The Benefits of Cup Stacking on Student Reading Outcomes

I have always used chess and cup stacking in my yearly teaching programme - from nearly the beginning of my time teaching in NZ.  Learners of all ages are keen to get in and learn these “games”. The benefits of teaching chess to young learners is well known. But the benefits of cup stacking perhaps not so much.

Cup stacking has many benefits for learning in the classroom.   Researchers have found that it targets specific areas of the body and the brain to increase intelligence, problem solving skills and critical thinking.  It is a fun yet and intense game.

“What many teachers and educators may not know is the impact cup stacking can have  on a child’s visual processing skills and reading ability. Because the child is moving their hands so quickly, their eyes must also track the cups and the movement of their hands as they participate in the activity. The eyes naturally cross the midline to accomplish this task. These skills are very important for reading and writing development. It allows the child to track words across the page and read from sentence to sentence, paragraph to paragraph. It also forces children to process information more quickly through their vision system, which allows them to process and retain information quicker in the classroom.” ( Integrated Learning Corner, online magazine, 2017)

So my next step is to see if using this approach with some of my at risk readers actually has an impact on their reading scores.  But trialing it in the classroom as an actual tool that impacts reading data is probably beyond the scope of what I can achieve under the constraints of a full curriculum.  But I am still thinking of using it as a targeted intervention for children in my class.
The kids love it. They don’t feel like they are getting extra support from the teacher - which in
some types of direct intervention can have a negative mindset on children.  For some children
who feel like they are not succeeding in reading the last thing they want is to be singled out.

Perhaps my goal will be to garner support from other teachers who are also willing to try what seems like a rather unconventional action to help their students who are struggling with the
processes of reading.