How To Make Learning Fun And Interesting For Kids

Periodic assessment is going on for my elder one now. Everyday is a rush of household chores, teaching , learning and play. Play is an integral part learning.

Research has established that it an important factor for parent-child bonding too. So don’t discourage kids from playing even during exam times. Instead set a time limit. It is far better for kids to do physical activities than being hooked to phones or other electronic devices. But when it is time to study, make sure they know that learning is fundamental to their development. My mother had this unique method of making learning fun.

When I was in primary school, she used to teach me regularly. She used simple tricks to make me remember my subjects. And it was vital to understand and more importantly appreciate the subject in my latter years of learning. I’m still enrolled in college pursuing my third degree. I think my love for learning stemmed from my mother’s method of teaching.

Everyday when I teach my son, his lessons, I come across his insecurities as a new learner. And it is quite normal even for adults. You are always unsure when you are learning something new. Kids are no different.

The old method

When I was in school, there was no other method of teaching other than the traditional authoritarian method. It was teacher-centric. There was no choice to make learning fun. I could not clarify my doubts. I was too scared to open my mouth in class for fear of taunting remarks from teachers like

‘You think you are smarter than me?’ or ‘Just sit down and listen’.

It was my mother and her ability to make learning fun that saved me. No offense but most of my teachers back in the day did not know the full job description of their jobs. For them their jobs were over when they had monotonously recited their lessons and looked around the class in a highly unapproachable way. There were some exceptional teachers too. But they were few and far between.

After seeing a huge population of helpless kids like me, someone decided to make an educational reform. Good for the next generation at least! Today the education system in our country has undergone a massive improvement.

• School is no more as intimidating as it used to be.
• Teaching is more active and involves the students.

While this is a welcome change in schools and teachers , how can parents teach their kids at home effectively to complement the school process?

Here are some highly effective ways to make learning fun for kids.

Easy tips to make learning fun

1. Test the waters

Before actually starting to study, I tell my son about what are we going to learn that day and at what time.

Basically I look for his reaction.

If he seems excited about the topic, it means it is an easy lesson for him. If he is a little uneasy, the degree of toughness goes up and if he is absolutely terrified and keeps refusing with some explanation, it means the lesson is not a likable subject for him.

This exercise is for me to set my mind accordingly.

If it is the last reaction. I know the lesson is going to take a considerable amount of time and that I have to be extremely patient with him.

Observe how your child reacts to a subject.

2. Overcoming the fear of the subject

Tamil was a tough subject for my little one. The reason was he started learning Hindi for a couple of years at school after which he changed to Tamil. The alphabets and pronunciation was challenging. He was not at all comfortable with the subject even with an amazing Tamil teacher who was very patient with kids.

So I told him some facts about Tamil regularly – how it was one of the greatest world languages, it was more than 2000 years old, a little about Bharathiar and Thiruvalluvar, and finally I told him, how to master such a great language, you need patience and practice everyday.

The key here is to relate to the things that kids already know. My son knew some Bharathiyar songs, so I talked about Bharathiyar. If you do not do that, they will never learn to overcome their fear. Talk to them. Tell them it is alright to be scared about the unknown. Tell them,

If you are not making mistakes, you are not learning anything new.

3. Appreciate

Every time they get even a small thing right in their subject , appreciate them. It goes a long way in making them feel confident about the subject.

They will try to study a little bit harder to impress you.

If a child is not confident of himself, he would never be ready for new learning experiences.

4. Story telling

Sometimes when the child has to study a lengthy Q&A or a summary, they may have difficulty in remembering all the points in that answer. Here is where this storytelling technique works.

For example

Q : What are some of the keys on a keyboard?

A : Enter key, Delete Key, Space Bar, Caps Lock key, Esc Key, Shift Key

Storytelling : CAPS LOCK ENTEREDed the room and was looking for a chocolate called SPACE BAR. When he heard a sound,he quickly took the chocolate, DELETED his fingerprints, SHIFTed to another room and ESCaped.

This is just an example. You can spin the story anyway you want as long as it is interesting to your child.

This technique is great because kids love stories. It helps them remember concepts through stories. It is a sure fire way to make learning fun.

5. Use Action

For example: Plants need sunlight, water,soil to grow.

When you are explaining this, you can make a circle to denote the sun, imitate the rain, point downwards for soil and move your hand upwards for grow.

What is happening here is even if the child forgets the actual words, by linking the gestures with the words you are giving them clues to better learning. It works for every subject and you only need to practice it for areas which your kids are struggling to remember.

6. Spelling tricks

If your young child has difficulty spelling words, here is an easy way. Tag those new words with similar words they already know. That way they will be able to come with correct spellings all by themselves.

Eg: If the child knows the spelling for ‘right‘ but not for ‘might‘, you can ask

How is ‘right’ spelt?

Your child will know the answer

Now you ask,

Similarly how can you write ‘might?’

They would know the answer now.

Use the same strategy for similar sounding words and spellings.

Eg: Magic – logic, Rough – Tough

The same applies for pronunciation difficulties too. If you relate to a word that they already know to pronounce correctly, they will pronounce the new word also correctly.

Kids are smart, that way!

7. Make the concepts concrete

Kids learn so many concepts at school and may of them end up being abstract because they do not relate it to real life.

Make it simple for them by relating the concepts to real life wherever possible.

Kids tend to forget abstract concepts faster rather than concrete concepts.

For example : Chemistry – Endothermic Reactions and Exothermic Reactions

The subject says

Endothermic Reactions: Reactions that absorb heat

Exothermic Reactions: Reactions that give out heat

How do you relate it to real life?

The next time you make an omlette, you point at the egg and tell your kids, they are going to witness an endothermic reaction now.

The egg absorbs heat from the tawa to become an omlette. (Endothermic)

Bursting crackers is an exothermic reaction.

By giving them practical examples, you are making their fundamentals strong. Also kids learn to appreciate the subject more.

8. Make learning fun

Even for simple concepts like addition and subtraction, give them puzzles like

‘Mom plucked 20 tomatoes. Two were rotten and 7 were given to the neighbors. How many can mom use for cooking now?’

You should ask such questions not while actually teaching. I normally ask my son such questions while I’m cooking or gardening .

In informal settings, children are more relaxed and hence more open to learning. Utilize those opportunities.

9. Use Abbreviations

This is similar to remembering VIBGYOR for the colors of the rainbow. You can even extend this to small sentences like

ALL SILVER TEA CUPS (ASTC rule) in Trigonometry.

Come up with innovative clues to help kids remember their subjects better!

Now with new lessons via online classes for kids everyday, try these tips and make learning fun for your kids.

Know any other simple tips to make learning fun? Share them in the comments!