a physical representation of the ideas they are trying to learn. For example, a kinesthetic learner will understand the concept of gravity better by acting out the force of gravity on their body.

By engaging their bodies and minds simultaneously, kinesthetic learners improve their retention, understanding, and creativity.

Better Social Skills

Kinesthetic learning often includes group work and collaboration, which help students build teamwork and communication skills. 

Activities like group role-playing, teamwork, and cooperation are key to helping kinesthetic learners develop social skills.

By working together on physical tasks, learners practice listening, giving feedback, and solving problems as a team. 

Additionally, kinesthetic learning enhances verbal communication. As they engage in activities with peers, learners become more confident in expressing their thoughts and ideas.

Boosts Creative Thinking

Kinesthetic learning fosters divergent thinking, the ability to think creatively and come up with multiple solutions to a problem.

Through physical activities, learners approach challenges from various perspectives and explore different solutions. This learning style encourages experimentation and trying new approaches. 

By engaging hands-on with materials and manipulating them, learners discover fresh ways to think and solve problems.

For example, kinesthetic learners can engage in building projects, like constructing models or structures, to nurture creativity and imagination.

Develops Problem-Solving Skills

Kinesthetic learning activities actively involve students in the problem-solving process, encouraging them to take the initiative rather than just passively observe demonstrations or listen to lectures. 

By physically engaging with tasks, students are prompted to think critically and find new ways to solve problems.

For example, in a math lesson, students might use measuring tapes and rulers to calculate the perimeter and area of the classroom or playground, applying their understanding of geometry hands-on as they work together to solve real-world problems.

These hands-on activities not only help students practice problem-solving but also allow them to think outside the box, experiment with ideas, and learn through trial and error.

Improves Muscle Memory

Kinesthetic learning enhances muscle memory by involving the body in the learning process.

Muscle memory is a type of procedural memory that allows individuals to perform physical tasks or movements automatically, without conscious effort. This skill is developed through repeated practice.

Kinesthetic learning often requires using the entire body to perform physical tasks, engaging multiple muscle groups and making movements feel more natural and instinctive over time.

Examples of kinesthetic learning activities that help improve muscle memory include:

  • Sports, like shooting a basketball or practicing dance routines, which involve repetitive physical actions.
  • Performing arts, such as theater or dance, where repeated movements and actions are key.
  • Fine motor skill development, such as drawing or playing musical instruments, which require precise movements and hand-eye coordination.

Kinesthetic Teaching Tools

There are many tools or activities that teachers can use to help kinesthetic learners understand and retain information.

We’ll now look at the kinesthetic learning activities and how they can be implemented in a classroom setting.

Animations

Animations are visual representations that show movement and change through a series of images or frames shown one after another. These images can be hand-drawn, created with computer graphics, or made using stop-motion techniques.

Animations can be used to tell stories, explain complex ideas, and show how things move or how a process works.

For instance, you can take a series of photos of an object or scene, making small changes between each one. When these photos are played in order, they create the illusion of movement.

This type of animation is useful for explaining concepts like evaporation, how blood moves through the circulatory system, and many other processes.

Using animation can help simplify and make complex ideas more interactive and engaging, especially for kinesthetic learners.

Stand-on Simulations

Stand-on simulations are a type of training where participants stay on their feet throughout the exercise rather than sitting or walking around. 

In these simulations, individuals role-play various scenarios and make decisions under pressure while standing and moving through a simulated environment.

This approach helps improve physical stamina, coordination, and decision-making skills while also making the learning experience more dynamic and engaging.

For kinesthetic learners, stand-on simulations provide a chance to use their bodies and physical movements to better grasp and internalize new concepts and skills. 

Additionally, these simulations enhance problem-solving and decision-making abilities by requiring participants to think and react quickly while in motion.

Micro-Learning Lessons

Microlearning is a teaching method that breaks content down into short, bite-sized lessons, making it quick and easy for learners to absorb. 

These lessons are brief, lasting anywhere from a few minutes to 15 minutes, with a clear focus on one learning objective at a time.

Microlearning can be delivered in various formats, such as experiments, videos, podcasts, infographics, or interactive quizzes, making the learning experience more engaging and interactive.

Microlearning presents information in smaller chunks. This helps learners absorb and retain content more effectively over time.

Interactive Documents

Interactive documents are digital documents that allow users to engage with the content in a more interactive way. 

