Learning should be in an appealing way so it boosts the learning interest of students. It is only possible when fun filled educational games will be brought into the classrooms. To support the above belief, you can refer to a plethora of research articles that are repeating the importance of structured educational games in classroom learning.
Here are some benefits of learning through fun-filled educational games?
Here they come!
Along with a motivation to learn, kids who are exposed to classroom games will be assimilating information from various sources. While you can implement fun-filled learning activities within the four walls of a classroom, you also create ample opportunities for kids to step out and have fun outside the school. Thus, educational games played in classroom pave the way for knowledge acquisition to take place in a stimulating and interactive environment.
The underlying heads speak volumes of the significance of educational games in making learning a pleasurable experience for kids; with every passing day.
Childhood – The Age of Constant Learning and Accelerated Development
You will agree that young children are constantly learning, while embarking on the path of rapid physical, intellectual and emotional development. Unmindful of the fact that they are multi-tasking, kids learn, experiment and play; all at the same time. Childhood is a golden period of human life when kids are on the verge of cultivating a self-identity which strikingly is very different from their peers.
Every child is unique and thus has special demands that are so diverse. It is for this reason that kids are constantly on the lookout for novel means of assimilating knowledge from multiple sources. Given the inadequacies posed by traditional methods of learning, a host of novel learning mechanisms are all set to excite kids. With so much happening in childhood, it pays to attach importance to their specific needs. This can be made possible by including exciting classroom activities and games that will excite them to concentrate on the task at hand.
The Numerous Fun-Filled Learning Patterns
If you keenly observe a kid, you will understand the various ways in which he/she learns. Your kid learns through all his senses by touching, seeing, smelling, hearing and tasting. Through observation, kids emulate elders and learn the language and behavior. Finally, kids learn through playing. Though last in the list, playing is the best means for kids to learn. Playing educational games in classrooms helps kids develop a strong sense of self-worth. There are many structured and unstructured classroom games that help kids unveil their potent physical and mental abilities while helping them to concentrate on their subjects as well.
The Numerous Playful Opportunities that Excite and Teach Kids
Guardians and teachers can check out these innovative educational games that can teach and stimulate the imagination of kids.
~ When you introduce your kids to playing with sand and water, you are teaching them the concepts of Math and Science. Kids will identify the striking differences between sand which is a solid and water which is a fluid.
~ There are umpteen creative means to unveil the hidden talents and expressions of kids. Allow them to sit with a paper and colored pencils. They will begin to weave their thoughts into pictures and when you ask them to narrate the story behind the picture, they will surprise you with their imaginative and expressive tales.
~ Girls who are allowed to play with toys will unleash their creative side by dressing up their favorite dolls in different attires and accessories.
~ You can gift your kid educational games like jigsaw puzzles, Lego blocks and shape sorters. When he/she sits with them, he/she will be applying his/her mental capabilities along with developing a sense of logic, with pictures. He will also start recognizing colors, shapes and sizes; the fun way.
~ Not restricting your kid to indoor games, you can also encourage them to engage themselves in outdoor sports like playing ball games and cycling. Such activities and games help in developing the mental and physical faculties of kids in addition to developing their agility and gross motor skills.
~ When a kindergarten classroom includes educational games as a part of its teaching strategy, kids will be taught to accept both victory and defeat. They will learn the art of taking turns in addition to sharing and interacting with peers.
~ You as a parent can encourage your kids to sing and play simple music instruments that can be in the form of educational toys. When they start toying with these instruments, kids will learn the concepts of musical rhythm by listening to different tones.
Kids Will Engage Themselves in Activities They Love
When you team up educational games to learning, you as adults are actually setting the stage for your kids to do things that they love the most and learn a well. Playing educational games will introduce kids to experiment with their toys and come up with unusual way of doing things. If you notice that your kid has a keen interest in books, you can introduce him to new books.
When you sit with them and partake in their reading activities, your kids will find it exciting to not only spend quality time with you but will also encourage them to express themselves in their own sweet and child-like manner. When you as adults probe into the pictures in the books, your kids will start narrating stories that can inspire a writer of sorts to experiment with their thoughts and words. Thus, allowing your kids to do what they like is the best way for them to learn. .
Educational Games Pave the Way for Holistic Learning
Learning is all about equipping kids with ways and means for them to develop and hone their social, emotional and physical skills. Educational games help in this endeavor, encouraging kids to experience life from a completely different viewpoint. They will be prompted to conduct many tryouts with all that is happening around them. When kids team up with peers in playing educational games, they will learn to interact better by sharpening their social skills.
Team Building Mechanisms
If you as guardians and teachers wish to introduce a fun element to learning, and can allow kids to learn collectively as a team. Tagged as a cooperative learning strategy that can be employed in classrooms, playing educational games as a team helps students to not only assimilate information easily but also helps them to recapitulate what they learnt quickly. Playing as a team can be fun when kids begin to develop leadership qualities teamed with sharpening their communication skills.
A Field Trip – A Fun-Filled Quest That Helps Kids Appreciate And Learn From Nature
Connecting kids with the outside world can be encouraging and appealing to kids. And this can be achieved by engaging them with fun-filled field trips that will improve their curiosity level. An encounter with nature or a visit to a science exhibition or museum can make learning appealing to kids. Not only will they be excited to look around the exhibits and make notes, they can also learn with an excitement that comes when they begin to see the various forms of their subjects as life-like objects.
Educational Games Offer Creative Brain Breaks
All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. In line with this commonly used adage, if parents and teachers incorporate educational games into the learning curriculum, they can make the most of the enjoyable breaks that these games offer. It can be as simple as enacting a skit that is part of their English chapter. This can provide dual benefits to students. While they learn about the characters in the drama through enacting, students will also enjoy a brain break that shuns away the monotony of constantly listening to lectures delivered by English teachers.
Use of Technology-Based Educational Strategies
Technology opens up a number of avenues for kids to learn; the fun way. A host of classroom apps are now in vogue which can be used to increase student engagement and learning. Teachers can bank on teaching equipment like tabletop computers and overhead projectors to help kids develop interest about various subjects. Rekindling the interest in studies sets the stage for holistic learning when kids will use technology as a creative means to enhance their innate and acquired skills.
Now is the age of wearables in learning. Gadgets like headsets showcasing the abilities of Augmented Reality(AR) and Virtual Reality (VR) along with smart watches can become creative instruments for learning the novel way. These are all a part of the e-learning revolution that have taken the sphere of education by storm, altering and improving the way kids look at learning and living.
The Concept of Fun Learning Centers
Schools which go the extra mile in setting up fun learning centers will provide the much-needed social interaction to students of different ages. Along with providing them with umpteen opportunities to hone their innate and acquired skills, a fun learning center calls for grouping of students into small gatherings.
Conspicuous of the directions given by teachers, a fun learning center can become an attractive activity-area outside a classroom. Such activities are very important for kids who will begin to adhere to the rules of the activity along with developing their self-esteem. These two traits go a long way in shaping the kid into a responsible individual who is aware of both his strengths and weaknesses.
By now, you must have understood the relevance of fun educational games in learning. The above tips and measures can be easily incorporated in schools which are driven by a goal to make education relevant and interesting to kids. Alongside promising all the benefits of cooperative learning, these fun-filled educational games and activities grab the attention of students to help them concentrate better on their academic curriculum. Along with a progress in academics, these exciting classroom and outdoor activities finally make learning fun and engaging for kids of different ages and IQ levels.
Student engagement and understanding of materials is given more emphasis in today’s education over spoon feeding the facts.
Therefore, using black-boards or the typical lecture methods are not adequate to teach science and other related subjects.
Many scholars and researchers have proposed advanced ideas and they claim that virtual teaching scenarios or simulations can help to build a better understanding of subjects amongst students.
More than just conveying facts or findings in science, students will love to explore the world of science. These innovative teaching methods in science can substitute the typical teaching techniques to achieve the goal.
1. Hands on Learning:
This is the best teaching method invented so far that involves the active participation of students to experience scientific concepts than to just have an audience view.
Schools are promoting the use of low cost apparatus in classrooms to helps students to have hands on learning experience. It can be a string telephone to teach about sound and communication, matchstick mecanno to teach 3D structures, notched pencil to teach rotation motion or anything similar.
2. Story Telling
Students love to hear stories and therefore, storytelling is one of the best ways to get their attention in class.
Teacher can explain the facts of biology or the laws of physics in the form of stories. This is a mental organizer as human brains can remember stories than just plain facts. Some teachers present the whole concept as a story while some others use a story to open and end the session.
3. Role Play
This innovative method is becoming an integral part of science education as students can intellectually and physically involve through activities while learning a new concept.
Activities can be organized in classroom sessions where a group of students can take the role of atoms or molecules to study a chemical reaction or they can represent a scientist group to demonstrate the particular scientist’s laws.
4. Sports Based Learning
This is an interesting approach to learn problem-solving in physics or a stepwise method to study complex chemical reactions.
A game of football or cricket helps them to learn about the percentage, average or probability which can find its use in physics problems. Sports are mostly played in teams which also promote the importance of teamwork that helps them to synchronize better in group projects.
