[Graci]

The most important way to get children to engage in meaningful, active learning is by learning their interests! Children will be more engaged when they’re exposed to things they find interesting. Listen to what they like and don’t like, and figure out how to make it a meaningful learning moment.

[allie]

Engaging children in active, meaningful learning experiences is essential for promoting curiosity, creativity, and a love for learning. Here are some creative ways to accomplish this:

1. Hands-on exploration: Provide children with opportunities for hands-on exploration and discovery through sensory-rich activities, experiments, and investigations. Encourage them to use their senses to observe, manipulate, and interact with materials and objects in their environment.

2. Inquiry-based learning: Foster children’s natural curiosity by posing open-ended questions and encouraging them to explore answers through inquiry-based learning experiences. Allow children to ask questions, make predictions, conduct investigations, and draw conclusions based on their observations and discoveries.

3. Outdoor adventures: Take learning outside the classroom and into nature by providing opportunities for outdoor exploration, nature walks, gardening, and outdoor play. Outdoor environments offer endless possibilities for active learning experiences, including observing plants and animals, exploring natural materials, and engaging in physical activities like hiking or climbing.

4. Project-based learning: Engage children in project-based learning experiences that allow them to explore topics of interest in depth over an extended period of time. Encourage children to identify questions, research information, collaborate with peers, and create meaningful projects or presentations to share their findings.

5. Arts and creative expression: Encourage children to express themselves creatively through art, music, drama, and storytelling. Provide a variety of art materials, musical instruments, and props to inspire imagination and self-expression. Encourage children to use their creativity to communicate ideas, emotions, and experiences.

6. Role-play and pretend play: Create opportunities for role-play and pretend play, where children can engage in imaginative scenarios, take on different roles, and explore real-world concepts in a playful context. Provide props, costumes, and open-ended materials to support children’s imaginative play and storytelling.

7. Technology integration: Integrate age-appropriate technology tools and resources into learning experiences to enhance engagement and facilitate exploration. Use educational apps, interactive games, digital storytelling tools, and multimedia resources to provide children with new ways to explore concepts, practice skills, and express their ideas.

8. Community connections: Foster connections with the local community and invite guest speakers, community members, or experts to share their knowledge and experiences with children. Engage children in service-learning projects, community service activities, or field trips to explore real-world issues and make meaningful connections to their lives.

By incorporating these creative approaches into your teaching practice, you can create engaging, meaningful learning experiences that inspire children’s curiosity, foster creativity, and promote active exploration and discovery.

[Christina Rachelle Fiant]

I think it is good to not only get to know each of the children in your care better, but to feel out how the children are doing on a given day. Some days the children may be more ready for a quiet time and space and during your circle time, for instance, they may be glad to listen well to a story l and to respond to some of the meaningful question types discussed in handout 6 – things like “do any of you have a dog or cat?” “How do you take care of your dog or kitty?” or “what kinds of other animals are found as pets?” But if the children are more active, something I like are books with textures, where you can pass them around and each of the children can feel the book, or circle games like one with a mirror, where each child gives themselves a kiss in the mirror. Maybe if a book is about something in particular, to go with the dog and cat example, you could bring some material that felt like fur and let the children all feel the material, or maybe rough material that felt more like a reptile. I try to describe how something feels or looks to me as a teacher first, giving the children an example, and this often helps them feel more comfortable and invited in when I then ask them what they think about something, maybe giving adjectives to help put word descriptors to their feelings.

[Trainer]

Christina emphasizes understanding children’s needs and interests and using sensory experiences to engage them in learning.

[Alexis]

I try to keep my kids engaged by relating things to books, shows, songs, etc… to keep them excited to continue the activities. When I read them books I make sure to be “extra” make the characters come to life for them, and read the same few books over and over so they know what to expect and get excited for it.

[Kayla]

We can create activities that engage multiple domains of learning like dramatic play in which they can take control of the stories they are telling, art where they can be expressive in any way they see fit, or sensory areas where they can expand their ideas of the world around them.

[Trainer]

Kayla, great ideas! Providing opportunities for dramatic play, art, and sensory exploration engages children in meaningful learning experiences.

[Bethany]

Do some cooking/baking together (shake butter, make cornbread, or trail mix, or lemonade). Let them draw pictures of the steps and (if old enough label or write out the steps). Set up a scavenger hunt and leave room for them to find a “treasure/surprise” that they can share with you that isn’t included on the list/pictures. Ask questions and listen while they are telling you about what they are doing prompt further engagement by asking how, what and and why questions.

