One of the biggest challenges that teachers face when they teach children in elementary school is to make learning fun and enjoyable. Although we start to treat elementary school children like adults they are really just little children. They would rather play outside with their friends or watch a movie than focus on homework. Even the most studious of children can start to get anxious if they stay inside studying all day. As a teacher your goal is not only to impart important information; teachers need to teach their students that learning is a good thing. There is no better gift you can give to a student in elementary school than that of a love of learning. At such a young age the students are really like putty in your hands. Give them a bad learning experience and they just might hate learning forever.
The best way to make learning fun is to incorporate something lively and youthful into the process. This is especially true for young elementary school children, although older kids will get more out of learning if it is exciting. One activity that I have found tends to really draw kids in is a coloring craft. I’m not just talking about coloring coloring books, I mean actual educational activities that incorporate coloring. You would be amazed to find just how much of a difference doing a little coloring can make.
For example, if you are trying to teach your elementary school child about particular parts of the body, use an anatomy coloring book. Have the class color different body parts with different colors. This will make learning a bunch of anatomical terms much more interesting. It will also force the child to focus more on each part of the body. The same can be done for any lesson involving something with parts. The parts of a leaf, a tree, a machine, or even an organization can be diagrammed and then colored. If there is some sort of complicated system that the children need to learn and memorize you should try having them color it with distinct colors. When they try to remember it in the future the colors will create a pattern of associations.
Another great craft is to take a drawing of a famous work of art and have your elementary school child fill in the appropriate colors. Provide them with an image of the original painting or print. This will help the children gain a greater appreciation for fine art. They will start to get a better idea of what goes into a great masterpiece. They will also start to gain an intimate knowledge of art and artwork. If a child really enjoys this activity you just might help them to realize a love of art that could stick with them for the rest of their lives.
Another fun craft involves coloring a natural scene. Provide the children with a selection of landscape coloring pages. Provide them with images if necessary, but allow them to try to get the right colors. If students do particularly well at these crafts you should provide some sort of prize.
As you can see, there are all sorts of coloring crafts that elementary aged kids can use to learn great stuff. When you use these crafts you will find that your students are much more enthusiastic about learning in general. They will feel like they are creatively involved in the learning process. Don’t settle for the same old boring homework; if your students can incorporate coloring into their routine they will learn to love learning.