5. Visual clues
Using visual clues easily supplements auditory information and students can easily connect better with ideas.
The multi-sensory experiences improve their understanding and memorization. This includes drawings, diagrams, and pictures to assist theory and setting up examples to show its application side.
The sequence of lab procedures can be better taught using pictures with words approach.
6. Instructional Conversations
Building instructional conversations is a key method to teach science vocabulary. Let them talk in between the lectures about the experience they had with an application related to the topic of discussion.
This promotes their dialogue construction in science as they communicate using scientific and technical terms. Make this a classroom strategy to help students to easily learn science vocabulary.
7. Science Text Cards
This is an innovative teaching method to convey the science facts in an easy and organized way. In this activity, statements related to science concepts are written on index cards.
Students can work individually, pairs or in groups to sort the cards based on the given format. The formats include true/false,agree/disagree, matching pairs, classification, sequencing and more.
8. Word Games
This is a creative strategy to help elementary students to experience the language of science. Hangman, Pictionary, Dingbats, Bingo, Scrabble, Odd One Out, Charades, Trivial Pursuit etc. are the common games.
Playing these games using scientific terms helps the students to work closely with different hard to understand words and use them fluently in their subject.
9. Graphic Organizers
This teaching approach is helpful for students to interact with science in a more organized and structured way. Teachers can use different types of templates to represent the data according to the topic that is being handled.
A typical format for graphic organizer contains a central point from which different branches are formed and there may be sub-branches in certain cases. Arrows are used to point the direction or sequence of a process.
10. Word Parts
This teaching strategy is followed by teachers to educate the basics of science to elementary students. While introducing new scientific terms, they can reinforce the structure of words.
Students are asked to identify and understand prefix, suffix, and base word, and to relate their meanings. For example, metamorphosis — meta (large), morph (change), osis (process); photosynthesis — photo (light), synth (make), isis (process).
11. Social media
The different social media platforms can be used wisely to teach science to make the science classrooms more interesting and engaging. For instance, students can be asked to follow scientists in Twitter and share his/her new thoughts and findings in class or to use Feedly for improving the content of their research projects.
Students can also use Vine to document and to share science videos, Pinterest account for sharing images for research projects or writing prompts or WordPress class account for peer-to-peer learning.
12. Virtual science labs
There are many virtual science labs available online for free and therefore, this approach almost gives hands on experience of learning the subject without much expense.
Detailed diagrams, illustrations or close up pictures allow students to virtually get inside a plant or animal part without actually doing it. Dissections in biology can be studied thoughtfully with a virtual hands-on sensation without the problem of odour and similarly, experiment a chemical reaction without burns.
13. Word walls
Science word walls in classrooms can stimulate the interest of students in the subject and an opportunity for them to illustrate different concepts. In an advanced technique, a more in-depth understanding of different scientific terms can be made possible with pictures that accompany the words.
This is also an option to help them better understand words with multiple meanings. Teachers can design creative word walls or ask students to contribute to the idea weekly or monthly.
14. Thinking Maps
This is an ideal way to visually represent different thought processes which help to organize the science education with a better flow. There are different types of thinking maps available which can be chosen wisely to represent the particular topic.
This includes bridge maps to teach relation between ideas, brace maps to break larger objects into smaller parts, flow maps to show sequence of events, multi-flow maps to show effects or causes of an event, tree maps to classify objects or ideas and more.
15. Mini anchor charts
These interesting charts are a great idea to give a detailed overview or explanation of a science topic. Teachers use it to interactively teach areas such as scientific methods, types of energy, plant life cycle, states of matter, mixtures and solutions, force & motion and more.
To make the whole idea interesting, the teacher brings variations such as black and white charts, colored ones; fill in the blank models, and full-page anchor charts for large classrooms.
16. Crossover Learning
In this teaching method, students are given opportunity to learn in multiple settings such as inside the classroom, museums, field trips or clubs.
Teachers can use this method effectively by proposing a question in class, taking students to informal settings to find answers and then, going back to classrooms to discuss and share the findings. This way, learners can record, link, recall and share their diverse learning events to explore the topic and get a deeper level understanding.
17. Argue with Science
Learning through argumentation gives students a widened thinking to contrasting ideas which in turn deepen their understanding.
They can refine ideas with others and engage with open-ended questions, and re-state observations or remarks in a more scientific language. Teachers can also guide them in their approach and share the intellectual expertise with them.
18. Context-Based Learning
In this method, students are given the opportunity to create context and explore ideas from them. They interact with surroundings, hold conversations with subject experts, make relevant notes and attempt to modify the nearby objects.
The context can be understood in detail by exploring the world around. This gradually helps them to interpret new information from the context and relate to what they already know.
19. Computational thinking
This is an advanced technique to improve thinking and problem-solving skills. The method comprises decomposition i.e. breaking large problems into small units and pattern recognition-related problems to the ones which were already solved successfully in the past.
Computational thinking skills also cover algorithms-step by step approach to reach a solution; abstraction-neglecting unimportant details and debugging-refining these steps.
20. Remote labs
Learning by doing is an unparalleled approach to teach science and this is made a reality with remote labs. Students are given access to authentic scientific tools and opportunities to control remote lab experiments.
This would enhance their inquiry skills and conceptual understanding and also, the students can learn and explore with motivation.
21. Embodied Learning
In this approach, mind and body of the students work together to explore science. The physical feedback, as well as the resultant actions, will reinforce their learning process.
This idea is well supported by today’s technology such as visual systems that track movement or wearable sensors to collect physical and biological data.
22. Science museums
Give opportunity to students to visit a science museum as part of the learning process. This gives them access to innovative resources and they can visualize data they learned in class.
They can have a look at the real work of scientists which improves their urge to learn about it further. Regular visits to museums make learning science more engaging and interesting.
23. Projects
This can be an individual activity or group activity which helps students to showcase the application side of what they learnt through theory.
This method involves choosing the idea, building a plan, executing the plan and finally evaluating it. When students pass through these stages, they can improve their skills to express ideas, problem solving, overcoming the challenges, team work and self assessment.
24. Multimedia Approach
This method is a blend of text, audio, animation, video, still images or interactivity content forms to teach diverse difficult to understand concepts in science.
The educator can convey vast information using advanced media, devices and techniques, and involve a wide range of activities to provide a meaningful learning experience.
25. ICT Enabled Learning
ICT refers to the use of Information and Communications Technology to teach the scientific ideas that promotes open source learning.
In order to make the accessing, storing, transmitting, and manipulation of information more easy, this approach integrates telecommunications, computers and relevant enterprise software, storage, middleware, and audio-visual systems required to handle the topic.
26. Video clips
This teaching technique makes use of instructional video clips available online or in libraries to show and teach a new concept.
The evolution of a process can be conveyed better with animation videos. It can also be videos of demonstration of an idea or an application side of a theory or an interview with a scientist, tutorial by a subject expert and more.
27. Power Points
Instead of the conventional talk and chalk methods, teachers now include power point presentations in their classroom sessions to make it more interesting.
They connect the computers to projectors to address a larger classroom and include interesting slides with diagrams and flow charts to make the teaching more interactive.
28. Mini-labs
Mini-labs allow students to take part in hands-on activities inside the classrooms to illustrate a concept. This makes classroom sessions more fun, engaging and memorable.
Students can attempt to mock-up day/night with a globe and flashlight, build circuits, test for conductivity and magnetism, produce mixtures and solutions or model the formation of sedimentary rock and more.
29. Science Fair
Schools should conduct science fairs as part of their teaching strategy to promote students interest in the subject as well as to evaluate their level of understanding.
In this competition, students are given a time frame to answer a question or perform a task through a range of experiments and research. They showcase the output in the form of reports, display board, or as models.
30. Research books
The teacher can promote the use of research books in classrooms rather than just text books and lecture notes. Students are asked to do a research on whatever topic is covered in class by means of libraries, websites or by talking with experts.
This can include the extended information of their syllabus and their findings with diagrams and charts to emphasize it. They can share their research books with classmates too.
31. Documented Problem Solving
In this method, the teacher insists students record their thought process when solving a problem. They are asked to explain their reasoning for reaching the particular solution rather than simply presenting a solution.
This kind of documented problem solving helps them to have a deeper understanding of their process and gives an option for self-analysis.
32. Science kit
This is one of the innovative methods of teaching scienceto kids and adults alike. Let it be physical science, life science, or earth science, teachers are now making use of science kits to help students have an engaging educational experience.
They can conduct small experiments with guided instructions to identify rock specimens, to watch out for insect metamorphosis or demonstrate chemistry reactions.
33. Science stations
This is a fun, quick and engaging way to teach science that promotes student-led learning. Science stations support differentiated learning that lets students immerse themselves in topics, experience science to the fullest and then reflect back on their learning.
There will be multiple stations built with different learning styles and students can research, explore, watch, read, write, assess and illustrate the science concepts.
34. Observation stations
More than just the textbook assignments that have limitations in exploring the topic, these advanced observation stations help students to build up their research, observation, and creativity.
This includes activities that help them to have an understanding of a specific concept using 5 to 6 stations with varied options. The activities include determining mass using a triple beam balance or testing objects to find out their electrical conductivity and magnetism and a lot more.
