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Children learn through experience

Shannon

Faculty: Arts, Humanities, Education and Social Sciences
School: School of Education
Course: BA Early Childhood Studies
Category: Education

30 April 2018

Children will learn most through doing things themselves and being given the opportunity to experience different skills through play. It is important that children are given this opportunity because they are able to develop holistically.

There are various ways in which adults can promote different experiences for children. Children are then able to see their strengths and weaknesses in different areas of development and can see what skills they have and what interests them most.  This could be through playing football for example: adults could encourage children to participate in a little training circuit and set up a mini football pitch for them to complete a match. Children will begin to learn the rules for football, how to work in a team, leadership and develop their social skills.

Busy Boards are also another way to encourage children’s learning experiences because they will be curious about the different materials that are on the board.It is a great opportunity for them to experiment and see the purpose of each material. Children will begin to develop spatial awareness and other areas of development, for example numeracy, by counting the different materials on the board and sorting them out into colours etc. They will also begin to use their imaginations by thinking what they could create with the available resources.

child playing with a busy board

There are many different designs that can be created which can focus on a specific area of development. I found this blog about busy boards interesting because the busy board can be used anywhere and has a range of materials on it available for children to explore and experiment with. This helps with their sensory development and inquisitiveness.

Disclaimer

The views expressed here are those of the individual and do not necessarily represent the views of Anglia Ruskin University. If you've got any concerns please contact us.