Hook and loop material has a great range of practical and creative applications. Using these fasteners in the classroom creates possibilities for different types of learning for all ages, from arts and crafts to visual aids.
Arts & Crafts
Arts and crafts play an important part in learning and in helping children become well-rounded people. Educators often have to get creative with the teaching supplies that they have. Fortunately, hook-and-loop material is very versatile, and it fits within many spending plans.
Almost any type of project can benefit from its use. Hook-and-loop expands artistic possibilities through interactive use when students attach objects with hook-and-loop. Allowing students to build their own masterpieces helps their imaginations grow. The hook and loop craft options for educators who want to foster creativity in their students increase greatly by using this common and adaptable material.
Uses in Lesson Plans/Lesson Boards
In preschool, lesson boards made of hook-and-loop can help very young children to learn with images and spoken concepts together. When children are a bit older, such boards are perfect tools to help with
weather, numbers, and counting, as well as the alphabet and spelling. File folders can be sealed with hook-and-loop coins, and attachable cutouts aid teachers with lessons that involve children on several levels. The boards engage kids in a colorful and textural way. They can also touch the cutouts and easily move them to the proper placement by themselves, which can help reinforce learning.
As children grow, similar uses can be applied to assist with math, reading, and grammar. Hook-and-loop boards can display images of the changing seasons and of science and nature lessons. Some boards might hold cutout maps to help children learn geography. Hook-and-loop material has such wide-ranging capabilities that almost any lesson can benefit from its use.
Additionally, the material comes in a variety of sizes, which makes different learning opportunities possible. VELCRO® brand Wide Loop, which can be purchased up to 54 inches wide, can serve as a lesson board itself. One that is easily moved and manipulated or perhaps even worn. It could also form 3D educational tools that further engage students visually, making it a great creative teaching aid.
Teaching Blind or Learning-Disabled Students
The tactile properties of hook-and-loop make it ideal for teaching students who require different ways of learning. Feeling the shapes of cutouts on a lesson board can assist visually impaired students, while those with learning challenges may benefit from handling and touching parts of the lesson as well. Whether students react to color, shape, texture or the sound made when the hooks and loops separate, every property can be an educational tool if used the right way. Teachers have an exciting opportunity to be creative, and maybe even innovative, by using hook-and-loop fasteners to teach children with special needs.