Play is the foundation of learning, writes Louise Jelli in "Play to Learn: Building Literacy in the Early Years." While her book focuses on building cognitive skills in younger children, Jelli's contention that children learn best when they are having fun is echoed by Barbara Sher, author of "Smart Play: 101 Fun, Easy Games That Enhance Intelligence." Sher notes that children retain knowledge learned under pleasant circumstances far better than they retain knowledge associated with stress and tension. Both authors--and other education experts--emphasize the importance of engaging different senses and types of play to encourage learning in smart kids.
Pretend Games
Games of make-believe encourage children of all ages to think outside their own experience. In the earliest years, toddlers learn by imitating the adults around them--playing house, pretend cooking and dressing up as a firefighter, police officer or doctor, for instance, all encourage children to exercise their imagination and start learning important skills. As children acquire language skills, writes Jelli, parents can expand games of "Let's Pretend" to include storytelling, which helps children develop sequencing skills and logic and encourages them to imagine themselves in other lives.
Action Games
Kinesthetic learning--learning through movement--is both deeper and simpler than having a child trace a big letter "A" in order to learn its shape. When your child takes one-two-three-four-five hops forward in a simple game of "Mother, May I," he is practicing his number skills in a nonthreatening environment. Other common action games may help children understand spatial concepts--put it under the table, for instance, or go through the circle. Hand-clapping games, jump rope and hopscotch all help teach patterns, counting and spatial awareness, vital components of learning.
Pen and Paper Games
Break out the pen and paper to challenge older children. Word searches and similar games encourage kids to stretch their mental muscles by picking words out of the surrounding field. Sudoku and magic squares help kids develop number skills and recognize patterns. You don't need activity books and game books to play pen and paper games, though. Have your child write his full name at the top of a piece of paper, then try to make as many words as possible out of the letters. Even a game as simple as tic-tac-toe pushes your child to start thinking strategically.
Classic Board Games
Help your child develop strategic planning and thinking skills with a shelf of classic board games, such as chess, checkers and backgammon. Seemingly simple games, such as Mankala and Go, can teach children to think ahead and plan through several turns, and these games will grow with your child as he learns more complex thinking skills. Scrabble is another game that encourages several different kinds of thinking, while both Risk and Monopoly include an element of chance that rewards flexible thinking.
Travel and Car Games
Travel and car games cut out boredom while stretching brain cells on long car trips. Strike up a game of Ghost, a word-building game in which each player tries to add a letter to an ongoing word without adding the last letter. Challenge your kids to find the letters of their names in road signs or license tags--in order, if you want to make it really challenging.
References
- "Play to Learn: Building Literacy in the Early Years"; Louise Jelli; 2006
- "Smart Play: 101 Fun, Easy Games That Enhance Intelligence"; Barbara Sher; 2004
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