Parents play an integral role in educating their children and helping them to grow, learn and develop. Every parent will be familiar with the battle to get kids to do their homework and all moms will have heard their children complaining that they’re bored. It’s not always easy to make learning fun, but there are ways to encourage kids to embrace and enjoy education. In this helpful guide, we’ll run through some simple, accessible steps to make learning more fun for your kids.
Photo by Andrea Piacquadio from Pexels
Try new activities
One of the reasons children get bored easily when studying is repeating the same activities or exercises over and over again. Even if your kids love doing a certain activity, they may lose interest or motivation if there’s no variety. Try new activities with your children and cater to their interests and hobbies. Play games, use online resources, read together or plan fun exercises like interactive quizzes or treasure trails. Having access to a diverse range of resources and varying activities will help children to maintain concentration and retain information. If you need inspiration, there are some fantastic resources, forums and social media groups online. You can share ideas with other parents, get suggestions and advice from educators and find links to websites and educational platforms.
Switch up the learning environment
Most of us have memories of sitting in a classroom at school or doing homework and assignments at the kitchen table at home. There’s nothing wrong with these environments, but it’s beneficial to experience and explore other settings to make learning more enjoyable and encourage kids to take an interest in the subject matter. If you’re talking about wildlife or trees and flowers, for example, provide your kids with an interactive, multi-sensory learning experience by getting out of the house and walking through the woods, discovering forests and lakes, or going to a farm, wildlife park or zoo. Going on trips and visiting different places can enhance the learning experience and help children to develop a deeper understanding of the topics they are covering. Changing environments can also help to prevent boredom and foster new interests in children.
Get involved in fun events
There are all kinds of holidays and events that celebrate aspects of learning or encourage kids to learn about specific days, events, places or achievements. As a parent, it’s a fantastic idea to get involved in community, local or national events. Take a look at book week costumes with your kids and celebrate their favorite books and literary characters, go to local festivals that encourage children to appreciate art, music or history, or get together with friends and neighbors to mark national and international holidays. Dress up, play games, take part in competitions and activities and use resources to learn more and get inspiration for further study after the event.
Photo by Matheus Bertelli from Pexels
Add a practical element
Many children find it easier to learn and process and retain information when classes have a practical element. Reading and writing about something can be useful, but often, practical activities make topics, concepts or ideas and theories easier to understand. Consider the example of a scientific experiment. You can read about chemical reactions in books and listen to teachers talking in a classroom, but actually seeing the teacher do the experiment, or doing it yourself in the case of older children, is often more beneficial. Classes are more memorable and information is more accessible and digestible.
Encourage creativity
Being creative has multiple benefits for children. Creative activities offer a fun way to learn and they also enable kids to express themselves and show off their personalities. Try to encourage creativity at home. There are lots of ways to do this, from making up games and creating shows and role-play scenarios to writing stories and doing arts and crafts.
Move around
Most parents will have memories of being told to sit still by their teachers and parents. Sometimes, it’s important to teach children to be still and quiet so that they can absorb information and learn, but moving around can also be beneficial. Try to combine classroom learning and sitting at a desk with more active exercises and learning experiences. If you’re talking about the human body with your kids, for example, you can show them how the different parts work by using your own body movements. Move the joints, show them what happens to the body when you breathe deeply, point to different muscles or organs, and check your pulse when you jog on the spot or run really fast in the backyard. Your kids can copy your movements and see what’s happening in their bodies as they move along with you.
Photo by Yan Krukau from Pexels
Put an educational spin on your child’s favorite games
Playing is the best way to learn for young children. Playtime should be fun, but it can also be educational. To encourage and promote learning at home, it’s an excellent idea to put an educational spin on your child’s favorite games and activities. If they love pretending to be a store assistant and selling items to you while playing with a cash register, use this activity to teach them how to count money or identify different types of fruit and vegetables or learn names for different items of clothing, for example.
Play to your child’s strengths
Every child is unique. Children learn in different ways and some respond better to certain techniques or methods than others. When you’re conjuring up ideas for activities or helping your kids with schoolwork, try to play to their strengths and cater to their preferences. Many kids, for example, react positively to visual content and cues. If your child finds information easier to digest when they see images or clips rather than chunks of text, use cue cards, printable sheets, flashcards, videos and interactive games and apps to break information down. If they enjoy practical activities more than worksheets or reading, add a practical aspect.
Photo by Julia M Cameron from Pexels
As a parent, it’s natural to want to encourage learning and champion education, but it’s not always easy to make the learning process enjoyable for children. If you’re looking for easy, accessible ways to have fun with your kids while enhancing their education, take these tips on board. Try new activities, get involved in fun events, add a practical element and explore different environments. Create interactive, real-life learning experiences, play to your child’s strengths and turn your kids’ favorite games into educational activities.
