For learning to be effective, it needs to be fun and engaging. Children must feel like education is worth it for its own sake, like dancing or playing games.
Of course, that’s rarely how learning works in practice. Kids often feel compelled to study textbooks or endure rote learning exercises. And, unfortunately, that’s often where the students’ interest ends.
Research supports this conclusion. When children love learning, engagement increases. When they don’t, they withdraw.
In order for students to work, they need to stay engaged. Students learn best when learning is fun.
So how do you make learning for K-6 students more fun? Check out our hands on learning ideas below.
Let Children Lead
Letting children lead their own education is one of the best ways to make learning fun. Kids with ownership over the learning process feel more engaged and inspired.
You can help children lead by:
- Giving them a sense of autonomy and choice over the tasks and projects they pursue
- Giving them interesting, age-appropriate problems that require critical thinking to solve
- Providing them with goals to achieve by a fixed deadline
- Increasing independence, based on ability and self-learning skills
Get Children Moving
You can also make learning more fun by getting children moving. Creative ways to include physical activities in educational settings include:
- Incorporate dance and movement into rote learning tasks (like learning the alphabet or performing times tables)
- Including role-playing and drama in educational scenes
- Making learning challenges where kids have to move, like solving math problems by throwing bean bags or doing jumping jacks
Connect Learning To Real Life
Another powerful strategy to make learning fun is to connect it to real life. If children see the usefulness of their education, it becomes more compelling. Their brains are more likely to take learning seriously.
For example, don’t just introduce kids to basic statistical concepts, like averages. Instead, show them why they need to use them in their lives.
Similarly, when teaching science, make it feel real. Instead of teaching the water cycle abstractly, set up an experiment that shows it happening in front of them.
Introducing an element of competition can also help. Kids working towards math olympiads and essay writing contests tend to learn more.
Use Escape Room Lessons
Escape room lessons are also a good way to make education more fun. Getting students to solve curriculum-related puzzles and riddles accelerates learning.
Again, it comes down to having a reason to do it. When the clock is ticking, children experience an imperative to learn and apply concepts fast.
Engage In Augmented Reality Experiences
Augmented reality (AR) experiences are another way to make learning more fun for children. Enabling them to enter virtual worlds lets them experience the curriculum more viscerally.
For instance, you could use AR to:
- Take kids on history adventures. Show them famous moments like Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream” speech. Show them pioneers exploring the American West.
- Visit an AR art gallery, complete with famous paintings
- Play educational games in a three-dimensional space
- Enjoy interactive storytelling, where characters in the book come to life
- Go on virtual science field trips, exploring rivers, planets, stars, and wildlife
Get Children To Write A Time Travel Journal
Asking children to write time travel journals can also make learning more fun. Getting them to imagine themselves in a historical context makes it more real.
Start by selecting the historical era. Good options include Ancient Egypt, the Industrial Revolution, or Ming Dynasty China. Then introduce children to the topic through hands on activities showing daily life, key figures, and significant events from the time.
After that, encourage students to make thoughtful journal entries in a physical notebook. Have students choose to become a character from that time and write down their thoughts.
Students should use a mixture of writing and drawing in their work. Artistic expression can help them feel more connected to historical people and objects, drawing them further into the experience. Imaginative reflection puts them in the shoes of historical figures, revealing more about the challenges they faced.
Throughout the process, teachers should guide research and offer writing support. Forming peer-sharing groups where children read their journals to each other can help spark even more ideas.
Get Students To Become Teachers For The Day
Getting students to become teachers is another excellent way to make learning fun and engaging. Again, it’s effective because it gives students a real reason to learn.
For K-6, you’ll want to choose simple subjects like:-
- Tying shoelaces
- Folding basic origami
- Drawing simple objects, like people or animals
- Building LEGO structures
- Playing a simple card game
- Planting seeds
- Preparing a sandwich
- Dancing a few short steps
Once you give children the authority to teach, it compels them to gain a deeper understanding. Showing other children how to dance or tie their shoelaces rapidly creates new brain connections and accelerates learning and communication skills.
Perform Science Experiments
Another tactic is to perform science experiments, showing how book knowledge translates into real-world understanding.
For example, you could make a baking soda and vinegar volcano. Combining the two chemicals causes a reaction that generates gas, similar to how a real volcano works.
Another idea is to make a balloon rocket to demonstrate Newton’s laws of motion. Simply blow up a balloon, attach it to a straw, and watch it rocket across the room.
Simple circuits are also something you could demonstrate. You could show children how batteries, lights, and switches work, introducing them to electrical principles.
Finally, you could help each child grow bean plants. Place seeds in soil-filled pots and watch as they germinate and bloom through the lifecycle.
Now You Know How To Make Learning Fun
Once you know how to create a fun learning environment, lessons become more engaging. Giving children autonomy and a reason to learn accelerates the educational process. Keeping them active increases attainment compared to passive techniques.
More importantly, it improves children’s quality of life. Kids on an engaging curriculum are more likely to thrive.
For free lesson plans that engage students with activities that kids love, please check out our website and YouTube channel!
