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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we love baking together, usually rice crispie buns, it teaches taking turns, a little bit of chemistry (solids to liquid back to solid) colours from the smarties we add, and counting from the marshmallows we add. Finally self discipline eating one after dinner is all eaten up.

We like to do treasure hunts in the house with clues, whether they be spelling clues, guess the words or reading clues. Brilliant way of teaching the kids the different items in the house with a bit of maths and spelling thrown in

When they are little lots of singing songs, talking to them, reading books together at bedtime and just playing. In my opinion, they learn so much through these simple interactions with adults.

best way to learn is to talk and sing

We incorporate learning into everything we do i.e. with baking we'll get the kids to count as they put in the spoonfuls of ingredients, or get them to weigh things out.

At bedtime we'll encourage the eldest to read along with the story etc. Learning doesn't have to be a chore and it's great to make it fun for kids as then it's like playing. :)

Learning I need more patience!

The only way I could teach my son anything when he was a toddler was through cars (he was absolutely mad on them, still is at 10...) - we did counting, colours, even textures - driving them through sand, paint etc.

Luckily, his nursery/pre-school embraced this too and joined in with the programme!

The best thing to teach them is it dosen't matter if it all goes wrong.Try again and make a big deal of it when they do succeed.

I try to focus roughly on a new topic a month. That said, I think my lo gets a lot of education early in her preschool so I want her to relax and play with learning as a side product when I'm with her.

Last month we looked at light and dark. We looked at objects through a homemade light box, made shadow puppets and had a glow in the dark bath at Halloween.

Singing nursery rhymes

Playing with them is the best way for them to learn things.

I think the best way for young kids to learn is through play, I love toys that let their imagination run wild. For older kids you have to tailor it to their interests so if you have a kids that loves dinosaurs find local activities/events about dinosaurs and use online resources to get them to "count the dinosaurs" and also by adding fun rewards it will help motivate them.

If your stuck for ideas there is always such a wide variety from mom bloggers on line and some of them have amazing ideas but you will have to test them out to see if they work for your kids!

Make learning fun by playing when they are little and by involving real life situations. Mine learned colours by looking at cars when out and about and larger numbers by shouting out house numbers on the way back from nursery.

I like to give them a variety if activities to do and try and link examples to real life

I always use alphabet blocks to make words and Numbers on jigsaws, they love learning that way

I give my kids pocket money weekly, out of that they have to put a little in a charity box, monthly we will sit together and count it, they put it in little bundles, I get them to talk about the differences in money (colour, size, amount) helps with counting, thinking, talking, reasoning, being charitable, kind. Hopefully all round better people.

i try to do alot of arts and crafts whilst learning i feel when the kids are making things there are more likely to remember the fun thingss they made and the lesson behind them

We use the pieces from our son's Mega Bloks train to make a rocket at the moment as he's 4 and obsessed with space. He tries to get the numbers in order so we can do the reverse countdown to blast off!

we make everything a game, I know all the answers but pretend I don't so she feels she has a fighting chance of winning while also learning!

Making learning fun is key. Walking upstairs, simply count each step. Gardening, find the bugs, plants, weeds & count/name them. Walks, make it a nature hunt. Learning through play too.

My sons favourite car journey game is for us to fire maths questions at him & work them out.

It seems to have been a benefit as he is a whizz at maths now!

When my eldest was reluctant to read, a friend mentioned that she needs a book she want's to read and one she can read on her own - one with her favourite words in that she knows. My daughter is very found of anything to do with rabbits, and unsuccessful in finding a book with rabbits as a subject with only words in that she knew, I got on the computer and made her one myself, and it worked. She will read it to her little brother most mornings and after school is happy to try other books. During parent's evening last week the teacher was very praiseful of how far she has now come with her reading and how much she now actively wants to learn in class. So sometimes we just need to take a step back and find a way of letting them prove to themselves that they can do it, and then it becomes fun and not a chore. I also leave nice little notes everywhere, which she finds as a game wanting to know what they say and actively learning to read them for herself.

i think its important to make learning fun for children - this way they take more in and stay focused. I often bring their interests into learning. My son loves cars so i will encourage him to count them, look at the colours and make patterns with them and so on. I also ensure as a family we have plenty of family time which includes learning even tho my children aren't aware. So it could be doing a puzzle together, going on a number walk or writing a story with my daughter

Throughout the different ages and stages that children go through, NEVER let them know that what they are doing is learning! Approach everything as a game and if they start to wander or get bored then stop and change tack. Also never underestimate them and what they can do. If they are 3 don't be afraid to try playing a game aimed at 4 year olds. Sometimes they get bored because they are not challenged.