How to Make Learning Fun: Making learning fun can change the attitude of students towards school for the better. As a teacher or parent you would be doing a lot of good by throwing in some variety to spice up the learning process and keep your students or children hooked on their books.
Reading and solving math problems are not activities that every student will find attractive. Although some students love these activities, many others would rather play around, watch TV or visit friends. There are so many different fun ways to learn and it can be beneficial to enhance the learning process of those students who already love learning and engage those ones who are not so interested in learning. A student is likely to learn better when he or she uses a learning method that best suits their personality and learning speed.
In this piece we have put together 10 methods of turning learning from being an uninteresting and tiring activity for you and your students to something you all will look forward to. You can rotate between the different styles of learning to find which one works for each student. Keep scrolling and let’s start learning!
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1. Divide the Lessons into Small Parts: You’ll find that most lessons, especially when you’re introducing the students to a new topic, usually includes lengthy talks or lectures. This can be discouraging for the students. They may be uncomfortable sitting still while you ramble on for long minutes on end. Breaking up such lessons makes them fun and keeps your students’ attention stable.
You can divide the lessons this way: start with a few sentences introducing the lesson then try engaging them in a different but related activity, say, a song about the topic or a joke that is related to what you are talking about. Then, go back to talking. After talking for a little while, do some group exercise. This may include the students getting up from their seats. It will warm them up. Conclude the class by asking for contributions from the students on the topic discussed and attending to questions.
Tiny breaks as little as 30 seconds every 6-10 minutes of talking can make the difference in effective learning for your kids. It is important to vary the fun activities for every lesson and how lessons are taught everyday. Your students will get a better grasp of the materials and they will one day thank you for it.
2. Provide Your Students With Choices: Kids are not always lucky to have choices both at home and at school. Sometimes, all they need to do better is to be allowed to choose what they think works for them.
When students are made to know that they have a choice in learning, they become more interested in the activities. Try out this technique for making learning fun by letting your students choose what learning activities they want for each lesson or what homework task they can work on each day.
Providing students with choices not only makes lessons fun for all but trains them in decision-making also.
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3. Throw in Some Games: Students love to play. Games are an easy method of getting your students hooked on their lessons. Incorporating games in learning can make even the most boring lessons fun.
Luckily, there are tons of free educational games that you can access on the net. Students will be eager to learn when they know that there’s going to be game time too.
4. Create Learning Groups: When students learn together, they are more likely to learn faster and retain information for a longer time.
Working together as a team or group also helps them develop critical thinking, teamwork/cooperation and communication skills. You can also use group time to break up the learning routine. This way, learning and the lessons taught are much more enjoyable for you and the students.
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5. Be Active: Most students are averse to sitting still for long hours on end listening to a teacher or reading a book. After some time, they deserve a break from all that talking and reading and so do you! That is when you need to get up and do something different.
If you notice that your students are getting dull, give them something different to do. You can let them play a game or ask them to get out from their seats and move around a bit. The hope of such break times keeps the students happy and interested in learning.
6. Try Hands-On Learning: Since time immemorial, teachers have used and attested to the effectiveness of hands-on learning activities as a way of making lessons fun, memorable and engaging. You too can incorporate these activities into virtually any subject and any class of students. From alphabet lessons for preschoolers to math, science, English or even geography for students in higher grades, you can never go wrong with this technique.
Students are likely to find assignments such as an arts and crafts project that requires some action more meaningful and memorable.
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7. Encourage Creativity: You are probably comfortable with teaching from the same lesson plans that you have been using for many years. It is only normal that you will find it somewhat difficult acclimatizing to a new method of teaching. But it is important to consider that every year, new students get into your class and they all have their varying interests and gifts. Allowing them to explore these interests and showcase their intellectual gifts is s great way of making learning fun.
Encourage your students to be creative. Allow them to suggest and make changes to assignments and projects provided their changes are within the learning goals and you approve of them.
It will surprise you to find what ingenious suggestions the children can come up with. Moreover, the freedom to make the decision on something makes them attach great meaning to that thing and they have more confidence in themselves.
8. Plan Field Trips: Everyone remembers with fond nostalgia, the days of class field trips. These outings are an excellent opportunity for the students to explore the world outside the classroom and come face-to-face with the realities of what they are learning in the classroom.
You can try out visits to theatres for plays, exhibitions at the museum or art galleries or even treks to historical monuments. These excursions will last longer in the students’ memories than normal class discourses.
There are now virtual field trips so you don’t necessarily have to pay huge sums to travel to the big places. Also you can start with checking out cool options for class trips close to your school. The important thing is that you all go out and learn.
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9. Embrace Technology in Your Learning Process: Technology has permeated nearly every aspect of our lives. In fact, it would be weird and unfortunate not to maximize the opportunities presented by tech in making our lives easier.
Children are fascinated by and easily learn how to use the tech gadgets. From laptops and smartphones to Netflix and YouTube, your students have an amazing array of tools to make learning more fun and easier.
Provide your students with tablets containing interesting educational apps or project short educational clips from YouTube or TeacherTube. You can also create key points on PowerPoint or use TikTok to create learning videos by yourself for them.
10. Take the Fun Outside: Break time! This has to be every students’ favourite time of the day in school. Students always look forward to activities done at this time and this makes lecture or class time more captivating.
Breaks are very important. As much as academics are important, you can’t rule out the the necessity for break time. Studies have proven that outdoor games, playground time, and having fun with friends are great for the brain and hence learning. You can even have classes outside!
Outside lessons can be great for a variety of subjects like agriculture, biology, and other science classes but even art classes can go on outside. You can do your reading classes outside, too. Imagine reading about nature or painting in the school garden! How fun that will be! Your students’ grades are sure to improve with outside classes. Try it. Such classes encourage the students to be more engaged in the learning process and think outside the box. This will translate to them excelling in their quizzes and homeworks.
To cap it all, outside classes have a relaxing feel about it. The change in environment can cause the brain to not see the classes as mere necessary evils but as something new and mind-boggling. Take your next class outside and see how the stress you feel while learning will disappear.
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In Conclusion
Admittedly, applying these methods may not be so easy especially if you and your students are used to the basic way of studying. However, with time you will all get used to the new and fun ways of learning. It’s a continuous journey.
It is important that you, as a teacher or parent, continually update your learning methods and materials for teaching your students or children.
Incorporating these methods into your children’s learning process is a small but worthy price to pay. With them, education becomes more fun for everybody. Educationists have always emphasized the importance of having fun while learning. Fun learning is essential for producing bright students who have the wherewithal to solve the complex problems that beset our world today.
Edeh Samuel Chukwuemeka, ACMC, is a lawyer and a certified mediator/conciliator in Nigeria. He is also a developer with knowledge in various programming languages. Samuel is determined to leverage his skills in technology, SEO, and legal practice to revolutionize the legal profession worldwide by creating web and mobile applications that simplify legal research. Sam is also passionate about educating and providing valuable information to people.