Unlike traditional static documents, such as PDFs or Word documents, interactive documents include multimedia elements such as images, videos, gifs and clickable links.

They allow users to navigate and explore the content more easily. Some common examples of interactive documents are:

  • Interactive PDFs
  • E-books
  • Online magazines and catalogs
  • Interactive digital presentations such as polls and quizzes

Interactive documents are a more interactive way to present information and assess learning outcomes. 

Role-Playing Exercise

Role-playing is a teaching method where learners simulate real-life situations by taking on different roles or characters. This approach is particularly effective for kinesthetic learners because it allows them to engage with the material hands-on.

For example, if you're teaching a lesson on conflict resolution, you could present a scenario, such as a disagreement between two friends. To help kinesthetic learners better understand and apply the material, you could assign them roles, such as the two friends and a mediator.

The learners would then act out the scenario, practicing essential conflict-resolution skills like effective communication, active listening, and problem-solving. After the role-play, you could lead a discussion on what went well, what could be improved, and how the conflict could have been resolved more effectively.

Using role-playing in this way gives kinesthetic learners the chance to engage with real-life situations, helping them understand and apply the concepts more effectively.

Kinesthetic Teaching Methods

As a teacher, you should be able to determine which of your learners are kinesthetic. This way, you can employ teaching methods to improve their academic performance.

If you incorporate kinesthetic learning in your classroom, you’re not only benefiting your kinesthetic learners but also other students with different approaches to learning.

Let’s look at ways you can give a kinesthetic learning experience to your entire classroom.

             

Incorporating Kinesthetic-Friendly Activities in Your Lessons

Research has shown that the average attention span of an adult is between 10 to 20 minutes. For children and young learners, attention spans can be even shorter. 

Shorter lessons are a kinesthetic-friendly approach that helps learners stay engaged and focused throughout the lesson. You can introduce activities to help them develop various skills and abilities.

Shorter lessons help learners retain more information by allowing them to focus on a smaller amount of material at one time. This can be particularly important for kinesthetic learners who may struggle to stay focused on longer lessons.

Shorter lessons also provide more opportunities for learners to review and reflect on what they have learned. This helps to reinforce their understanding and promote deeper learning.

Incorporating kinesthetic-friendly activities in your classroom will help kinesthetic learners be more fully engaged and successful in their learning.

Implement Movement

For kinesthetic learners, movement is a key part of the learning process. Allowing them to move in the classroom helps them stay focused and engaged by providing an outlet for excess energy. 

Movement-based activities also give these learners the chance to express their creativity in unique ways.

However, it's important to incorporate movement while maintaining good classroom management. To do this, set clear guidelines and expectations for movement, such as:

  • Defining how much movement is allowed during different activities.
  • Establishing rules for acceptable movement and noise levels.
  • Offering alternative activities for students who find movement-based learning challenging.

By doing this, you can create an environment where kinesthetic learners thrive without disrupting the classroom.

Motivate Students to Create Their Own Notes

Encouraging your students to take notes helps them to understand better and retain information, as well as improve their organizational skills.

Taking notes helps kinesthetic learners reinforce what they’ve learned by allowing them to review the material later. This also helps them identify areas where they may need additional clarification or support.

You should encourage your students to take notes in several ways until they determine which style works best for them.

Take Your Class Outside

Taking your class outside provides opportunities for students to move around and engage with the environment in a more hands-on way.

It provides opportunities for them to engage with the environment through sight, sound, touch, and even smell, which enhances their learning experience.

Kinesthetic learners benefit from making real-world connections to the topic they are learning. Taking the class outside allows them to see it more tangibly and make connections to their own experiences.

Implement Games

Games engage students actively, allowing them to learn through physical movement and hands-on activities. You can use physical and interactive games to make learning fun and memorable.

For example:

  • Educational board games
  • Role-playing games
  • Interactive quizzes or competitions
  • Team-building challenges

You’ll need to ensure that students understand the rules and objectives of the game before starting so they can focus on learning rather than trying to figure out the game mechanics.

The games should have an educational purpose. The movement should reinforce, not distract from, the learning goals.

Games create a fun, competitive environment that motivates kinesthetic learners to actively participate. Additionally, many games require teamwork, communication, and collaboration, helping students develop important social skills.