35. Peer-to-Peer Teaching
Students take the role of teaching each other that promotes excitement learning science. In Peer-to-Peer Teachingapproach, they are really engaged in the content by discussing scientific topics, generating questions and working in teams to explore new information.
Some of the activities involved in this approach include buzz groups, solution groups, and critic groups.
36. Science movies
Teachers take initiatives to take them for science movies in theatres or in school halls that clearly showcase the application side of scientific concepts.
More than just entertaining them, many science movies captivate their attention and illustrate diverse science concepts in the real world. Science and nature-focused documentaries is one of the best ways to introduce science to kids than spoon feeding them with text book content.
37. Science games for kids
Kids always love to play and that is why smart teachers introduce science to them with interesting games. They can learn more about science and technology with fun.
A wide range of games are available online that showcase the concepts of animals, plants, space, forces, light, sounds, magnets, electricity, weather and gases. There are games with multiple levels and passing each level teaches a new concept and illustrates scientific experiments.
38. Science songs
This is another creative teaching method to help kids to learn about the science world with fun. Teachers can make use of the interesting science songs available online or create one to introduce the basics of astronomy, biology, botany, physical science and earth science with fun.
Science Is Real, Meet the Elements, The Star Song and Motion Song are a few among the popular science songs available online.
39. Science Exhibition
Encourage your students to take part in science exhibitions as part of school level or inter-school level competitions. This is a great opportunity to bring out their creativity in science and design an application based on a scientific concept.
Develop this inquisitiveness and creative mindset in students right from the elementary classes to help them to grow up as science enthusiasts.
40. Mobile apps for Science
A number of mobile apps are available online for elementary, middle school and high school students as well as for those undergoing advanced studies. Today’s kids are tech savvies and they love to learn science using their gadgets.
The advanced mobile apps built with innovative features in fact turn students into scientists. This lets them hold science in their hands and explore it with just a few taps. The popular apps in the category include Human Body, Cozmic Zoom, Earth Primer, Video Science, Science360, NASA GLOBE Observer and a lot more.
41. Field trips
In the middle of boring classroom sessions, take your students out for field trips to experience science while learning. Go to an aquarium, a nature center, a scientist’s home or visit a pet store.
You can also spend some time with the students in the bird park or simply go on a nature walk to experience the science around while learning new concepts.
42. Science clubs
Set up science clubs in your schools or community, which is an ideal approach to STEM education that assimilates high quality hands-on instruction.
This is the right place for science enthusiasts to share and discuss new happenings in the science world and to connect innovative ideas to what they actually learned.
43. Reward discovery
Right from the elementary classes, teachers should support, guide and inspire students to discover the wonders of science.
With an inquisitive mindset, there are a lot to discover from the science world we are living in. Also, reward them for the small discoveries they make and let them share and present it in class.
44. Interactive science journals
This is an advanced version of lecture notes in which students express the information they learnt into different templates and elicit their own responses.
Students can use this technique effectively to have a deeper connection to their learning and this activity promotes their higher level thinking. They can be creative with their notebooks using pictures, charts and comments, thus, building an encompassing resource for future reference.
45. Science at home
Like scientists say, science starts from home. Encourage your students to discover science at home from elementary classes itself. Ask them to find out a specific science concept application at home as assignments and let them discover science on the go.
There are fun science activities at home that involve parents and kids such as measuring Earth’s circumference with a shadow, creating under water fireworks with chemistry, building a balloon powered toy car and a lot more.
46. Flipped Classroom
In this innovative teaching technique, students are asked to go through video instructions or tutorials in the initial stage, i.e. digital learning.
The second stage will be in classrooms where they involve in challenging tasks and assignments based on the information gathered through video assets. This flipped learning frees up class time for activities such as hands-on labs, guided practice or online simulations.
47. Guided Discovery Problems
Understanding science is more than just knowing some facts and the guided discovery problems method makes it possible. This technique can be integrated into the lecture, lab and field courses.
It refers to understanding science step-by-step through the discovery process and involves the collection and processing of data, debugging and explaining it through intriguing puzzles, structured hands-on activities and right presentation of information.
The conceptually difficult or counter-intuitive topics are better handled with this approach.
48. Fishbone
This is a visual tool for organizing critical thinking which is a good approach for problem solving in science. The fishbone diagram helps to teach students about the root causes leading to a problem and quantifying the relationship between the effect and cause. This is more effective when teaching a group. In this diagram approach, the head of the fish represents the change, the ribs show the reason and riblets have the supportive evidence.
49. Science Quiz
Include a quiz as a part of your classroom sessions when teaching science. This can be done as a whole class activity by splitting the group into 4 or more sets. The questions can include the application of the theory taught in class. Students can discuss and share ideas to find the solution within the stipulated time frame. This teaching approach helps students to think from different angles and sometimes, to think out of the box.
50. Build your model
This can be a challenging task given to students as part of science education. Models are the building blocks of science which are used to explain the diverse aspects of real world.
Ask your students to build their own model using the scientific knowledge they have acquired and you can provide supportive guidance.
Students will be creative in making models and designing their own imaginative means of testing them. This is the right approach to find the scientist in them.
The new era teachers and science enthusiasts have come up with many innovative teaching methods in science and the listed ones are just a few among them.
We live in a scientific world and the advanced teaching strategies are helping students to discover and explore science every day.
Other than the listed methods, teachers looking for advanced techniques can also try group discussion, case studies, laboratory experiments, seminar, outdoor teaching, creative illustrations, crafts, dramatization, and interactive lecture demonstrations to help students to experience the beauty of science.
A popular educational culture attracting students and teachers alike is edutainment. Educational material presented in the form of educational toys, online games, mobile applications and e-books come in as interesting tools paving way for a modern pattern of learning. Making use of digital content as the attractive learning tool, here are a dozen ways in which education and entertainment in combination amaze students.
Engages Kids While Learning
The most common complaint parents and teachers have about their wards is the lack of concentration during class or study hours. Keeping the attention of kids is indeed a challenge for guardians. As a perfect solution to this common issue, edutainment content will help students to assimilate loads of information along with keeping them attentive in class. So if you are dealing with a restless kid, a perfect solution is to get him hooked to learning the fun way through images that will catch his attention.
Digital Curriculum – An Interesting Way to Complete Home Assignments
Another amazing way in which edutainment content encourages learning is when you watch interesting videos or an episode of edutainment curriculum every week. Such videos which illustrate the bookish knowledge help you complete your homework which most of the times seems like a herculean task.
While you are engrossed in watching educative and interactive films, you will be prompted to finish your assignments with the information that is shared through such films. A change in perception takes place when you begin to consider homework as an exciting way to learn. Homework will no longer be a dull exercise but an exciting means to complete additional readings by simply watching video presentations.
Paves Way for Story Telling
Notwithstanding the fact that students spend a great deal of time online watching entertaining videos and online shows, edutainment content does them a favor. Students who acclimatize themselves with the format of online learning through informative films that sharpens their creativity. Each frame of a video narrates a different story and it is through such videos that kids can stand in good stead with their imaginative and story telling skills over their peers.
Intellectual Stimulation – An “Out of the Box” Pattern of Learning
A picture is worth a thousand words! In line with this famous maxim, if you as a student are introduced to the culture of edutainment, you will gain insights about the topic of study through mind-stimulating activities. Experiencing a rush of thoughts and imaginative ideas while you are concentrating on the informative videos that are being played, it is through these videos that you begin to think “out of the box”. Edutainment, in more ways than one helps you fuel your natural curiosity, thus allowing you to look at multiple options to perceive a situation.
Promotes Innovative Problem-Solving Abilities
Through edutainment content, students will be prompted to put their creative skills to the ultimate test. Imagine you as a student who are constantly allowed to learn through educative e-books or videos. You will develop a strong inkling towards learning through images which allows you to look at scenarios from different angles. You will stretch your imaginative skills to such an extent that you will come up with innovative ways to solve a particular problem. In this way, you will register progress with your learning curve that comes in the form of creative problem-solving abilities.
On-the-Go Learning
All thanks to the use of online videos, students who follow the edutainment pattern of learning can make the most of learning on the go. You can watch these videos anywhere, at your own pace and at any time convenient to you.
Imagine taking your kid to the supermarket. While you are busy shopping for groceries, your kid will be immersed in the sea of knowledge that is presented in the form of online videos and educational shows. This way, you will be happy that your kid is assimilating knowledge about a topic of his interest and putting his free time to the best possible use.
Flipped Classroom – Another Interesting Benefit of Edutainment
If you are treading the path of edutainment, then you can make the most of the “flipped classroom” concept. As part of this innovative instructional strategy, you will be assigned short educational videos that should be watched while you are at home. This is your homework which allows you to lay hands on all the information that is necessary to master a topic. While in class, you can engage in long-drawn discussions about the topic with the guidance from your tutor.
Coordination Between Sense Organs
As practitioners of edutainment, you will be learning via online educational content; through your eyes and ears. Employing your innate visual and auditory senses, you can influence your learning curve better when you begin to register a synchronization between your audio-visual (AV) abilities. Tag this with the involvement of the mind power and you will pave the way for an alert mind that makes the most of your AV senses.
