“Ways to make learning fun and engaging for children"

There are a myriad of ways of teaching children. Children might have different dispositions to all the methods available to teachers. With so many different ways to teach how do we choose? Which ones are the best? Or maybe there is something even more important.
Young learners have very short attention spans; therefore, it is better to keep in mind that activities lasting around 10 minutes are the best to engage learning. Having a properly structured class is so important. When making your lesson plan it is of utmost importance to separate the class into smaller, more conquerable sections. The warm up is the most important part of the class since it sets the mood and atmosphere of the class. It gives children time to get in the right mindset for learning, and it usually lasts 5-10 minutes. Then the teaching section is the longest part lasting 15-20 minutes so it is imperative to have a fun and relaxing activity when it feels necessary. Activities such as games, singing or dancing are perfect for young learners. The Review or the wrap up is important for quickly going over the keywords of the lesson one last time and if there is additional time left, a final activity including singing or dancing is great to end the class on a good note.
As aforementioned teachers need to design a variety of interesting, intellectually stimulating and easy to understand games to keep the young learners attention. To do so, teachers have access to a wide variety of tools including, but not limited to: flashcards, giant dice, hand puppets, sticky balls, whiteboards, balls, hoops, plush toys, wooden block, Lego etc. The teacher has to find creative ways to implement one or several of these objects and introduce new games so that the old ones don’t become redundant. It is important that these activities stimulate the three learning styles: Visual, Auditory and TactileKinesthetic. Including activities that cater to and are beneficial to the different intelligence types will allow the teacher to find out which methods are best for each particular student and keep the classes interesting. The content and topics of each class should be constructed to be as interesting and clear as possible. Each class should have a specific purpose and allow students to practice the language they already acquired while slowing adding new vocabulary and content. The material should always seek to challenge learners so that they have a chance to grow. Finding the right balance, not too easy, not too difficult will allow students to continuously improve at a steady rate without encountering any roadblocks.

Now that we have looked at proper lesson planning, the different tools available to us and how to use them effectively there is one last component that is crucial for children to have a fun and engaging learning experience, and that is the teacher itself. It is important for teachers, especially the ones teaching young children to be enthusiastic, excited about teaching and radiate positive energy. We often say that moods are contagious and we are all affected by how the people around us feel. That is particularly true for younger children because they are the most impressionable at that age. The teacher should not be afraid to get closer to the children, laugh with them and make meaningful connections. This will allow for a more nurturing environment which is perfect for learning and growth.

Making teaching fun and engaging for children is more than just a good lesson plan, a good teaching environment or the sum of the different tools we have at our disposal. It is about the teacher who earnestly cares about the children and enjoys teaching them. Making the children laugh and laughing with them, making sure that they feel your enthusiasm and get caught up in it. If you can achieve this, the children will have a very special place to look forward to everyday.

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