At every step of our children’s phase of learning, we want the very best for them. The efforts and the various methods parents indeed apply into not just their care, but also their education is entirely focussed on shaping them to be the kind of individuals that will survive and thrive in the outside world. To make sure of this, it becomes important for parents to be well aware of what will help their children both academically and personally. While this may differ from age to age, and personality to personality, let us primarily focus on the educational aspect. This is one of the most important aspects, as it plays a major role in both their growth and development.
In our previous interaction with you, we all agreed that there is a need to replace the excessive use of digital media with activities that are experiential and hands-on. This will ensure the wellbeing of all children and push them to not only make mistakes but also learn from them. What makes this the best solution and a proper replacement for excessive use of electronic gadgets is that it engages children in a way that no other form of learning can. It will not only push them to ask questions but also find solutions by experimenting and challenging themselves. The best part is that when it comes to experiential learning, no method is right or wrong.
Given below is a carefully collected set of hands-on activities that can be easily performed in the comfort of your own home. These can be used to help children revise and go back to the concepts they have already learned. You do not need to go out of the way to buy any extra equipment, and just the open space that is available at your house will work. To make sure children have a variety of activities to choose from, these are a mix of all disciplines.
Build a Museum
This can be done by putting the furniture or showpieces at home to use. Children today have a habit of collecting objects that they like, and they can be used for this activity too. Tell your child to gather a variety of objects and create a museum from the same. Start with asking them to differentiate items and categorize them in terms of the material used, its value, the money it may have cost, etc. Let them use their organizational skills to decorate and create a museum. Once done, ask them to give a tour of their museum by putting their knowledge in history and their vocabulary skills to use.
The Apple Rotting Experiment
This will help children understand the importance of the environment and how species react differently in different settings. Cut pieces of apples and put them in different glasses. Use solutions like oil, water, vinegar, and air for each glass and label them with the same. Give it a few days and let children draw and make predictions on what might happen the next day. Let them understand the decaying process, and ask many scientific questions that they may be curious about.
Scavenger Hunt
This can be an activity within an activity! All you need to do is hide clues within the boundaries of your home, exactly like a treasure hunt. Each clue can have a variety of learning activities, like math equations or science-related questions. All of these have to be relevant to the chapters your kid is studying at school. Encourage them by keeping some treasure or a few extra minutes of gadgets ready for them as a reward once they complete the treasure hunt. To make it more engaging, set a time limit to the hunt too, and let them figure out how much time is left on their own.
The Value of Storytime
If you have not already made this a habit for children, now is the right time to start. Reading stories will help the child not only learn new words but also enhance his/her imagination. When you come across a new or unfamiliar word, try and strike a conversation around the term with your kid. Introduce different genres of stories and encourage your children to use their imagination and the new words that they have learned to create their own stories too. To work on their drawing skills, it is a good idea to sketch the characters along with your child.
Start a Restaurant
This will help children revisit their language and literary skills. Use props and utensils to create a restaurant at home. Let them design a menu from scratch and use words they have learned at school. You can also use vegetables and fruits, asking your child to categorize them and learn to differentiate. Let them play the role of a waiter, owner, or even a customer to enhance their communication skills and confidence.
Note that all these activities have been chosen to keep in mind the times of the pandemic. Apart from all this, it is a good practice to weekly check-in with your children emotionally. Taking a day off once in a while to binge on food or TV shows is sometimes a great idea too!
A pro tip is to make sure your kids are an active part of this whole process. It is only when they are given attention, and their opinions are valued, is when they start participating and engaging themselves in activities.
To sum it all up, we at Experihub believe that, at the end of the day, what makes a significant difference is not what your children are taught, but how they are taught.
At ExperiHub, we teach Science and Mathematics by bringing concepts from the real world into the classroom. We conduct science experiments and have myriad science projects for better learning and understanding of concepts. If you want to learn more about Experiential Learning and cool home experiments, browse through our Online Sessions and Youtube Channel!