Experience The Benefits of Hands-On Learning
All thanks to edutainment, you will be able to experience the benefits of hands-on learning. In contrast to learning from books and listening to lecturers within the four walls of a classroom, edutainment calls for your active participation. You will assimilate knowledge by visualizing real-world issues and problems. Hence, the hands-on training experience that is offered by edutainment lays a strong foundation of fundamentals about the topic of discussion; helping you to instantly recollect what you have learnt.
The Fun Element to Learning Demands a Special Mention
It is common knowledge that children develop skills only when they begin to love what they do. Gone are the days when learning was confined to printed books and boring classroom lectures. Now is the age of edutainment which brings in a fun element to learning. As a practitioner of edutainment, you are lucky to enjoy every moment of gaining wisdom. Allowing you to access education through various modes including television, radio and films, the fun element in edutainment supports the idea of interactive learning and makes education a happy and fulfilling purpose.
Sharpen a Host of Positive Attributes With These Edutainment Tools
Chaos is a part of our everyday life. And when you are introduced to this disorderliness that comes in the form of jigsaw puzzles, you will be putting your patience and perseverance to the ultimate test. Such puzzles will help you unveil the meaningful picture only after going through a series of trial-and-error methods.
Legos are construction toys that will sharpen your creativity while helping you develop motor skills, a keen sense of reason coupled with problem-solving abilities. A game of chess is a good way to foster mental agility while you are introduced to different alternatives that will either help you score more or lose.
Promises The Best of Both the Worlds
All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy! So true to this adage, if learning and playing are laid side by side, no student will look at education as a boring and tedious mode of assimilating knowledge. Undoubtedly, education and entertainment are two different paths, but they are not the ones that do not intersect. They are not parallel roads but can overlap. And when they do overlap, the result is there for everyone to watch and enjoy. You can enjoy the best of both the worlds through edutainment which promises profound learning through rich and fun-filled experiences.
Wrapping It Up
In view of all the amazing ways in which edutainment favors the knowledge-seeking fraternity, the onus is on the educational bigwigs to promote the use of online content, educational games and mobile applications as novel modes of creative learning. In this manner, you as a decision maker in the field of education can make a huge difference in the lives of students. You will be the benefactor of bringing in a fun element to learning which helps them master their subjects through creative means.
All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy! This commonly used maxim is so true when it concerns education which demands the constant attention and dedication of knowledge-seekers. However, there will come a time when you find education slowly transforming into a dull form. This brings into focus the need for a fun element to learn when you wish to motivate yourself to learn something new or to hone a skill that you possess as a gift.
If you are looking to make the process of self-development through education even more exciting, here are the numerous ways in which entertainment and short breaks from study routines can become blessings to students.
Fun-Filled Activities Motivate Students to Learn Better
If you wish to welcome every morning as an exciting day to learn new things, you should be motivated to get up and step into your classroom with a curiosity about what lies ahead of you. This curiosity can be enhanced only through fun activities that helped you relax your brain. A teacher who finds a distracted student should take this data point and change the material or mode of teaching. Aiming to enliven a classroom session, he/she can adopt a change in style or approach and conduct sessions beyond the four walls of a classroom.
Helps Develop Healthy Competition Amongst Students
When entertainment and education go hand in hand, students benefit a great deal. Engaging students in fun activities during study time not only introduces them to social interactions amongst peers but also paves the way for the development of healthy competition. Grouping classes into teams that will be instructed to play certain games will help kids to bring in competition to learning. When they begin to concentrate on playing the game better, they are also learning to accept defeat as well as appreciate victory in a healthy manner. Acclimatizing students to a friendly classroom and outdoor atmosphere fosters inter-personal ties while engaging them with games and classroom sessions.
Keeps the Excitement Alive
Imagine an English lecturer conducting a class on grammar and vocabulary. While some students may find the lecture interesting, there can be others who are disinterested with the conventional pattern of teaching and learning. As an aid to such students, a teacher can infuse a sense of excitement to her grammar class by asking his/her students to role-play an English drama with dialogues assigned to every student. The classroom turns into a stage allowing all the actors to hone their linguistic skills; the fun way! This entertaining skit can unleash the hidden talents of students alongside paving the way for a fun-filled method to master the nuances of the English language.
Small Rewards Go A Long Way In Encouraging Students
Who does not crave for recognition and attention? Students also look for words of appreciation coming from their peers and teachers. These words of praise work as an encouragement to students, validating their strengths and abilities. If you are a teacher looking to encourage your class, you can announce small rewards for academic excellence.
Set your students a target; say an 80% class aggregate in a test which will get them to enjoy a movie with their classmates. You can also treat them with pizzas alongside pasting a funny sticker on the answer script of a student who performed well in his exam paper. These small yet creative moves will spin the entire class into the laughter mode with giggles and the event can be cherished by the entire class, eventually making learning a fun-filled activity.
Guest Lectures – A Creative Means to Break the Monotony of a Class
Notwithstanding the fact that a lecture is an educative session that calls for the attention and interaction of students, teachers can bring in the fun element to teach through outsiders. You can substitute your presence with a guest lecturer who is not only a subject matter expert in his/her chosen field but also an engaging orator. The guest lecturer who will narrate his/her personal experiences will bring in freshness to your class through an evident change in the style of coaching. This way, you as a teacher can break the monotony of your classroom sessions, encouraging your class to experience varied things.
Use of Visual Media in Teaching – A Sure-Shot Strategy to Fun-Filled Learning
There can never be a dull moment in school provided teachers employ fun-filled learning strategies. One such move would be to play a YouTube video to the entire class which revolves around the subject that is being discussed as part of the curriculum. The introduction of audio-visual aids to learning not only makes teaching effective but also encourages students to concentrate better, thereby prompting them to come up with different ideas and opinions during classroom discussions about the video presentation. The use of interactive technologies can capture the attention of your entire class that will thank you for your innovative attempts to transform learning into an interesting regime.
The Internet And Mobile Technologies Are The Entertaining Carriers of Education
Students of today need not exclusively rely on their teachers in their pursuit of gaining knowledge. All thanks to technology, now is the age of the internet and mobile technologies which add the much-needed fun element to learning. You can now browse about any topic under the sun at your convenience and be at the receiving end of an ocean of knowledge presented in the form of informative articles on the net. Your pocket-sized smartphone can become your tutor. This way, the use of technology in learning and teaching can help students get the best of both the worlds; the entertaining world that teaches them a whole lot of things in a jiffy.
Fun-Learning Boosts the Release of “Feel-Good” Hormones
You will agree with the fact that education is all about dedication and repetition. At some point in time, learning can get monotonous and dull if it is not blended with entertainment. A joke cracked in class will serve as a catalyst for students to engage themselves with the topic that is being discussed. Reducing the tension of learning by consuming all your mental abilities, it is through entertaining events in classes that students can be at ease with themselves. When they are comfortable and peaceful in the class, they will enjoy the benefits of positive hormones that will be released into their bodies along with a rush of oxygen.
Be it endorphins or dopamine, both these have a positive influence on the minds of students. All set to improve their mind power, students will begin to look forward to the fun-filled activities that make their classroom sessions interesting and creative.
Education Can Be Made More Effective
The brain of a student is constantly juggling with multiple concepts and ideas. Just as you put your body to sleep for all the muscles to relax, your brain too needs periods of relaxation for it to function effectively. It is only when you relax your brain that you will be able to concentrate better with the task at hand. In this context, students who are exposed to entertaining and brain-relaxing activities during their school hours can make the most of what is taught in class. You as a student after a relaxing session will lose track of the learning time and will put your heart and soul into what is being taught and give it your best.
Memory Retention – Another Promising Benefit of Fun-Learning
Teachers and guardians can bank on a host of educational toys and games that are crafted for their wards. Allowing them to discover, share and create incredible educational content, these fun-filled tools weave magic in the lives of students in more ways than one.
Students usually multi-task even when they are simply sitting in the class and listening to a lecture. While they are listening, they are also engaged in taking notes, simultaneously heeding the instructions given out by their faculty. It calls for a great deal of mind power to perform all these activities.
Fun-filled activities during school hours bring in a sense of novelty which is not enjoyed by students but also helps in improving their memory power. After a fun-filled activity, the minds of students are activated to such an extent that they will be able to enhance their capabilities to recapitulate what was taught after the entertaining activity.
Conclusion
It is all about making education even more interesting for students to not only remember the course contents but also to relate every fun-filled event to a topic that was discussed in class. With that in mind, teachers and schools which give importance in providing fun-filled study-breaks will stand tall, attracting the attention of both parents and students to enroll. All for the sake of delivering holistic and quality education to students, it is only through fun-filled activities that assimilation of information is made simpler and interesting to students.
One of the key features of a successful student will be his thinking skills and he gets the basement for this quality from his classroom. Only a creative student can be a good thinker and that is why scholars round the globe are yelling for creative classrooms. There is only a minority of the kids who are born with creative mindsets and it is the good classroom experiences that develop creativity and thinking capability in the rest of the kids.
