Tell Mega Bloks the ways you make learning fun for your children - £300 voucher to be won NOW CLOSED

[JustineBMumsnet]

There’s no doubt that your children think playing is great fun, but they might not always feel quite the same about learning. Mega Bloks would like to hear about the games you play with your children that might sneakily teach them things they’ll need to know in the future, or the techniques you’ve developed to make learning fun for your children.

Here’s what Mega Bloks have to say: “Every parent wants what’s best for their children. They want to build them up, and so do we at Mega Bloks. The block scooping wagon helps your DC reach important physical milestones, such as developing balance, co-ordination and motor skills. In stacking tall towers, children learn to develop their creativity. In telling stories with characters, they’re exploring their imaginations. And in building make-believe worlds where they can be the hero, they’re also building up the confidence to be anything!”

See the Mega Bloks block scooping wagon in action below:

So, whether you pretend to be at the supermarket and teach them how to count change or get them to learn about road signs while playing with cars, share your ways of getting your child to enjoy learning, or to make playing educational for their future.

All those who post a comment below will be entered into a prize draw where one MNer will win a £300 Toys R Us voucher.

Thanks, and good luck with the prize draw!

MNHQ

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I'll tell you what I don't do - I don't buy my daughter ridiculous pink and lilac blocks with tiaras on them just because she is a girl.

When DD is learning to read I make funny voices and she loves it... when I help her with math I try to get her to visualize say her favourite cuddly toy and then get some others and do simple tasks which she also enjoys! :)

I really enjoy making up fun songs to teach my children things, normally I make them up off the top of my head but the kids enjoy it and the more we sing the more they remember!

Learning we do is all through play. Simple walk outside we spot door numbers and we play "I spy with phonetics". We draw with chalk/ stone or even water. We learn about the science of rain and trees and human body through interesting conversations

My wife (who's a teacher) takes on the role of Headteacher, my daughter takes the role of teacher and I'm the pupil. We both do work which is marked by the Headteacher

We love playing shops in our house and find that it encourages role play and learning

i make learning fun by keeping it short and sweet and including role play x

By having a relaxed atmosphere and learning through play.

I taught my oldest son maths by using coins (1p, 10p, £1)

I bought a cash till, made a shop and I used to ask him to change my 1p coins for 10p etc and he learnt about units, ten, hundred etc as well as basic addition and subtraction.

One of my children hated writing so we used to walk in the woods and I would start a story and then they would continue it and between us we would tell a story (usually spooky) which meant he learnt to enjoy the skills of creative writing without the physical writing getting in the way.

Break it down into steps so it doesn't feel that we are learning for a long time and then bring games into and you tube as he's obsessed with the kindle.

You can make up games about pretty much anything you want to teach them, making things fun changes everything!

I have always had fun doing experiments with my children - pinterest has lots of good ideas. As they have got older I have found it harder but using technology can be helpful - we sometimes set up scavenger hunts where they have to take photos of what they find. When they were younger we did colour hunts or sound hunts

Although there are 7 learning styles the following 3 are the most used.

Auditory learners prefer listening to explanations over reading them and may like to study by reciting information aloud. This type of learner may want to have background music while studying, or they may be distracted by noises and need a quiet space to study.

Kinesthetic learners learn by doing and touching. They may have trouble sitting still while studying, and they are better able to understand information by writing it down or doing hands-on activities.

Visual learners process new information by reading, looking at graphics, or watching a demonstration. Children with this learning style can grasp information presented in a chart or graph,pictures etc but they may grow impatient listening to an explanation.

As you may not know your child's learning style ie due to their young age it is important to make sure that all of the 3 above styles are incorporated into any of their learning. By doing so you can make their learning varied, interesting and most importantly make sure that their learning is fun, fun, fun.

I buy my 2 year old granddaughter interactive toys books that show animals, jigsaws that show shapes and bricks that teach colours also play doe where we can make things

we use singing i am quite good at dittys so we turn it into song...fun and easier to remember things

Cooking and Recipes is a great way to learn - I have them read the recipe and help with the measuring and adapting the recipe to use their maths

We do it together using fun games like quizes and spelling bs

Make everything into a game so they don't realise they are learning. Keep sessions short and fun. Don't get angry or let your child get frustrated.....stop immediately if this happens. Don't attempt if child is tired.

My 3 year old great niece loves to help her GG with her colouring so we teach her all the colours while she helps & there are 36 pens in the pack so we get her to count too

It's all about communication! I worry about the number of mums I see that are on their mobile phones and not engaging with their children and we wonder why their vocabulary is so poor. I feel the key to learning is engaging your child and making your everyday tasks part of their day too. Count the stairs! count carrots! Write the shopping list together, get them to find things at the supermarket! You don't need a teaching degree!

PS my daughter loved ridiculous pink and lilac blocks and anything with tiaras 😊 She also loved blue ones!!!

I try to make learning fun and hands on, for instance if we are doing weights and measures we will cook or make cakes together, reading is getting the ingredients from the shops, it's learning without stress.

We do lots of colouring, sticking with stickers and junk modelling it's so creative and fun.

I taught my boys through play, building with blocks, painting colouring in and they loved searching for mini beasts in the garden :)

I think for children playing through learning is the best way to go. We have a variety of toys at home for a range of material but it never feels like learning when we're playing . It's an amazing feeling when they start to learn though counting the numbers with you etc