As I talked about different learning styles in this post, one I want to focus on in a different context is tactile or kinesthetic learning.
As adults we tend to think this is more hands-on, interactive lessons. Cooking, art, sports, fit all these categories. In terms of children, we tend to think of it as learning through play.
Children’s brains are wired to learn through play.
How many toddlers ages 2 to 4 do you know, who can sit still for a lecture, doesn’t matter the length.
On the other hand, have you seen a toddler play in a pile of dirt? How long have they done that?
My point here is, what we as adults equate with learning, is not always what learning has to be.
What is play based learning?
Play based learning is lessons delivered through hands-on activities rather than lectures or more ‘serious’ methods.
Maybe we should rename learning through play as using applicable life skills.
An obvious example of this is children who play store or house. They learn through observing these interactions, and then use them in their play scenarios. They’re practicing shop interactions or family interactions.
This is a form of processing new information.
Another example of learning a life skill through a ‘play setting’ is a kid playing in a sandbox. You may be thinking what life skill or are they learning from the sandbox. They’re learning fine motor skills. They have sensory input on how to control their muscles. They’re learning about spatial awareness. They’re learning how different materials work in different ways. Even about gravity when their hole collapses in on itself.
These are all theoretical lessons that we can learn as adults, but it’s way more fun to dig that hole and have it collapse as your example of gravity than to sit in a lecture hall with 200 other people.
The importance of play-based learning
Children’s brains are wired to learn through play.
How many toddlers ages 2 to 4 do you know who can sit still for a lecture, doesn’t matter the length.
On the other hand, have you seen a toddler play in a pile of dirt? How long have they done that?
My point here is, what we as adults equate with learning, is not always what learning has to be.
What are the benefits of a play based language curriculum?
A play based learning curriculum incorporates the kinesthetic learning style more than traditional curriculums.
This helps the students with a kinesthetic dominant learning style access the language easier and helps provide all students more methods to learn the language.
How can you learn a language through play?
You learn language through play the same way you learned your first language as a child.
First vocabulary, then grammar, and then lots of practice.
Children learn their first language by listening to their parents talk to them, talk around them, and learning vocabulary by association.
They don’t have this expectation of learning a language fluently in a short period of time.
They learn the words that are relevant to them or interest them and build from there. This is called functional vocabulary by the way. While I do know of a few two-year-olds who consider Tyrannosaurus rex part of their functional vocabulary, most of them prefer their favorite food or toys.
Now for adults learning a foreign language, consider your daily activities. If you don’t learn the words relevant to you, you won’t learn the language. Those relevant words are called functional vocabulary.
It can be as simple as learning the words around food to start. Everyone needs to eat. What’s the phrase for I’m eating, you’re eating, that’s tasty, more please.
You can learn the words for your most common foods or foods you can’t have (important for travelers with allergies!).
If it bothers you to learn through ‘play’ don’t consider it play but functional learning. It works for your life.
Fun ways to play and learn languages at home
First, consider the ‘activity’ you want to start with. It can be something you enjoy or something that you dislike but it has to be an activity you do often, daily is best. Let’s use cooking for example.
Second, gather some vocabulary around that activity. Labels some basic utensils and pots and pans. Learn the words for mixing, stirring, to cook, and to bake.
Now, everytime you are cooking in your kitchen, use those words in your target language. It will feel weird at first narrating what you’re doing but it will help, I promise!
You could also play a word scavenger hunt with your children or friends (I have had adult friends do this too!) I recommend picking a category of words to stick with. Then create flashcards of just the word in your target language, with a hint on the other side, to find in the house. For example, if the word is das Kopfkissen, the hint would be ‘your Kopf rests here’. (It’s a pillow!)
Final thoughts to leave you with; learning through play is learning through doing, even if it feels a lot more like play. So why can’t adults play too?