Those who are born creative might lose their talents if not encouraged in the right way. Schools or classrooms are the place where kids spend more than half of their life time and that is why it is the right place to foster different skills and talents in kids. Even when the curriculum lacks the right mix of creativity, schools are taking initiatives to promote classroom creativity with innovative teaching strategies.
Some may be wondering how classroom creativity can actually improve thinking capability in children. Here let us have a look at the widely accepted and followed classroom activities or strategies that foster creativity in kids that helps them to grow up with good thinking skills.
Open-ended projects: In normal project works, students would be given guidelines, set of topics to choose from and an evaluating technique. But this open-ended technique helps kids to be more creative with their ideas and bring up interesting works. The process and results of the project are related to how amazingly he/she can think about different concepts. Rather than sticking to tough guidelines, they can experience extreme excitement and would be glad to explore different ideas. This activity can very well enhance their thinking capability and feel amazed about their own skills.
Creative team building: Smart schools always include team building activities along with covering up curriculum to help kids excel in exams. Some dedicated time for such activities per week or fortnight can help kids to get to know each other and help others to follow their goals too. An interesting task can be given after separating them into teams and they can work on it together to bring out amazing results. The fun team building activity can not only help them to relax in between the tough study time but also gives them time for creative team work. This helps to improve their thinking process and come up with interesting thoughts as well as to accept others’ thinking process.
Student teachers: It is an innovative teaching strategy in which students take the teaching role. This is an interesting activity in which students would be given a topic to teach and will be given time to do their own research and thinking before presenting it. This would also improve their confidence level and oral communication skills and other students would be excited to learn the topic when taught by their peer. This is also an opportunity to experience the student way of thinking about a particular subject.
Brainstorming sessions: This is another classroom activity that can stimulate problem solving and intellectual thinking. Some puzzles or activities that challenge their brain give way for a lot of thinking and kids would be glad to showcase their excellence. Such activities that trigger their thinking would brush up their brain power and memory helping them to grow up smarter. Brainstorming web, fill up the blanks with some funny ideas or asking them to give a speech on a randomly given topic which are some of the interesting activities followed in such sessions.
Story telling/thinking: This is a good strategy that helps kids to go through an imaginative state of mind. When teachers tell a story, they would see the characters and scenario in their mind that is designed out of their thinking process. Try to include some interesting stories which can encourage curiosity in them that drives their thinking world. Another version of this activity is to let them come up with a story a day or let them write it up. In addition to notebooks, bring some crayons, clay or such materials in classrooms to stimulate their creativity and let them express their stories through some sequence of pictures. Promote reading in them right from the childhood as good readers become good speakers, thinkers and better human beings.
Open-ended questions: It is good to ask some open ended questions when they leave home for a weekend or vacation. Instead of just playing all around during their free time, they can spend some time to think about such questions and come out with interesting answers when they are back to school. And the questions can be a little tricky so that children can be more creative with their answers. This is a good strategy to promote some independent thinking in students rather than just following the daily lessons. This is also an activity by which teachers can encourage dissenting views.
Classroom debates: A good teacher always encourages discussions in class that would gear up their thinking process. Debate is the best form of classroom discussions performed so far as each student gets a chance to come up with their point of view or thinking about a particular topic. This helps them to think critically about the subject while respecting other’s views. Students who make the best use of it grow up as good communicators. Rather than a competitive atmosphere, a collaborative environment should be promoted where kids support peer learning.
Unconventional learning materials: Students would usually get bored when going through the routine class time. Instead, they would be glad to bring in some creativity in class so that they can think out of the normal. Teachers should take initiatives to bring in some unconventional learning materials once in a while. This can be a TED talk show or podcast of some well read speakers that can really impress or inspire the way children think about a topic. With the influence of digital era, smart devices are becoming an integral part of classrooms. Smart boards, interactive video sessions as well as education apps are triggering their creativity and enthusiasm.
Imaginative thinking activities: The borderline between imagination and reality is negligible when it comes to kids. That is why some imaginative activities such as puppet show are found effective to teach kids. This would gear up their imaginative thinking capability and they understand the concept with a creation of images in their mind. There are also some games that trigger imagination, decision making and problem solving skills in kids. This classroom activity can be interactive with some imaginative indoor scenarios. Another way by which teachers stimulate thinking is by giving them chance to build up a new game that carries some new concept. Foreign language learning sessions with interactive activities is another creativity boosting activity that brings lot of fun.
Work out passions: There should be a dedicated hour or period at least once per week for kids to work out their passions. Give your students time to express themselves in the way they prefer whether it is singing, dancing, poems, painting, drawing, acting and what more. Students can best utilize the time to explore their creativity and passions. Sports sessions are also really effective to set a goal and work towards achieving it. Including arts along with curriculum is an interesting way to dig deeper into your thinking instincts. Rather than just considering it odd or unconventional, it is important to set aside some time for creativity.
A creative classroom is beneficial for both students and teachers and the overall learning phase would turn out more productive. Such a classroom set up would stimulate the kids’ mind and keeps them awake always for fresh and innovative ideas. It is important not to force them into some activity which they barely have any interest but choose activities that help them to follow their interests and passions.
Classroom is the best place to find the hidden talents in children and a good teacher should take initiatives to foster their creativity and artistic skills during their school days. Along with interesting activities, kids should also be given a quality resource of good books and visual materials.
Gaining the child’s interest and maintaining it is a bit challenging for any classroom and such appealing materials and activities might do the trick. Also there are lots of education apps that trigger creativity and thinking in kids which keeps them educated and entertained.
Moving away from the conventional pattern of teaching and learning, the present age is witnessing a paradigm shift in the way teachers are teaching and students are assimilating information. This change in educational patterns is all set to open up newer avenues for the teaching and learning groups, paving way for a modern school of thought. If you are curious to know about the futuristic trends in education that will shape the lives of the global student fraternity, here are the driving forces that you should watch out for.
Practical Learning Strategies
Learning by rote is a thing of the past. Now is the age when students are prompted to demonstrate their learnings by following a practical approach. Laying the foundation for personalized learning strategies, the future presents umpteen opportunities to unleash the creative skills of students. It is only when students show what they learnt that they will better understand the concepts of the topic, before they step into learning the next topic as an extension to the earlier one. This strategy of practically demonstrating their knowledge can help students master their subjects.
Focus on Students’ Choice and Preferences
The future of education is all about strengthening and incorporating student-centric learning. In this endeavor, the onus is on teachers to adopt personalized learning and teaching patterns. Flexibility in learning is the keyword that governs the forthcoming tendency of imparting quality education to students. Given the fact that every student is unique with a different set of choices and strengths, it is through flexible learning patterns that students will benefit a great deal in future.
Collaboration – The Powerful Tool of Sharing and Connecting With Others
All thanks to umpteen technological innovations, education is witnessing a sea change. Learning and teaching are no longer restricted to the use of textbooks and blackboards. Education has surpassed the geographical boundaries coming in the form of online training courses that can help students to enroll and complete them from any part of the globe. A host of open-source educative sites are now available to students to educate them about any topic under the sun. They can simply browse the topic that interests them the most and exchange information through social media circles.
Active participation in the online social world will set the stage for a collaborative form of learning when students of one school or country can effortlessly reach out to their peers located in other regions; whenever they want. Hence, working together paves way for better communication between students alongside improving their competencies and skills for the world to acknowledge and appreciate.
Edutainment – The Novel Concept of Blending Entertainment With Learning
An amalgamation of education and entertainment is opening the doors to think ahead. It can mean the use of technology to concentrate on online videos or slide shows. Grabbing the attention of students, the latest technological innovations in the sphere of Augmented Reality (AR) have already replaced the pens and chalk pieces needed to learn and teach.
Relying on media as an instrument to impart education has its own benefits, brightening the future of students by honing their creative skills. While providing them with a platform to express themselves better, media learning helps students to stay in constant touch with global educative events that are happening at different venues across the globe. Educative podcasts, videos and recorded audio-video lessons are the latest educational trends that will promise a beautiful makeover to the traditional classroom-type of teaching and learning.
The Emergence of A Holistic Change
It should be kept in mind that the relationship between students and teachers is constantly changing and evolving with the passage of every single day. Gone are the days when teachers were tagged as the only source of learning. Now is the age when students are able to educate teachers through classroom discussions and presentations. While teachers are looking for other means to educate students, online learning comes as a handy tool to excite the participation of introvert students.
As a class enjoys the luxury of learning from different approaches, knowledge-seekers can make the most of such teaching methods. Permitting students to get introduced to global educative patterns, exchange of facts becomes a breeze when teachers assign interactive quizzes as class and home assignments along with the novel flipped classroom sessions.
Skill-Based Education Paves Way for Trained Professionals
Education is all about preparing students towards employment. While bookish knowledge helps them understand the topic, it is only when they apply that knowledge to a specific trade that they will shine in their jobs. Skill-based training, also called as vocational training not only enhances employability but also drives the competencies in students to try their hand in various disciplines.
