How Does Your Brain Work? An activity inspired by Temple Grandin

I recently received a copy of the picture book  The Girl Who Thought In Pictures.  It's a kids book about one of my heroes- Dr. Temple Grandin.  She's a professor of animal science who also happens to be on the autistic spectrum.  She's funny, brave, persistent, and full of insights.  And I love how she reminds us to value those who see the world in a different way.

Inspired by her story, my son and I tried to explore how our brains work with this simple art activity.

How Does Your Brain Work?  

An Art Activity Inspired by Dr. Temple Grandin

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Oh! In case you want to learn about this cool picture book, you can get a copy on  Amazon.

And here's a peek at what the book looks like on the inside.

Here's how we did our brain activity:

1.  I gave us copies of this What's going on in your brain template.

2.  Then, we both chose words that we wanted to think about.  (My 6-year-old LOVES Pokemon, so he chose Pikachu.  I chose the world "love" because Valentine's Day Crafts have been on my mind.)

3.  We wrote the words in the word bubble.

4.  Then, we drew all the images/thoughts/feelings that came up when we thought of our word.


(It was neat seeing how our minds worked.  My son took the activity very literally and drew Pikachu and then all of Pikachu's friends. )

(Meanwhile, I began drawing all the things ideas/concepts/feelings that I thought were related to love.)

5.  After we finished, we described our art to each other.  (Again, super neat to share our different thought processes.)

And that's it!  I hope you have fun trying out this art and science activity with your kiddos too.

More Activities to Get Kids Thinking

• Let's Learn About Our Brain (Preschool Brain Activity)
• Let's Learn About Louis Braille (And make a Stylus and Slate)
• Trippy Blind Contour Drawing
• 5 Ways for Preschoolers to Learn about their Bodies
• Magazine Doodles

Happy creating and connecting, friends!