[Marlene White]

for example if the child is playing dress up, and they are dressed as a doctor we can have pictures and words describing some of the items. for example we can have some x-ray pictures for them to use and have the word x-ray next to it. we can ask them to explain what an x-ray is if we are playing with them and if they don’t know we can make it a fun learning experience by explaining what it is.

[Mackenzie]

doing activities they like during circle time or at play time that are important for their learning or making a dedicated time for activities meaningful learning

[Jose Antonio Montor Torres]

What are some creative ways to get children engaged in active, meaningful learning?

We have a lot of different activities meaningful to get children engaged in active ways, like when we read a book we can look for ideas to create a different story and make a book, puppet, games, or felt stories.

[Trainer]

Great ideas, Jose! Engaging children through creativity and hands-on activities can make learning meaningful and enjoyable.

[Abigail K Stidham]

To get children engaged and involved you first need to have that relationship with them. Also, ask them questions that allow them to use their imagination and be able to tell a story. Getting eye level with them and allowing them to guide the play will encourage them and make them feel like you are on the same level.

[Trainer]

Abigail’s insight on building relationships, asking open-ended questions, and allowing children to guide play is valuable for meaningful learning.

[Mackenzie]

Developing social skills, getting to know each child individually, and engaging in activities such as circle time to help in multiple aspects of development are all great ways to get children engaged in active, meaningful learning.

[Mason]

I think it is important to begin with where the child is currently in their developmental stages, and to take the time to get to know each child individually. Once you know each child better, you can begin to add more specific activities or recourses that they are interested into the curriculum, like circle times. For example, if you have a student who really enjoys reading and dinosaurs, you can show books about dinosaurs.

[Vladyslav]

1. Hands-on experiments and science investigations.
2. Outdoor nature exploration and scavenger hunts.
3. Dramatic play and role-playing activities.
4. Art projects with various materials and techniques.
5. Sensory activities using materials like sand, water, or playdough.
6. Music and movement activities such as dance or rhythm games.
7. Storytelling and puppet shows to encourage imagination and language development.
8. STEM challenges and building activities with blocks or LEGO.
9. Cooking or baking projects to explore math and science concepts.
10. Field trips or virtual tours to explore real-world contexts and environments.

[Tetiana]

Hands-on experiments and science investigations.

Outdoor nature exploration and scavenger hunts.

Dramatic play and role-playing activities.

Art projects with various materials and techniques.

Sensory activities using materials like sand, water, or playdough.

Music and movement activities such as dance or rhythm games.

Storytelling and puppet shows to encourage imagination and language development.

STEM challenges and building activities with blocks or LEGO.

Cooking or baking projects to explore math and science concepts.

Field trips or virtual tours to explore real-world contexts and environments.

[Trainer]

Tetiana, your suggestions are fantastic! They cover a wide range of engaging, hands-on activities for meaningful learning experiences. Great job!

[Christine Burns Revels]

Active learning skills are so important because it gives students a chance to assume ownership of their own learning and encourages them to become more active participants in the learning process. This approach also helps students cultivate a more comprehensive understanding of the material and the ability to apply what they learn to real-world situations.

To engage students in active learning, teachers can deploy a variety of strategies like flipped classrooms, group activities, and problem-solving activities. These strategies can provide greater opportunities for students to actively engage in their own education and encourage the development of collaboration skills and critical thinking.

To effectively engage students in the learning process, teachers must take great care to create a positive and inclusive classroom environment. Instructors should provide students with clear learning objectives and expectations, and ensure that the lesson plan and learning activities are relevant to the students’ lives and engaging.

So what interactive activities keep learners engaged during a lesson plan? Interactive activities like group work, role-playing, simulations, and peer tutoring are excellent ways to engage students in active learning. These activities can allow students to take ownership of their learning and apply what they have learned to their lives. Teachers may choose to utilize technology to help facilitate this process, as online quizzes, interactive whiteboards, and educational apps can also help make learning more fun and engaging.

But why is it important to engage students in learning? It’s important to engage students in their own education because it can help them develop critical thinking skills, problem-solving abilities, and collaboration skills that they can take with them after school on their journey to success. When students are actively engaged in their own education, they are significantly more likely to retain the information they’ve learned and to apply that information in practical ways in their lives.

Active learning is a highly effective teaching methodology that can help students understand the importance of their own education. To effectively engage students in active learning environments, teachers must develop interactive activities and lesson plans that utilize technology, in addition to creating a positive and inclusive welcoming classroom environment.

One of the most important aspects of teaching involves engaging students and encouraging them to participate in learning environments. To achieve this, teachers can implement creative teaching ideas and activities that are both fun and challenging for students.