Learning Fun
Who ever said that learning couldn’t be fun?
My experience has been with working with children of all age groups. Most of my career involved working with school age children. When working with these children, adding the element of fun increased their attention span and peaked their interest.
I spent a lot of time asking the kids what they wanted to do, or learn about. The kids would then take turns picking subjects. By allowing them to be involved in the planning process, it held their attention for longer periods of time.
Having fun doesn’t mean that learning isn’t taking place either. For example, if you want to teach children the days of the week in order. There is a song that you can teach them to do just that.
This song is sung to “My Darlin Clementine”
Sunday Monday, Tuesday Wednesday, Thursday Friiiiiiiiiiday, Saturday…
Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday, Thursday Friday Saturday.
The little tune is real catchy, and makes it easier for the kids to learn the days of the week in order.
The learning environment can also be fun. One thing that I used to in my room was suspend different objects from the ceiling. My favorite display was for the theme Under the Sea. I went to the party store and purchased some cutouts of sea creatures, I hung blue and green streamers from the ceiling. I hung the cut outs in between the streamers so it looked like the fish and other sea creatures were swimming. The way the light hit the streamers it looked enchanting. I then added some green celophane pieces that looked like algae.
Then came the whale! I bought a 6 foot long orca whale used for floating on the water. I blew it up, and suspended it from the ceiling too! When the kids came in on Monday morning they were so excited to see everything!
Having decorations around the room along with some props really make teaching certain topics so much better!