Child Learning Game

The way children learn is incredible. 

Nature has given them so many tools that they can use to learn various concepts, ideas and behaviors.  The ‘learning kid’ is a veritable sponge of information, but they can easily become overwhelmed if you do not control the flow properly.  Allowing the learning kid access to just the right information at the right time can result in a happy, successful youth. 

Games play an important role in learning.  Kid games, the kind that are played in kindergarten, usually have some important learning function.  Most of the time, this is role-play or make-believe -so how does this help the learning kid?  Role-playing is valuable at all stages of our lives, but no more so than in childhood.  It can teach us to understand new perspectives, learn about historic events, express your individuality and learn to get

along with our peers.

Most of the time the learning kid won’t even know they are being taught, and will simply take up the game as a bit of fun. We run a kindergarten school, and we are constantly amazed by how often children take to role-playing and make-believe all by themselves.

Kids play at being firemen, police officers, construction workers, parents and doctors – all positive roles for them to be learning.  Kid games like these are important, as they teach us how to get into the mind of another person and understand how they work.

One of the most important things that the learning kid will get from role-playing is the ability to cooperate with others.  The maintenance of a fantasy scenarion requires that all participants be “on the same level” – they must all be imagining the same thing at the same time. 

This builds a strong sense of interdependence and allows children to see that they need the input of others in order to find fulfillment from a game.  While independence is also encouraged, group cooperation is a far more important life skill. Children learn by imitating, and the learning kid will pick up any behavior they see.

The easiest way to teach a child something – including a role-playing game – is to show them.  Join in whenever possible, and if you can stop by your child’s kindergarten an hour early to see what they made that day.  Do the same if possible to positively reinforce the skill that the child has learnt, and to reinforce the behavior of creating with the collaboration of others.