Skill-based training through its modular pattern can be introduced at the secondary and higher secondary stages. Once this is done, our economy will witness a boost coming in the form of competitive professionals who are equipped with on-the-job-training. This skill-centric education allows students to stay in good stead with the advancements in their chosen field of work. Tagged as an essential pillar of education, skill-based training is one of the ways to bridge the gap between the demand and supply of trained professionals; a scenario that is rampant in many countries.
Learning On the Go is Fun
This is the generation of smartphones which are not only omnipresent but also omnipotent. Capable of simplifying our lives in a number of ways, students will be empowered to learn anywhere and anytime that is convenient to them through their internet-connected smartphones. Offering them the best learning experiences, mobile learning can further narrow the boundaries of learning.
Appreciating The Competencies of Students
Feedback is another tool that will see the light of the day in imparting holistic education. Positive feedback coming in the form of awards and credits will encourage students to perform better and develop a keen sense of healthy competition amongst peer groups. Departing from the traditional A to F grading of students, it is through academic credits that teachers and schools can handhold students of varying IQ levels to demonstrate their innate strengths. This mind shift of compartmentalizing students to grades will develop the positive mindset that will work in favor of the learning communities.
Internships – Another Promising Tool For Career Readiness
Students will be better prepared to identify and grab job opportunities provided they are exposed to real world experiences. Since the underlying purpose of education is to make a mark for yourself in your chosen field of work, internships offer a close-up to the corporate environment or job culture.
Internships are promising since they extend their classroom learnings to familiarize themselves with the workplace environment. While helping students gain technical knowledge about the working of organizations, in-house training workshops can hone their social skills. It is when students begin to actively participate in campus organizations that they will land up in better organizations which ultimately result in satisfying and lucrative careers. Thus, internships are important to provide the much-needed “hire experience” that translates into a permanent job with a handsome salary.
Adaptive Learning Platforms Will Gain Prominence
Teachers are now being trained to bring in an adaptive learning curriculum which is in the best interest of the learning fraternity. It is through such innovative platforms that teachers can improve student engagement when they begin to impart education using adaptive courseware. It is a personalized learning which helps students work on instant feedback given out by their faculty.
Coming in the form of formative assessments, students will be differentiated based on their innate strengths and capabilities. Creating enough room for improvement, appropriate learning tools can be recommended so that the nascent talents of students are unveiled and brought to the fore. This competency-based educational pattern will thus lay the foundation of a curriculum that will keep in mind the fundamental interests and individual needs of students.
Closing Notes
Transitioning from the traditional to the modern style of imparting education did take a long time. And now that this change is wide-spread, students across the globe will be at the receiving end of multiple benefits that will not only strengthen their knowledge-base but will also pave way for lucrative and high-paying careers they are dreaming of.
Sharing of knowledge is the basic purpose of education but it matters more when you are teaching kids. The right form of education in the early stages is vital for them to set a basement to their moral principles, social behaviour, and mental well being. Kid’s education should be planned in such a way to mould their aesthetic senses and way of conduct and help them grow up as good citizens.
However, nowadays people are forgetting the real purpose of education and it is being more careers centric. Children are studying with an aim to build up a bright career and their goals are limiting to just clearing exams to pass to the next level. That is where the strategy of edutainment becomes very important and it acts as a mind opener for kids to really understand the purpose of education and get the many benefits that come its way.
Here let us have a look at how the edutainment can really impact on a kid’s learning phase and how he/she can grow up better.
Interactive learning: The routine class room learning is creating boredom in kids and this gradually creates unwanted pressure and negative tendencies towards learning. Edutainment makes it more interactive in the form of videos, games, storytelling and a lot more. Kids would have a love towards games and that is why this approach of learning with play works out for kids. This playful method in fact takes away the stress out of the fast paced lifestyle and lets them understand how interesting an education phase can be. The short sessions of engaging learning is not only captivating but also makes them feel excited about learning. Keeping them occupied for some time for learning can be a bit challenging and that is why this short period strategy gains their attention turned out productive.
More grasping power: This playful method boosts the grasping power in kids. The way they understand a subject or idea is really impressive when compared to the conventional teaching method. This is really evident when comparing the grasping powers of kids taught through edutainment and higher class students taught through lectures. The interactive learning sessions would help the kids to register the content for long term than just short term memorization for passing exams. If the kid can connect an idea or concept to what they experience in real life, then they need not adapt any additional methods to memorize it. This novel approach makes a game or video watching as part of homework or assignments that in turn helps them to understand the idea in a much proper way.
Knowing your subjects: In the conventional methods, kids just go through the textbooks or learning materials provided in school and memorize it to score well in exams. But with edutainment, kids get an opportunity to know more about their subjects and most importantly connect it with their real life. This approach can include anything from online cartoon shows, educational games or CDs, street plays, movies to even puppet shows. This kind of learning not only keeps them entertained but also teaches their subjects in a much deeper way.
Learning toys: There are many learning toys in the market which teacher brings to the classroom to let the kids to play and learn. For instance, Abacus is a widely accepted fun based approach to teach basic maths for kids. Similar is the case of ABC blocks that teaches alphabets, rainbow roller that teaches colours and counting balls that teaches counting. In fact, these toys teach them many concepts and ideas without actually giving them a feel that they are learning. Quality educational toys can give a tough competition to online games that are also designed to teach them different concepts. Recreation activities are equally important as playing and they can be trained to have basic learning in their favourite art forms such as singing or dancing and even sports such as cricket, football, tennis or badminton.
Enhanced creative thinking: Edutainment promotes creativity in kids through innovative games and interactive videos. This type of learning can in fact stimulate a thought process in the kid and they learn to think more about what is being taught. And this gradually develops a mindset in kids to try and learn something new in life always. This would not only help them to excel in their academics but also in other extracurricular activities. The right way of modelling and teaching in the kid’s level can help them grow up as good speakers and writers. Teachers include classroom games that promote problem solving skills, or one that challenges their brain or one that gives them a chance for team work and decision making.
Improved intellectual skills: Children are always fascinated to know how stuffs around them actually work. The edutainment makes use of this kid’s interest to teach them new things in life. Playing with interactive toys that improve their hand eye coordination and games that demand their thinking and reasoning skills are included right along with learning of the science around them. This in fact improves their intellectual skills which creates a base for advanced learning. Kids are good learners than adults and this is evident from the fact that they use the modern technology gadgets flawlessly. So it is good to use and develop their skills right from the initial days and give them more chances to showcase their excellence in novel ideas.
Digital learning: The concept of edutainment is not new but this approach prospered well with the influence of digital era. The wide use of technology has made the approach popular and widespread in no time. Teachers and parents are using many educational apps that make learning more interactive and fun. And kids are utilizing these apps to learn the basics of alphabets, numbers, colours and shapes in a playful manner. The portability of mobile gadgets makes learning possible despite where the kids are and this gives them an interesting outside the classroom learning experience.
Real life exposure: This method of learning also focuses on taking the kids out of the four walls of a classroom and giving them opportunity to get a real life exposure. Exploring their environment is the key to a kid’s education and that is why teachers not only keeps them occupied them with gadgets but also gives them a chance to interact with nature once in a while. Studying with nature makes them closer to nature and this helps them to learn by interacting with their surroundings. This can be puppet shows, picnics, outdoor plays, excursions or cultural programs which can make them entertained but at the same time teach the hidden meaning or purpose of education.
Positive outlook: Having a role model right from the initial phase of learning can help them to bring in positivity in their life. Teachers and parents can let them watch videos, play games or read books that have super heroes or characters who promote positivity. Kids would be greatly influenced by things around them and these types of activities can help them get inspired by such personalities. This is a prime source to enhance their moral values, role playing, team work and humanity. And most of these kid’s centric movies are framed in a way to attract children. That is why kids would love to watch movies such as spiderman, superman and Harry Potter series that have made a big bang in the movie industry.
As we all know, today’s kids are tomorrow’s citizens and that is why moulding them rightly from the initial days is important. Edutainment can not only be a mind opener but also an eye opener for them to be good and do well. Technology has really transformed the way edutainment strategy is influencing kids.
With the widespread popularity and usage of mobile gadgets, education apps and games are becoming the prime mode of letting kids learn with fun. In addition to using smart school software that helps students to have an amazing learning experience, schools are also taking initiatives to conduct interactive shows and even holiday camps to explore wide areas of learning with fun.
Juggling with numbers can seem a herculean task for many children. Irrespective of whether you are a beginner or a mathematical wizard, you can check out 15 brain teasers; all under one roof. Offering an assortment of puzzles with varying difficulty levels, these fun-filled math riddles surely ignite your numerical abilities and transform you into an ardent lover of math. These are ranked in the ascending order of their difficulty levels, featuring easy ones first followed by slightly tough and challenging ones.
Tricky Math Riddle – https://gpuzzles.com/mind-teasers/tricky-math-riddle/
All about fine-tuning your memory and grip with numbers, the Tricky Math Riddle teases your brain by posing a seemingly simple question. You need to come with the solution when you add 3 to 300, five times. Representing a difficulty level of 2/5, this riddle allows you to submit your answer alongside viewing the answers posted by other online friends and math enthusiasts.
Promoting the principle that math can be learnt the funny way, the Funny Maths Riddle comes with a 2/5 difficulty level. This link features a riddle which prompts you to calculate the volume of a circle, given the measurements such as thickness and radius.
