Everything You Need To Know About Hands-On Learning

A very young child first learns about their environment through observation. Despite their limited sense of touch, sight, and hearing, young children can identify their parents, siblings, and peers. Then, they will start to recognize colors and sounds as they grow. Young children will quickly approach the source of stimuli and touch it using their hands in most cases.

The idea behind hands-on learning focuses on a child’s sense of touch and sensual stimulation. From their first interactions to their formative years, the learning capability of children has always circled around their curiosity. Hands-on learning aims to continue this and achieve a smooth learning experience.

What is Hands-On Learning?

Educational institutions indicate hands-on learning as allowing children to learn by activity and experience. In hands-on learning, the teacher becomes a facilitator, and the children will share their experiences or do the activity in their own way.

Hands-on learning is also applicable to science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) lessons. The activities are designed to frame the child’s everyday life along the subjects and allow them to identify STEM problems and when and where to use them. For example, a teacher may use a child’s favorite set of toys as an example of a counting problem. The appeal of their toys as part of lessons and using the toys themselves to count is a great example of hands-on learning.

In engineering, hands-on learning is important. It shows the most accurate method for performing, calculating, or designing. Theoretical lessons will inform but never build the muscle memory involved in building, designing, and calculating in engineering subjects that hands-on learning can.

A minor engineering or calculating error can result in an imbalance or malfunction later. With hands-on learning, students can confidently perform their tasks because of muscle memory.

Benefits of Hands-On Learning

Improve Children’s Skills

Hands-on learning works well with young children. It can improve their cognitive skills. This allows them to recognize the world around them, the elements in a problem they must solve, and a better understanding of everyday life.

Hands-on activities require children to discuss specific details and instances with their instructors. They will also need to talk to their peers during group discussions and interactions. This type of learning will improve a child’s speaking skills.

Children naturally welcome other children, especially if they’re doing similar activities. If they need to solve a problem together in a hands-on manner, young children can easily interact and help each other effectively. A child’s social skills also improve greatly because of hands-on learning.

Hands-on activities help children achieve emotional stability and help themselves. Recognizing that they can solve problems gives them the confidence to tackle more activities and situations alone. They may demonstrate independence and a willingness to face challenges without any doubt about their capabilities.

The positive perception of STEM encourages children to think with logic and appreciate the sense of the world around them effectively. Researchers have found that hands-on activities related to STEM subjects greatly improve a child’s perception of these challenging lessons. The facilitator can help them explore and identify solutions on their own.

Improved Developmental Skills

Hands-on learning involves operating and doing something with your hands. For young children, using simple tools to create simple objects can put them in a positive mood and improve their developmental skills. Hands-on learning done properly gives children enough space to experiment and fail. This will help them understand that failing is practical and can build their critical thinking.

Many instructors and researchers have found hands-on learning to develop a child’s visual, auditory, tactile, and kinesthetic capabilities.

Real-Life Experiences as Lessons

Theoretical lessons can feel too abstract for young children to understand at times. By using situations they can empathize with, children become engaged and perceive the lessons realistically. This gives them motivation and insight on how to solve real-world problems in the future.

Thoroughly Engaging

As we’ve mentioned earlier, children have always learned their lessons through playing. It is the very first activity that they’ve used their hands and focused on something for a long period. Hands-on activities work in the same way. It will continue to teach them intuitively, allowing them to adapt to more challenging and complex lessons in the future.

Examples of Hands-On Activities

For very young children, the following hands-on activities can stimulate their curiosity.

Cutting
Sticking
Molding
Sorting
Manipulating
Cooking
Mixing
Analyzing
Logic