March 27, 2024

Parental Advice: Active Learning for Kids

Educational organizations such as schools, colleges, and universities ensure that they do the basic job of educating their students by teaching them what they need to know. This type of education is rarely ever useful and consists of the student taking a bunch of notes and then doing their own research to understand the topic better, which makes attending the class and lectures a waste of time.

However, in the case of primary or secondary schools, the age criteria is a lot younger than that found in college or university levels. Needless to say, the minds of children and the minds of adults differ in a lot of aspects and the way that they grasp and learn things from the information being given to them is a lot more different too. Because of these reasons, children need more things to help them interact and take part in fun educational activities.

Active Learning for Kids

Active learning refers to helping your children learn, not by writing and memorizing but by incorporating fun and interactive activities as well as props to help them understand things in a creative way. It is the concern of many parents to promote active learning for their toddlers together with family fun activities. The following are two ways to do just that:

Educational Toys

Active Learning for Kids

You don’t necessarily have to pick up a set of boring textbooks in order to educate your child. Although pictorial books help the child to learn certain things, there are a lot of toys, such as basic mathematics element. In a market that sells children’s toys, you’re likely to find dozens of good educational toys that help to not only sharpen the brain but make learning a fun, easy and creative experience for kids. There are several toys that you can find that are perfect for serving the purpose, and also allow parents to have a fun time educating their children.

Plan a Field Trip Yourself

Often times, we wait for the schools and educational institutes to arrange for a field trip event, such as a visit to the museum, or just a picnic at the beach. But, you don’t necessarily have to wait for other people to plan these things in order for them to happen. Take your children to interesting places to do something fun such as whale watching. This will boost their confidence and satiate their natural curiosity for new places and experiences.

Active Learning for Kids

The sooner you introduce your child to the love of animals, the more you will see how they flourish as human beings. Plan a Family Fun day out to take your children to a nearby zoo. This is a great opportunity for children to learn about a wide variety of animals from all around the world. Alternatively, you can plan for a trip to a sanctuary of marine animals and have them observe things such as the migrating behavior of whales. These are both great ways to instill in them a love for animals.

Conclusion

Encouraging active learning in children is crucial for their development. Instead of passive consumption, engage them in hands-on experiences. Encourage curiosity by asking open-ended questions and fostering exploration. Provide educational games, puzzles, and interactive toys that promote problem-solving and critical thinking. Create a stimulating environment where they can experiment, make mistakes, and learn from them. Encourage reading, art, and outdoor activities to ignite their creativity and physical well-being. Be a role model by showing enthusiasm for learning yourself. Active learning not only builds knowledge but also instills a lifelong love for discovery, setting a strong foundation for their future success and happiness.

Such things can greatly encourage your children to observe how different living organisms function and behave in a completely different atmosphere such as the ocean.

Amila Gamage Wickramarachchi

Amila Gamage Wickramarachchi is the founder of this blog. She shares her parenting and lifestyle experiences of raising a child in Singapore.

View all posts by Amila Gamage Wickramarachchi →

16 thoughts on “Parental Advice: Active Learning for Kids

  1. I was a pre-school teacher before, now, I am an aunt and my niece lives with me I get to do a lot of these active learning style wtih her. I enjoy it. Lucky, I have a background with teaching but really there are a lot of teaching points even just at home. It’s so nice to see how she has developed from active learning experiences.

  2. My parents are both elementary teachers and I guess Im lucky enough growing with educators. As a child These techniques were applied at home. If I’ll have a child one day, I would apply these techniques as well. Since I love travelling, maybe field trip would be my favorite!

  3. Everything that you have shared here is really true. Yes, there is always a better way to teach children according to their age. I love all your ideas here and most mother are actually not aware about this one. Engaging the kids for fun educational activities and field trip is really a great way of telling them that this is what a life of a kid should be. Thank you so much for sharing this with us.

  4. I love the idea of planning your own field trip. When I was still a kid, I would join field trips arranged by the school and they weren’t that great. We did things that not everyone was interested in, and because we were such a big group, the facilitator really couldn’t give all of us his undivided attention. It’s so much better to just plan your own and tailor it to your kid’s interests. You can even have as many as you want!

  5. Learning something practically is the sure way of learning things. And the earlier it is started in life the better. I like the way you follow the best methods meticulously with your son. One of the best posts for new moms.

  6. I totally agree with this. My husband who is a teacher keeps on telling me how important it is to have an active learning experience for kids. Sharing these other moms too.

  7. I like the playing field trip idea. I believe that kids learn more through experiences. And I commend parents who support such activities to their kids. There are even parents who go to different places just to expose their kids to many things and experiences.

  8. It is definitely true. That is why we are already planning now where to go during the holidays. As per our calendar at work, there’s no 21, 2 and 2 as they were all holiday. I hope we can travel to the nearby zoo or even the manila ocean park. I’m also thinking in investing on baby’s educational toys.

  9. Having field trips is one of the best ideas a parent can ever give to their child. You get to travel and see pretty sights and let them learn about certain things on their own too. The way I see it, it’s letting your children immerse themselves to the world that is out there other than your home. Honestly, it’s one of the best parent-children activities that there is!

  10. I being a travel writer, try to take out kids on educational tours so that they can learn history faster and easily. That is experienctial learning for you. Many a generation was wasted because of traditional learning techniques which made kids zombies rather thank thinking humans.

  11. This is helpful esp. to new parents. I always like the idea of planning your own fieldtrip. Having your own time frame in visiting places makes you learn more and discover more unlike doing it in big groups which is way too crowded. I always believe too that children can learn best through experience and interaction..

  12. Active learning is so important in the early years. It helps develop all kinds of skills and makes learning fun. Field trips are awesome – and getting kids to enjoy nature (and apply learning to their surroundings) is a fabulous way to raise a bright, engaged child. Great post!

  13. I like the commitment to education..really the first step I feel is often staying away from our electronic devices around the children (unless necessary) and giving them undivided attention. This is most fun with a field trip of course! Kids really are like sponges
    Like the blog, keep it coming!

  14. i totally agree with your reviews about educational system . we should give our personal time to children specially younger ones and take them to educational trips . and give them the basic knowledge about world our self .

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