A circle with thickness? Sounds strange! Can you think of a spherical object with thickness that is a favorite food for kids and elders alike? Yes! You are right! The subject of this riddle is the famous Italian delicacy; the pizza. So, with this riddle, you will learn the relationship between the thickness and radius in the computation of the volume of a spherical object.
Mathematical Equation Riddle
There is no dearth for fun-filled means to master the subject of numbers, figures and variables. Check out the above link which poses a brain teaser to all those who love to solve mathematical equations. Tagged with a 2/5 difficulty rating, this riddle gives you a mathematical expression that should result in a pre-defined figure. And the trick here is to fill the expression with befitting mathematical operators (+, -, * or /) which are expressed in the form of a “?”. Go on and enjoy the thrill of juggling with various mathematical operators to ultimately crack the riddle. This fun-filled riddle thus helps you learn mathematical functions in the simple yet creative way.
Car Meter Riddle – https://gpuzzles.com/mind-teasers/car-meter-riddle/
Now this is another mind teaser for all those who appreciate the novelty behind palindromes. Featuring a 2/5 difficulty grade, you have a car meter reading which shows 72927. Observe it and you know that it’s a palindrome. And now for the riddle. You need to come up with the minimum number of kilometers that a vehicle has to travel to display another palindrome on the milometer.
Maths Number Riddle – https://gpuzzles.com/mind-teasers/maths-number-riddle/
This brain teaser comes with a clue. And that is to insert two mathematical symbols between four 9s to make them equal to 100. Check out the link which categorizes this riddle under a 2/5 ranking. And once you crack this one, you can proudly display your mathematical expertise to the online fraternity.
Divide Into Two Parts Riddle – https://gpuzzles.com/mind-teasers/divide-into-two-parts-riddle/
With a 3 on 5 popularity rating, this riddle, so true to its name, allows you to divide 110 into two parts. However, there is a condition to this division. And that is: one part should be 150% of the other. Check out the above link and you can sharpen your brain to come up with the right answer. This riddle too comes with a 2/5 difficulty rating.
The above link features a mind teaser that teaches you the concepts of time, distance and speed. Two friends are driving down from two different cities at different times and speeds. You need to take into account their respective speeds and the times they started and come up with an answer which matches a condition as to who is closer to a particular city. This riddle too comes with a 2/5 difficulty rating.
Maths Logic Problem – https://gpuzzles.com/mind-teasers/maths-logic-problem/
A yet another mind teaser that comes with a 3/5 popularity rating and 2/5 difficulty rating teaches you math in the logical way. The riddle goes like this:
A large group goes to a party. All of them decide to play and have some fun at the bar counter. The first person goes to the counter and orders the barman for a ½ pint of beer. Now it is the turn of the second person who asks for a ¼ pint of beer. The third person now makes an appearance at the counter, asking for 1/8th pint of beer. The series continues in this manner.
Now for the riddle.
You need to come up with a solution which matches a condition. And the condition is:
How many pints of beer should the barman have so that he can satisfy the needs of the entire group?
Slightly difficult riddles with a 3/5 difficulty rating
If you are already rejoicing with the victory of solving all the above 2/5 rated riddles, then you are getting closer to solving slightly difficult riddles which are lined up for you. Try your hand at these which comes as a true test to your mathematical and logical thinking skills.
Check out the above link to find a tricky yet easy-to-solve riddle that will sharpen your fundamentals about the addition to positive whole numbers. Coming with a difficulty rating of 3/5, this riddle is all about identifying three positive whole numbers that result in the same answer when multiplied or added together. That means, the sum and product of these three positive whole numbers are the same.
Inquisitive to know what these numbers are? Then, you need to put in some effort and rack your brain to come up with a right solution. Allowing your mind to think deep, you can submit your answer for the rest of the online math-learning community to be in awe of your computation skills.
Prime Number Riddle – https://gpuzzles.com/mind-teasers/prime-number-riddle/
Students who are keen on learning the concept of prime numbers in the fun way can check out the above link. There lies a riddle that prompts you to come up with four consecutive prime numbers that when added lead to a sum of 220. Ranked with a difficulty level of 3/5, this link allows you to view the comments of fellow students and online friends who have already solved the riddle and have the answer for you.
Math or Science Problem – https://gpuzzles.com/mind-teasers/math-or-science-problem/
Check out this link and you will be thrilled to find a number of mind teasers that come with a variety of difficulty levels. Testing your IQ through a host of simple and difficult riddles, you can indulge in this edutainment activity that promises a perfect blend of excitement coupled with a widened knowledge about math concepts.
Number 8 Math Riddle – https://gpuzzles.com/mind-teasers/number-eight-math-riddle/
The riddle with a popularity and difficulty rating of 3/5 is all about how many times you will have to paint the number 8 by the time you finish painting 100 hostel rooms.
Common Exam Problem – https://gpuzzles.com/mind-teasers/common-exam-problem/
Under this heading, you will be given a series of additions with their respective answers. You should identify the common condition that satisfies all the additions. Once you have identified the commonality between all the equations, it becomes a breeze for you to solve the riddle that is mentioned down below the equations. You can submit your answer alongside view the solutions provided by other online math enthusiasts.
You will agree with the fact that Math is a tricky subject governed by simple rules. If you follow these rules, you will be able to solve riddles effortlessly. One such tricky yet simple-to-solve riddle can help you sharpen your knowledge about division and multiplication operations on a series of fractions. This riddle comes with a difficulty and popularity rating of 3/5.
A Series of Tough Math Riddles
Let us now move on to the toughest riddle link that enlists an array of brain teasers with a 4/5 difficulty rating. All of them naturally come with a 4/5 popularity rating, exciting the imaginative side of math learners to come up with the right solution.
As the name suggests, the link of Tough Maths Riddle presents many tough brain teasers that test your reasoning and logical capabilities. Try your hands at these for you to experience the excitement of putting your math knowledge to its best use.
All in an attempt to strengthen your knowledge about math and its expansive collection of concepts, working on all the above brain teasers and riddles will help you experience an impeccable grasp over the subject of numbers teamed with functions, figures and variables.
If you wish to handhold your kid to succeed in school and beyond, here are the modern learning skills that will become his/her boon for life. Leaning skills are often tagged under a common name called “4 Cs”. Creative Thinking, Critical Thinking, Collaboration and Communication. These are the 4 important Cs that will demand a push from you so that your child develops and improves the patterns of learning, assimilating and reproducing information in the manner he/she comprehends. All these Cs are a function of their short-term memory that enables them to learn. Hence if you encourage them to develop their short-term memory through creative activities, you are clearing their path to learn and understand better.
Here are 10 effective ways to improve kid’s learning skill:
The “Left Brain” Activity Is Linked to Critical Thinking
Critical thinking is all about the careful analysis of a topic of study to help you understand it better. In order to help kids learn and use the power of critical thinking, guardians should teach them to analyze a situation by breaking the entire scenario into smaller and understandable parts.
You can also encourage your kids to come up with logical arguments about what they think about a topic and link their thoughts to evidences. When kids start talking in this manner, they will be able to learn the topic better; in a logical way. This exercise ultimately paves the way for them to come up with a logical conclusion. Kids can also be prompted to group items under their respective heads and explaining the striking contrasts between the various classes.
Critical thinking is a learning tool to hone the problem-solving abilities in kids. When guardians push kids to come up with the causes and effects of a problem, kids will find means to eliminate the reasons for a problem.
Creative thinking is the ability that is gifted to us by our “right brain”. Guardians can help their wards to learn creative thinking through a number of dedicated activities. Brainstorming is one such practice that will involve your kids to come up with a number of feasible, impossible and unreasonable suggestions for a particular scenario.
Actions speak louder than words. In line with this famous maxim, guardians can encourage the learning skill in kids by allowing them to make items with their own hands. Give them materials to create the product and they will slowly learn different ways to produce a product.
A creative attitude in kids will blossom if parents and teachers encourage them to crack jokes, narrate stories and sing their favorite songs. Engaging them in a dialogue about any topic can also bring their creative traits to the fore, allowing them to learn through innovative ways. Encourage them to pose questions through which they will be able to get to know the facts that were unknown to them. Through the answers given out by them, kids will also arrive at new ways to find a solution to their problem.
Communication Skills – Another Stepping Stone to Learning Through Verbal and Written Expressions
Communication is all about expressing your thoughts and beliefs not only through words but also through gestures, body language and visual aids. It is the responsibility of the guardians to create a communicative environment at home or in school. When communication is encouraged, kids will learn the trick of attentive listening.
When you start communicating with them frequently, they will begin to listen to you with all their ears. They will learn to take notes while posing questions about unknown facts. You can also help kids to enjoy the act of reading, when they begin to decode the printed words or images that are in front of their eyes. All thanks to technology, kids can bank on mobile phones and apps that will serve as learning tools to either communicate through phone calls or email or engage themselves through app messages.
Collaboration – The Art of Working Together for a Common Goal
Another tried and tested means to improve your kid’s learning skills is to introduce them to group activities that come with a common objective. Through collaborations, you can teach your kid the benefits of working towards a goal. In their pursuit to reach their common objective, kids will learn to evaluate multiple options.