Create Experiments

Carrying out experiments allows students to participate in the learning process, encouraging them to make predictions, observe results, and draw conclusions based on their actions.

Begin by introducing a topic and asking students to brainstorm what they already know. Then, encourage them to come up with questions they want to investigate.


For instance, if you’re a science teacher, you could ask students to design an experiment to test which material best insulates heat. Students would decide on the materials to test, make predictions, and carry out the experiment themselves.

Have students make predictions about what they think will happen and why. This is to encourage critical thinking and reinforce the scientific method.

Allow students to perform the experiment themselves. Your role is to guide them, ensuring they follow the correct steps and use the right materials. Let them explore and gather data based on their actions.

Allowing students to explore and make predictions in experiments allows them to tap into their natural curiosity, driving them to ask questions and seek answers.

Steps to Implementing Kinesthetic Learning In Your Classroom

If you're interested in incorporating kinesthetic activities in your teaching style, there are some steps that can make it easier for you.

1. Try Kinesthetic Learning 

The first step in implementing kinesthetic learning is to try it yourself. This means you become a kinesthetic learner and try to learn things by getting physically involved.

You can start by learning things at home. For example, you can try something you've never done before, such as decorating, baking a cake, or getting an indoor plant.

By doing it physically, you can come up with ways of implementing kinesthetic learning more effectively.

2. Practice Demonstrations

Show is often more important than tell for a kinesthetic learner. They need you to create a hands-on experience in order to understand each topic.

This means you have to be very skilled at physically demonstrating concepts that your students must learn,

3. Walk or Stand During Classes

When a teacher is standing up and moving around, it helps maintain the attention and engagement of students.

Standing up also makes you more visible to the students, which makes it easier to follow along with the lesson and see any visual aids or demonstrations that you’re using.

If you’ve always taught while seated, you can practice at home first to improve and gain confidence before implementing it in your classroom.

4. Combine Your Study Session With Exercise

Adding physical activity to study sessions can help kinesthetic learners stay focused and remember information better. 

Encourage students to get up and do simple exercises, like walking around the classroom or doing jumping jacks, between chapters or during breaks. This helps release extra energy and keeps them focused for the next task.

You can also have students quiz each other while moving around, making the review process more active and fun. 

For kinesthetic learners, mixing study time with physical activity is a great way to stay focused and learn better.

5. Be Open to Mistakes and Do Better

When trying something new, mistakes are bound to happen, either by the teacher or students. Do not give up if there are some hiccups.

The best approach is to be open-minded and dialogue with your students from time to time to learn what’s working and what’s not so you can adjust accordingly.

Career Options for Kinesthetic Learners

Motivating our students to learn with kinesthetic learning prepares them for a bright future with careers such as:

  • Physician: Medical training often includes opportunities for hands-on experiences, such as clinical rotations, internships, and residency programs, which can be ideal for tactile learners.
  • Automotive mechanic: Automotive mechanics work a lot with hands-on tools and equipment. This work requires a strong mechanical aptitude and good problem-solving skills, which many tactile learners possess.
  • Sports coach: Many successful coaches are kinesthetic learners with a natural ability to demonstrate techniques and communicate effectively through physical movement.
  • Chef: Being a chef is perfect for kinesthetic learners because it involves working with your hands to prepare food and use cooking tools.
  • Physiotherapist: As a physiotherapist, kinesthetic learners can help patients by physically guiding them through exercises and treatments because it matches their need for hands-on work.
  • Actor: Acting is ideal for kinesthetic learners since it lets them use their body to express emotions and tell stories through physical movement.
  • Athlete: For kinesthetic learners, being an athlete is perfect because it involves constant physical activity and the opportunity to use their energy in sports.
  • Graphic designer: Kinesthetic learners can enjoy graphic design by drawing, creating models, or testing their designs physically, allowing them to engage with their work in a hands-on way.
  • Medical laboratory scientist: This career is well-suited for kinesthetic learners because it involves hands-on tasks like running experiments and using lab equipment.

Start Teaching the Kinesthetic Style

Kinesthetic learning enhances information retention, boosts classroom engagement, and promotes physical activity, benefiting both students' learning and overall well-being. 

Educators must understand their students' learning preferences to tailor lesson plans and teaching strategies to meet individual needs. 

To get started with kinesthetic teaching methods, explore free professional development courses at SimpleK12.

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