Can you make learning fun for older children? It's easy to do with our younger members, but as they get older and they need to learn facts, order of things, rules in Literacy and Maths etc, etc - just how easy can it be to make it fun?
Here are just some ideas to think about when planning a lesson or an activity.
First, for our preschool children
Songs and Rhymes
Exploring - water and sand
Using texture with sensory trays and pots, gloop and slime, crunchy cereal, rough tree bark, cold metal and lots more
Painting with fingers
Stickers
Bath Time
Small world play
Home corner play, which includes doctors, vets, fire stations etc
Cuddles and talking
Climbing, running and jumping
Dancing
Dressing up
And lots more
Lots of movement and physical activity for preschool children. And all of it's learning and FUN.
Now, for our older children
But what about when they have to start settling down to REAL LEARNING!
How many times have you heard that said?
Why do so many people think that at a certain age children START to learn?
Our children start to learn from the moment they are born - learning isn't about sitting at a table and being able to do so quietly for certain amounts of time, even though that does need to be done.
The older children get, the more they have to be able to record information and practise skills which does take more and more concentration. And it does mean sitting at a table to be able to do just that. They also need certain skills like reading, writing, understanding basic maths etc. So Why Play?
But that doesn't mean it can't be fun!
Everyone knows that we learn more when we're having fun, so let's look at some ways we can do that as the children get older.
Follow up a reading, writing or maths sitting down task with something that requires a bit of movement that is linked to the task - even if only remotely
Explore Science by doing experiments
Make up quizzes to test what they have learnt in a fun way
Ask them to make up quizzes so they can test the knowledge of other members of the family
When exploring characters in stories then do some 'Hot Seating'
Go on field trips
Do a more grown up version of the 'home corner' by getting them to pretend they are a news reporter and record them reading the news
Create a Power Point (or Google Slides) presentation
Research in books and on-line, a topic of their choice
Listening to stories online, or watching You Tube versions of stories
Create their own short animations
Use video conferencing or something like Skype to connect with others to work on the same project
Create their own website
Help with gardening or making something for the home
Cooking and creating menus
Design and make models to go with the topic they are working on
Write a rap, poem of song to help them remember facts
Paint in the style of ...
Learn how to make their own clip-art
Play computer games
Learn coding to make their own computer games
Create their own You Tube video
There are more ways than you first realise to make learning fun for all ages. These are just a few examples, which include Literacy and Maths. The list could go on and on.
If you try to follow their interest - then you are already on the way to making their learning fun.
Create a mind map when starting a new topic. If you're not sure how to do that then have a look at the blog about mind maps.
For further information on all these points then check out the Education page on the website.