According to one study, students who didn’t have hands-on learning were 1.5 times more likely to fail a class.
But what is hands-on learning so much better than traditional learning?
Keep reading to find out all the advantages of teaching children with hands-on learning!
More Fun
Children are more likely to retain information if they’re having fun.
For example, if you teach them the alphabet in a song, they’ll remember the letters rather than if they just had to write the letters over and over.
You may want to let them use sand or shaving foam to write the letters. Or let them play with clay or play-dough to make the activity more engaging.
Students Get Practice
Students will also be able to get practice when they’re able to engage with the information that they’re learning. When they continuously practice the information, then they’re able to retain it better.
The more practice they get, the better they’ll be at the skill.
For example, in many science classes, they have a traditional lecture and then a lab block. The lab block will be a great way for students to get hands-on learning and practice the information that they learned in the lecture.
This way, they’re more likely to remember the information.
Retain More Information
Students will also retain more information when they don’t have to just sit quietly and listen to information passively.
Lecture styles can be great in some aspects, but you’re more likely to just have to memorize the information for a test. This means that you won’t actually retain the information for the long term.
Real Experience
Hands-on learning is one of the benefits of Montessori school, but it’ll give students real experience in applying the knowledge they learned.
This can also be more engaging than just sitting in a traditional lecture.
It’ll also help them have better behavioral skills that will help them later on in life.
Promote Creativity
Creativity is just like other skills; if you don’t use it, you lose it. And in traditional lectures, many students don’t get the chance to work on their creativity.
So to help exercise the creativity muscle, then you have to incorporate hands-on learning to help give you some more chances to get creative.
Many people think of art and music when they work on creativity, but it can actually be important in any aspect of their life.
For example, creativity is a great way to think outside the box or to critically solve problems. It can be great to find a new way of thinking about something. With hands-on learning, your child will have the avenue to be able to solve that problem.
Helps Critical Thinking Skills
In addition to creative thinking, it can really help them develop critical thinking skills as well.
This will help students make decisions on how to solve problems and anticipate what will come next. This goes a step further than just remembering information and figuring out what to do with it.
Critical thinking makes sure that they know how to apply the information. In traditional lectures, many students are just taught the information, but they’re not taught how to apply it, which can hurt their critical thinking skills.
This is a skill that will help your students in the rest of their life as many employers look for employees that have great critical thinking skills.
Use All Five Senses
When a child is young, they need to use all of their five senses. Being messy and using their five senses can be a great way for your children to learn about the world.
With hands-on learning, your children can be messy and use sensory play. They may even want to do their own mini-experiments to learn more about the world. It’s also a great way to foster their curiosity.
With messy play, they can use their smell, sound, touch, sight, and sometimes taste as well. All of these senses can really help them remember the information better as well.
It’s also great to give them options for different tactile materials. For example, they can use dough, paint, sand, water, or slime.
Be Independent
When your children can learn hands-on, you give them materials and tools to let them explore their own curiosity and information. But they’ll also be able to have the materials and tools that will let them figure out the assigned tasks.
They’ll have to learn how to be resourceful and find solutions instead of waiting for a teacher to give them the answer or tell them what they need to do next.
This will help them make decisions on their own later on in life.
Promote Fine Motor Skills
Lastly, activities like sorting, molding, sticking, cutting, or sensory play can help develop their fine motor skills.
They’ll need these skills to do basic things like writing or tying their shoes.
This type of learning, it’ll help them to strengthen their hand muscles, have better accuracy, and learn other skills they’ll use forever.
Discover More About Hands-on Learning
These are only a few of the benefits of hands-on learning, but there are many more benefits of this learning method.
Having your children learn by doing can be great for them, but are you wondering what else you can do to help improve your child’s education?
Thankfully, we have more information for you, so make sure you check out our website as well!
Read More: Why Is It Beneficial For Students To Learn Robotics After School?
