[Sarah]

ask more open ended questions as they go through different activities

[Emma]

The first step in getting children engaged in active, meaningful learning is to first develop activities that are built upon children’s interests and ability levels. After that information is gathered, some creative ways to implement those activities could be through things such as incorporating simple and songs and movement during story time so that the children have the opportunity to really engage with the story. You could also leave out a provocation of loose parts materials and invite the children to explore them. During this exploration, the teacher can ask open ended questions about the materials, what the child is doing with them/plans to do with them, etc. This opens up the opportunity to have meaningful discussions and interactions about the child’s learning experience while the child is engaged.

[AJ]

Ask questions and provide fun and creative tasks to engage them in finding the answers or a answer. If a kid asks about maybe a material or item and what properties make it what it is, provide other items to compare. Example: What is paper made from? Provide different textures and colors and types of paper along with natural items and materials like natural wood and types of cloth or cotton and let them explore, give them tools or equipment to cut, wet, tear, a light to see through the materials etc. Guide them by asking more questions and giving clues.

[Ella Christiansen]

I like to split them up into groups and work on puzzles. Each group has a puzzle that they work on together, and when all groups are finished, we switch groups. Each time I create a group, I group them with different kiddos.

[Jamie]

This sounds like a great activity, thank you for sharing.

[Alexis]

Knowing what a child’s needs and/or likes will definitely help you be able to engage them into activities that they will actually be engaged in

[Madison]

A creative way to engage children would be a show and tell time where children are supposed to bring something related to a special theme and they each get to share that special item. This is a good way to get children to speak about their culture while also learning about each others.

• This reply was modified 1 year, 2 months ago by  Madison.

[Jamie]

This is also a way to get to know families and parents better.

[Francisca]

USING MUSIC OR CREATING RHYMES IN SONGS THAT HELP TEACH CHILDREN TO UNDERSTAND BETTER FOR EXAMPLE THE SOUND I LIKE TO EAT YOU CAN USE BANANAS AND FRUITS TO GIVE A BETTER VISUALIZATION OF THE MEANING OF THE SONG AND TO HELP CHIDLREN HOW TO EAT BETTER AND WHATS GOOD FOR THEM

[Kaylea]

I like to make games or songs that go hand in hand with our curriculum that we can play during circle time either as a group or where the child can come up and talk in front of the class.

This last week was all about pets and I had pictures of animals on the board and a yes area and a no area. The children then got to come up to the board, pick an animal and place it into the category they think it belongs in. I ask the child what the animal they chose was and why it was or was not a pet.

<font color=”rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)” face=”inherit”> I have also made songs about animals who hibernate where each child holds a picture of an animal and when we say that </font>animal,<font color=”rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)” face=”inherit”> they get to hold it up in the air. I follow up later in the day by asking the children to list animals that hibernate as a group, bringing the whole thing together.</font>

I find that allowing the children to get up in front of the group and talk without being interrupted interests the children and they feel a sense of pride when participating. These activities keep the children engaged but also go with what we are learning about in class that week.

[Krista]

You have to know the children’s interests in order to get them engaged. A first project could be “interviews” where simple questions about favorite things, activities, etc. are discovered and reported on by the children. Once you know where their interests lie, activities like painting their favorite animals, using favorite colors each week/month for themes, play acting their favorite activities and other children can guess what they are would be examples of engaging activities.

[Jamie]

Student interests are always a great place to begin. There are too many classrooms that are teacher oriented instead of child oriented.

[Isabelle]

One way to get a child engaged in activities is by giving them options like choosing a color or a question so they feel like they have options.

[Catlyn]

Get to know the child and see what they like. In my classroom there are many children who like cars so we choose activities that incorporate cars as much as possible. Such as painting with car wheels and giving the cars a bath with water play.

[Jasmin]

Getting children to engaged in meaningful learning can be by asking what colors and shapes are the toys they are playing with and what is the toy used for. For example if they have a soccer ball they would say it is black and white and it is to kick and play soccer.

[Nicole]

When engaging with a child in an activity you can do two things to add to their development: ask questions and give information. Ask them questions about the activity, do they like it? what do they feel or sense while doing the activity? etc. And give them information about what they are doing, adding to their existing knowledge about something they are already interested in.

[Emma]

To get children engaged in active, meaningful learning, you need to ask meaningful questions about what they are doing. You should also keep in mind their interests and base some activities off of them.

[Shawnee]

Top get a child engaged make whatever you are doing fun. Each child has different ways that are fun to them. This is where the observation part comes in to know how to get each child engaged in the activiity. Have a positive and friendly personality and be entertaining.