Play to learn.... how to???

LEARNING through play opens the child’s mind to what is in the environment. They discover how things are done and develop the understanding of right and wrong from playing.

Children thrive on simple yet meaningful play experiences.


Balls – Babies like holding soft balls while toddlers enjoy the rubbery ones that they can hold with both hands and throw. Preschoolers love playing ball-catching with their friends. As they grow and develop more skills, they start playing ball games with rules.

Blocks – They come in all sizes, shapes and colours. I still love the wooden ones that children can stack them up in a tall tower when they are just babies or toddlers. When they become preschoolers, they build bridges and houses of all types.

Cardboard boxes and containers – Babies like to repeatedly put objects into a container and then tip them out. Older children will explore ways to play with containers of all sizes and shapes.

Sand and water play – This is a self-directed and engaged learning for young children. Add fun things like food colouring, turkey baster, funnel, cups and plastic toys. Young children will be busy for a long time.

A walk – Children need outdoor play. They need to run and jump freely. They can discover interesting living organisms in their natural surroundings. This experience will truly spur them to greater heights of creativity and learning.

Scarves and bedsheets – They can throw the scarves up in the air and watch them float down to touch their faces. They can wave them around and do their special dances. My then preschool-age daughters would use a bedsheet as a parachute or pretend that it is a popcorn popper with balloons. As they grew older, they used bedsheets to create tents for their special hide-outs.

Mirror, mirror on the wall – Babies and toddlers like looking at mirrors to discover themselves and others. Preschoolers love making different or funny faces in front of the mirror. Put two mirrors in front and at the back of an object for your child to view. He can see the object from both sides. To add to your child’s learning fun, make a triangular box of mirrors for your child to put different objects in it (make sure you seal off the sharp sides).

Painting – Children like messy play. Finger-painting is a great start to working creatively with colours for young children. Use large pieces of paper and non-toxic paints.

Singing – Singing simple nursery rhymes with children can expand their imagination and help them develop phonemic awareness. They will also exercise their auditory memory skills.

Puzzles – Home-made or store-bought puzzles are educational and fun for children from late infancy to preschool age. Start with two pieces to pair up, working towards more pieces for the child to put together. The younger the child is, the larger the pieces.

Parents as children’s first play-partners provide both educational and entertaining fun.

There is no greater fun for a child than having his parents get down on the floor and spend some time, say about 15 minutes, to play with him without giving any suggestions or directions. Children who take the lead in play will gain much as they get to practise their skills and experiment safely with their new ideas. They feel confident when the adults let them plan and direct their play session together.

Tackle children to think.....

One of the simplest and easiest ways to develop kids' thinking skills is by wording questions in the right way. When teachers and parents learn to ask questions that stimulate kids' thought processes, learning can be fun for children of all ages.

Whether we are conscious of it or not, different types of questions require us to use different kinds or levels of thinking. According to Bloom's Taxonomy, a widely recognized classification system, human thinking skills can be broken down into six categories based on Bloom's Taxonomy.

Knowledge, comprehension, and application are more concrete thinking skills. Analysis, synthesis, and evaluation require more abstraction and are known as critical thinking skills.

Knowledge
Knowledge involves remembering or recalling appropriate, previously learned information to draw out factual (usually right or wrong) answers.

Asking the Right Questions:
Use words and phrases such as: how many, when, where, list, define, tell, describe, identify, etc., to draw out factual answers and test your child's recall and recognition skills.

Sample questions:
How many eggs in a dozen?
When was Abraham Lincoln president?

Comprehension
Comprehension involves grasping or understanding the meaning of informational materials.

Asking the Right Questions:
Use words such as: describe, explain, estimate, predict, identify, differentiate, etc., to encourage your child to translate, interpret, and extrapolate.

Sample questions:
Explain how an egg becomes a chicken.
What important events occurred during the years Lincoln was president?

Application Application involves applying previously learned information (or knowledge) to new and unfamiliar situations.

Asking the Right Questions:
Use words such as: demonstrate, apply, illustrate, show, solve, examine, classify, experiment, etc., to encourage your child to apply knowledge to situations that are new and unfamiliar.

Sample questions:
What do an egg and the shape of the globe have in common? Can an egg grow into a cow?
How did Abe Lincoln's personal views on slavery fit with the events of the time?

Analysis
Analysis involves breaking down information into parts, or examining (and trying to understand the organizational structure of) information.

Asking the Right Questions:
Use words and phrases such as: what are the differences, analyze, explain, compare, separate, classify, arrange, etc., to encourage your child to break information down into parts.

Sample questions:
What is one difference between eggs laid by a frog and a chicken?
Compare and contrast some significant contributions made by presidents during the 1800s.

Synthesis
Synthesis involves applying prior knowledge and skills to combine elements into a pattern not clearly there before.

Asking the Right Questions:
Use words and phrases such as: combine, rearrange, substitute, create, design, invent, what if?, etc., to encourage your child to combine elements into a pattern that's new.

Sample questions:
What might happen if a cow laid eggs? Knowing what you know about egg-laying animals, what could you say about animals that don't lay eggs?
What if Abe Lincoln lived today? What problem might he solve?

Evaluation
Evaluation involves judging or deciding according to some set of criteria, without real right or wrong answers.

Asking the Right Questions:
Use words such as: assess, decide, measure, select, explain, conclude, compare, summarize, etc., to encourage your child to make judgements according to a set of criteria.

Sample questions:
What do egg-laying animals have in common?
What might have happened if Abe Lincoln never lived? What are some ways that history might be different?

The use of critical thinking is one of the most valuable skills we can pass on to our children. Gifted children, especially, tend to take mental leaps and you might notice that they use synthesis and evaluation without teaching or prompting. Supporting and nurturing these skills is crucial to the development of strong academic and lifelong problem-solving skills.

Remember, the most important thing is to have fun with these skills. When kids enjoy discussions with their parents and teachers, they'll love to learn.