About Families Online

Feature Articles for September, 2003

Make Education Entertaining for Kids
Many children have trouble focusing on their schoolwork with the distractions of today’s world. So, how do parents keep their children entertained and educated at the same time?

The answer to this question is simple: Make education into an entertaining experience. Parents can get their young students fired up about studying by using any one, or a combination, of the following techniques:

• Encourage reading. Find books and magazines that kids enjoy and create reading comprehension activities around them. If children read frequently, their reading skills will steadily improve. This improvement will help them excel in all areas of their studies.

• Go on trips to historical museums or science centers to keep their brains active. Young students like things that they can see in person, and many museums have interactive children’s areas to give them hands-on experiences with subjects like
science, history, and art.

• Play trivia or mathematical games such as Jeopardy, chess, checkers,
or dominoes. Games like these make children associate learning with fun.

• Have young ones budget their spending money for mathematical purposes. This activity teaches them fiscal responsibility and math at the same time, which is important as this
experience will serve them well for many years.

• Have kids watch films that mix entertainment with educational messages. Many major Hollywood releases intertwine large amounts of educational value with plots that children and parents can enjoy together. A current Hollywood release that does just that is “The Core.” This particular film may encourage middle school and high school students to think about Earth science and our place on the planet. Note that this is a PG-13 film. Parents can increase the educational value of films such as this by watching the movie with their children and explaining confusing scenes or concepts.

Again, the key is to make education into an entertaining experience.