They will take in alternatives that bring them close to their joint aim and discard those that work against their victory. Such activities can bring out the leadership qualities that are still in the nascent stage of development. Group activities come as a boon to kids when they begin to unearth the benefits of effective management of time and material resources. Such acts also teach your kids to resolve conflicts between their team mates in an amicable manner alongside introducing them to the dynamics of teams.
Unlock the Power of Simulation
A picture is worth a thousand words. So true to this commonly used maxim, you as a parent will need to hone his visualization skills so that he/she can reproduce a subject in his own words. Now you might think that how to do it? You just have to encourage your child to imagine a picture of what he has just heard or read; in his mind’s eye. The next step is to prompt him/her to draw the picture that he imagined. Through repeated session, your child will be able to hone his/her visualization skills when he/she can orally describe the image without having to use a pen and paper to describe it.
Allow Your Kid to Become Your Teacher
Take for instance that your child is trying to play a new game. You as a guardian can prompt him/her to master the game by inspiring them. If you begin to demonstrate a keen interest in their game, he/she will start opening up with the tricks of the game. He/she will employ his descriptive and discretionary skills to inform you about the nuances of the game. You can ignite their imagination through questions that will help them come up with sensible descriptions and evaluations. This way, they will assimilate all the information which they need to excel at a game or the subject at hand.
The World of Knowledge in Black and White
You will agree with the fact that books are an ocean of knowledge. While technical and subject-oriented books come with volumes of information, books on self-improvement help your children learn about the ways to lead a successful and content life.
If you as a guardian encourage your wards to make reading as their favorite pastime activity, they will not only put their leisure time to the best use. They will also be at the receiving end of invaluable information that is presented in the form of printed books or digital sources. They will begin to learn the concept of self-help when they try to pick up a befitting text that provides solutions to all their queries.
The Power of Delivering Good Instructions
As parents and teachers dealing with young children, it is very important for you to teach them by clearly explaining what needs to be done and the manner in which a particular task should be performed. Guardians while instructing kids should keep in mind their tone of voice; a clear yet calm tone can do the trick.
Parents and teachers should also be careful about the words used in the instructions. It is best to use simple language teamed with short sentences that allow your child to relate him/her to the task at hand. Good instructions are all about helping your kid to learn a process through a step-by-step approach. These phased-out instructions will permit your kid to organize himself while aiming to complete a task at hand.
The Importance of Constructive Feedback
It is very common for kids to seek validations from elders. For every task they do, they expect parents and teachers to judge them, announcing their ability to fulfil the same. Constructive feedback can serve as a stepping stone to teach your kid the right way to address a problem. When you as a guardian are vocal about the correct approach your kid has initiated, this feedback encourages him/her to develop a sense of self-esteem. This learning helps them develop a personality that mirrors a blend of their self-confidence and self-respect.
The Inclusion of Memory Boosting Games
You can check out the internet for a host of interesting and memory boosting puzzles and games. Introducing your kids to such games will not only sharpen their concentration levels but also helps them understand the concept of working around multiple alternatives to arrive at a befitting solution. Kids will learn to incorporate all the conditions that the puzzle puts in front of them; eventually reaching the winning post with the correct answer.
All the above-mentioned strategies help your kids to hone their learning skills when they begin to better their reasoning power along with enhanced concentration levels. When these two attributes are sharpened, your kids will learn and unlearn various concepts by assimilating and processing information from multiple sources. When some or all of these learning strategies become a part of your child’s routine, they will help him/her thrive in a constantly changing and highly-competitive society.
“All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy”! So true to this adage, it is very important for kids to break their monotony so as to recharge their minds. Be it in school or while at home, the onus is on the guardians to involve them in activities so that kids can experience an agile mind. It is all about engaging kids with activities that are creative and informative at the same time. Basically aimed at involving them in fun-filled activities that they enjoy, below are some interesting activities that can work in the best interest of kids.
Play with Colors and Drawing Aids
Kids are innately attracted to the beautiful world of colors. Parents and teachers can introduce them to the world of hues by prompting them to churn out an art book which includes designs and pictures drawn with the little fingers and a highly-imaginative mind of kids. Allow them to play with drawing paper, pencils, stencils, oil pastels and rulers to create a beautiful piece of art mirroring their artistic skills and interests. Such a colorful activity can refresh their minds alongside developing their hand and eye coordination.
Unveil The Culinary Skills of Your Kid
If your child loves to churn out delicious recipes, why not provide a homely platform allowing him or her to live their dream? You as a parent can encourage your child to learn the art of preparing and garnishing food by following step-by-step procedures that are enlisted on various cookery sites, specially meant for kids. Who knows your child will turn out to be a famous chef, satiating the hunger pangs of food lovers across the globe? All for the sake of promoting the culinary interests of your kid, you as guardians should go the extra mile in providing him with resources so that he can fine-tune his innate interest to play with recipes.
It’s Story Time And You Can Encourage Your Kid to Turn the Leaves of Interesting Story Books
Another proven means to refresh the minds of kids is to read stories from fairy tale books. Post the narration, you can engage in a discussion with your kid prompting him to pick his favorite story. Using this story as the backdrop, you can rekindle his theatrical skills by enacting a scene through role play.
A Field Trip To Collect Rocks
Teachers and parents can plan out field trips with kids to help them experience the thrill of collecting various rocks. You can check out the Collecting Rocks website managed by the American Geological Survey. This informative site handholds kids to identify and label minerals and rocks that they have collected as a part of their interesting field trip.
Chalk Out a “Family Activity” Day
Kids love to interact with adults who understand their world. When guardians become a part of the kids’ world, it helps kids to establish a strong bonding with them, ultimately helping kids to feel loved and cared for. Such an attention does wonders to their psyche allowing them to relax their mind.
In an attempt to build friendly ties between you and your child, it is important that you sit with your child and plan out a family activity day. Let your kid be at the helm of affairs of planning this activity, asking him/her to come with suggestions regarding the place, food and the day’s plan. Capture the moments of this wonderful family activity day with a camera and encourage him/her to come with a collage of your family pictures.
Allow Kids To Have a Say In Revamping Their Living Spaces
Giving the much-needed attention to the discretion of kids, you as guardians can assist your kid in decorating his/her room. Allow him/her the freedom of expression to come up with decorating ideas that suit his/her needs. You can go full-on looking up websites which show up a host of ideas that will allow him to live his life the way he wants.
You can check out the various furniture options that are available and stock his room with closets and desks that will help him/her organize himself. This will make him/her more comfortable by creating their rooms in the way they want. It is when kids believe that their opinions are valued by their parents that they enjoy peace of mind that eventually makes them feel special.
Interesting Games Which Demand Attentiveness
Kids who love to play with numbers should surely try playing either a probability game, arranging jig-saw puzzles or a timed flashcard activity. You can browse the internet for a number of puzzles and games that hone the problem-solving abilities of kids. While you make your kid play a math game, you should also record his/her score so that they can check their progress. And upon a victory, you can celebrate it by giving him/her a special treat that he/she can cherish for life.
Innovative On-The-Job Activities
Allow your kid play with the potter’s wheel, dirty his/her hands with the soft clay and eventually take pride in the creation of beautiful earthen artefacts. This is an activity that sharpens his/her fine motor skills while relaxing their mind. Allowing kids to stretch their imagination, such an activity will prompt them to come up with ideas that manifest in the form of beautiful creations mirroring their intelligent handwork. When all eyes are fixed on molding a sculpture from clay, your kid’s mind is relaxing with the enjoyment of partaking in a fun-filled and constructive activity.
Learning History Made Easy
Given the fact that history is a tough subject to master, you as a parent can play an important role in simplifying this subject to your kids. You can plan a trip to a museum which is an interesting activity to relax your kid’s mind alongside teaching him the nuances of various cultures linked to bygone days. Such a visit to historical sites will also help your kid relate better to the information described in text books. Modern cities have the luxury of interactive museums which will prompt your kids to open their minds towards historical events that are part of the ancient civilization.
Let Your KidEnjoy The Beauty of Nature from the Comfort of His Living Room
If you want your kid to appreciate the beauty of nature as a part of mind-relaxing activity, you can check out the Web Ranger site. This is a national site that has loads of information linked to monuments, historical sites and national parks. Simply sign up with this site for your kid to relax in the lap of nature; the online way. The site shows up a number of online activities that should be completed by him/her to be recognized as the “Web Ranger”. This relaxing and interesting activity can come as a boon to your kid who can enjoy the refreshing environment of natural sceneries.
Conclusion
Monotony is a bane which leads to boredom in both kids and adults. If you want your kid to develop creative skills, you as guardians should go the entire nine yards and ensure that he/she engages in mind-relaxing activities that will rejuvenate his/her thinking capacity.
Encourage him/her to take breaks and participate in all his mind-relaxing activities. Only when the mind of your kid is relaxed, he/she will be able to keep a number of health problems at bay. After you have included some of these interesting activities as part of your kid’s daily routine, you can take pride in bringing up a child in a relaxed and stress-free environment.
