Creating effective visual aids can seem hard if you don't know where to start. This two-part post teaches you about the elements and principles of design, what they are and how you could use them to create your visual aids. Now that you know about the elements of design , let's go over the principles of design. Principles of design are used with elements of design to create simple to elaborate work. There is some disagreement among designers of which are the core principles of design. This post will cover the many different ones regardless of how popular they are. The principles that will be covered are contrast, balance, movement and hierarchy, emphasis, pattern and repetition, variety, unity, proximity, and alignment. Principles of Design Contrast Contrast occurs when there is a variation or contrast that makes the visual interesting. Contrast can be created through size (big vs small), colour (warm vs cool), texture (slimy vs soft), value (light vs dark), length (short vs lo...

So you want to create your own visual aid, but have no clue where to start? Have you ever heard of the element and principles of designs? These elements and principles of design are used by artists, designers, and many others to create effective and powerful visual content. This post has been broken up into two parts. Part 1 will cover the elements of design which include: line, shape, form, colour, value, texture, and space. In Part 2 we will cover the principles of design. The principles build upon the elements, so it is important to know and understand what the elements are. Once you know what the elements of design are, you can start using them to create effective visual aids. Elements of Design Line Lines are marks with a greater length than width. Lines can be straight, horizontal, vertical, diagonal, or curved. Straight lines are called structural lines while curved lines are expressive lines. Lines can be thick or thin in intensity. Contour lines are lines that go around an obj...

Printing free printable. Are you a teacher or parent struggling to find good visual resources? There are many resources available on the internet, and sharing them all could take several blog posts! Here is a list of some of my favorite websites or resources that offer free or low-cost visual aids. Most of these deal with printables. There are a couple of video resources included as well. 1. Printable Mom Containing, easy, simple, ready-to-print activities, Printable Mom provides parents and teachers with visual resources at a very low cost. Two of the more educational-based resources offered include a student clock and chore charts. The resources sometimes come in Spanish in addition to English. Click here to go to Printable Mom Etsy shop. “I SPY”  printouts from Paper Tail Design. 2. Paper Trail Design Paper Trail Design provides fun printable activities, decor, and organizational material. The “I SPY” worksheets are not only fun but educational in more than one way. They come on...

Cards with animal photos. Teachers that have students with learning disabilities in their classroom, may not always know what the best way to teach them is. One way that can hardly ever go wrong is using visual aids. But how can visual aids help students with learning disabilities? Here are six different visuals that have the potential to help these students if used correctly. Graphs & Charts Graphs and charts are great visual aids that can assist students with learning disabilities in many different ways. The most common usage for graphs and charts is used in math classes. However, subjects in the fields of science and social studies also can use these charts and graphs Even in subjects such as English, a chart such as a venn diagram can be useful to more clearly illustrate different lessons to students. Graphs and charts are useful to average students, but when used appropriately can add an exponential amount of value to students who struggle with learning due to disability. Peer...

 Have you ever wondered why parents or teachers use visual aids with their children and students? Studies show that  65% of the population are visual learners . Therefore, using visual aids is key to engaging kids, rather than speaking or reading. Whether those who use visual aids realize it or not, there are many benefits to using visual aids with children and adolescents. Once you know the benefits you may be more inclined to use them in your teaching methods. To help you learn the different benefits that occur when using visual aids, here is a list of seven benefits, each including a brief explanation of why they are helpful. Some of them will have examples to better illustrate the different ideas that are being expressed.  1. Saves Time Studies demonstrate that showing, rather than speaking or reading, leads to a faster retention rate. This is not only true for kids, but also for adults. Using visual aids can therefore help a teacher or parent cover more material in l...