Play is an integral part of your child’s life. In the modern age, children are dependent on phones or any other digital contraption for their entertainment, and this can lead to significant health complications like visual problems, obesity, can impede communication skills, etc. Keeping your child’s brain and body active is essential for their development, and there are activities that you can undertake with your child that are both educational and fun.
These activities can help build motor skills, improve communicative skills and social abilities, and induce a competitive spirit and a thirst for knowledge. Educational activities do not take up much time, you can even invent games on your own, and according to your kid’s interests, you can whip up some new games and activities. Another fun activity for kids that can also improve their motor skills is to play with kids ride on cars. These cars come in different sizes and designs and can provide hours of fun while helping children improve their coordination and balance.
These projects can cover various bases like literature, sports, STEM (science, technology, engineering, math), social studies, etc. You can find several activities online under each topic. This practice can be carried well into their adolescent years, which will fine-tune their brain activities, and as they grow older, they can whip up some activities for themselves like a brain tease.
These learning methods will even improve cohesion skills, and the children will be able to retain knowledge for a long time and think logically about how to solve problems.
This article lists five fun learning activities for toddlers, pre-adolescents, and adolescents.
Toddlers (3-6 years)
❖ Word Family
This activity is done to make your child get familiar with the alphabet and learn simple and small words. On a chart, write the letters of the English alphabet, and then on smaller chits of paper, you can write words like “an,” “all,” and “ee” as in suffixes and fold them and put them in a jar. Your child can take a chit out, and according to the two letters on the paper, they can add it to the letter on the chart, making a meaningful word.
For example, if “an” is taken, you can put it next to C, which will create the word “can.” It can also be added to other letters like F as in Fan, B as in Ban, and T as in Tan.
This activity is fun and time-consuming and helps them develop their vocabulary and linguistic abilities.
❖ Twister but with a math twist
On a twister mat, stick numerals onto each circle with numbers ranging from 1 to 10. This activity can be played by two or more. You can call out a random number like 14, and the kids can think of how the 14 can be added, multiplied, subtracted, or divided and keep their hands and legs on the respective numbers, which will make them arrive at the said 14.
Illustrating the example, the kid can keep their hands on seven and another 7 to create 14 (addition) or a 2 and 7 (multiplication). Whoever keeps it on a wrong number that does not measure up to the said number will be eliminated
Pre-adolescents:
❖ Word definition/memory game
In this game, you can write words, categorizing them on easy, intermediate, and hard levels, and write the definitions or synonyms or antonyms on the other side. You can give your child some time to learn the meaning of each word, and after flipping it over, you can ask them the meaning of a word and progress as they become more familiar with the words of the language. Treats after every win is necessary.
Adolescents:
❖ Cubby houses
Children like to have a space where they are the reigning monarch. Cubby houses are an excellent way for children to enjoy the outdoors, make new friends, and learn the art of organizing things. This will induce the spirit of responsibility. You can find cubby houses online, or you can even make one.
❖ Backyard treasure hunt
This is very much like an easter egg hunt, and parents can hide stuff away in the backyard and give the kids a set of rules to abide by a time limit, and codes to help them find where the treasures are hidden. For example, you can write, “The shrub where we found the kitten,” and the kids can travel down memory lane and think about which shrub they found that kitten and go to it to find the treasure. This is an extremely fun activity.
Integrating games with education are necessary to cure digital obsessions; these games are medicine. There are many ways to engage your kids in educational and fun activities; parents have to be mindful to keep their kids’ bodies and brains healthy.
Interesting Related Article: “8 Tips for Establishing Healthy Tech Habits in Kids“