Ask most educators and they will tell you that teaching is both rewarding and fulfilling. Engaging young people and filling their minds with the knowledge to succeed in their future is what it’s all about. However, plain old classroom teaching can become a little monotonous. To break up the days and liven up your classroom, here are four creative ways you can teach young children.
School Fundraiser
School fundraising offers children a break away from the norm and gives them something to get excited about. Not only are fundraisers fantastic for boosting morale, but they can teach your students a few fundamental values. Raising money for the school, or for a charity, pulls together the school community and can teach kids how to work together, set goals and be creative. Help your students get started by creating a target amount, a deadline and by offering a few ideas for different ways they could raise money. A few fun ideas include a field day, a fancy dress day or a raffle.
Interactive Teaching
Interactive teaching is great for perking up a young classroom and getting kids enthused. If your students are looking disengaged, then introduce activities that involve movement to loosen their limbs and wake them up. Interactive activities can include visual and audio aids, physical exercises, interaction between students and also student-to-teacher interaction too. Stimulate the mind in a new way and engage their entire body with activities such as getting up in front of the class and giving a presentation. Alternatively, get them to work as a group to reenact a scene in the book they are learning about. Interactive learning can help young children remember information in the long-term and it is a fun way to learn. A great way to introduce interactive learning to a young classroom is by playing interactive games at the end of a lesson. This will give them something to look forward to, and this method can be used to drill in information covered in the lesson that day.
Field Trip
Everyone has memories from their favorite school field trip and most people take away valuable information learnt on that trip. Field trips are an enriching way for kids to keep learning outside of the classroom and they can be tied into different topics. They offer children a unique learning experience, while being exposed to new environments will pique interest and broaden their understanding in the subject you are teaching. Not to mention, young children will also learn how to behave responsibly outside of the classroom and what is expected of them. Field trip ideas include visiting historical sites, museums, galleries and national parks.
Classroom Pet
A classroom pet is a classic teaching aid. Not only can you use animals to provide a hands-on learning experience about the animal themselves, but you can also use them in other aspects of teaching. For example, a classroom guinea pig can be used to teach students about geography, and South America in particular. You can also use them creatively for writing exercises or for math.
