If your child always wants to play, you’re not alone. Every child has the want to spend most of his/her time having fun and though most parents worry about their studies, I think it’s not a bad thing at all! Games and fun are the way to go if you really want your child to learn to apply the skills they only get to read in text.
Here are some ways to make having fun which is also beneficial to their mind:
1.Do fun quizzes
A quiz that also gives reward points to kids is ideal. Quizzes like the ones available on www.maths9.com are amazingly interactive, colourful and informative. The children get to see their score and learn where they can improve. Also, getting a good score encourages then to do better.
2.Games that require thinking
Games like Crossword, Chess, Chinese checkers, Othello and similar are fun and encourage you to use your mind before making a move. A game like Othello is really easy to learn but not as easy to master which will motivate the child to keep playing it till he/she can beat you! Play them with your children and watch them sharpen their brains.
3.Treasure Hunt
Treasure Hunt is a popular game where one has to follow a series of hints before they find the ‘treasure’. ‘Treasure’ here could be anything your child likes, for example, a toy, a bar of chocolate, a story book etc. The series of hints could be riddles or simple ciphers that point to the next location your child should be at. Write the hints on chits of paper and enclose them in small envelopes. Place each in a series where each chit links to the location of the next chit till the treasure is discovered. You could make this more interesting by adding a task-to-complete for the child to receive the next hint. The task could be anything from helping you with some work to solving a maths problem. This can be played in your own house, on the neighbourhood streets or any other place you can think of. It’s fun and the child also gets a nice reward for thinking.
4.Talk about how things around you work
How does the gas stove work? How does electricity reach us? How do uncooked vegetables change to delicious curries when heated in different ways? How does moon change its shape every night?
There are a lot of questions in your everyday life and they all have answers. Talk about them and see their eyes sparkle and eyebrows frown as they make an effort to understand. Give them their time and laugh with them as they learn and understand. Seeing science in everyday use not only makes it easier to understand but fun to learn and become aware that things happening around us are not some sort of magic.
Making studies fun is almost always the best way to teach children so do not refrain from doing it the fun way!