If you are the parent of a pre-schooler then you are probably facing the task of helping your child to learn to read, write and count, amongst other skills, in preparation for school which is no easy feat. However, you will find it much easier if you make learning fun for your child, not sure how? Worry not, here are 6 ways you can make learning fun for children and have them mastering those new skills in no time.
Role Play
Role play is a great tool for learning, especially with preschool children, as their imaginations are so active and they generally do it naturally without over thinking it. If you can create a role play environments where you can embed the skills you want them to learn you are bound to find that they have fun without even realising they are learning new skills. If you are stuck for ideas then how about
- creating a shop scenario where they can purchase goods to help with money management and counting
- playing teachers where they can practise writing their name or other words
- doctors is great for learning body parts
- families can help practice daily tasks
- Vets for phonics using different animal names
As well as being fun and helping develop new skills role play also has lots of additional benefits and should be encouraged as much as possible.
To help with role play you can use house hold items like pen and paper, pots and pans and old clothes for dressing up in but if you want them to play independently then having toys that have been designed specifically for children would be better, we recommend the Casdon toys.
Educational games
They say children learn through play so using educational games is a no brainer really, plus it takes out the stress of trying to come up with imaginative ways to help turn their learning into a game if that’s not your forte. There are loads of educational games out there but one of the brands that we highly recommend and have used with all three of our own children are Orchard Toys. They have games covering all sorts of topics from phonics to maths to more basic skills like colours, animals and time. We love the Orchard Toys games as they are really affordable, great quality, easy to use and lots of fun and each one usually has more than one learning objective taking place too.
Make them the teacher
Asking your child to teach you what they have learnt in preschool is a great way for them to practice those skills. You can make some simple mistakes and watch as they problem solve and show you where you went wrong and how to do it correctly. Children often find it very amusing when adults are unable to do things they can and will love to have fun as they correct you without realising they are embedding these skills firmly into their own knowledge banks.
Take it on the road
If you can, avoid the classic classroom set up whenever possible as this automatically removes the fun element and makes them think about the learning that is about to take place. Try and move to the garden or just out and about using the surroundings to aid the learning process. If you are unsure how then here are some ideas;
- When learning numbers and letters ask your child to find specific ones on licence plates or take it in turn reading out the licence plates on parked cards
- Play eye spy with either letters or colours
- For phonics ask them to sound out street signs
- Count birds, cars, people, anything that will grab their imagination
Online Learning
Although most parents don’t like to admit it, technology can be a life saver, especially when we are really busy and the weather is awful. Instead of just letting them watch Peppa Pig on repeat why not introduce them to some online learning games in the way of apps. Again there are so many to choose from but one of the one ones we recommend is Edurino, playful learning. They have a few different ones focused on different age groups and various learning outcomes but the one thing they all have in commo is that you use cute physical figures alongside the app. These figures are colourful, cute and help with finger dexterity. The different characters offer different activities but they are all easy to use, interactive, educational and most important of all fun.
Lots of praise
Learning new information can be difficult at any age and getting it wrong is hard to digest but succeeding feels great. Focus on their successes, however small, and really get excited with them when they get it right. Then, take pride in telling other family members how well they did earlier that day and let them feel that pride and happiness all over again as they show off their new skills or knowledge to their parents, grandparents, siblings or friends. You could also introduce a reward chart, stickers or little prizes to give them something to aim for and to help them celebrate when they succeed.
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