Making Learning Fun and Exciting to Young People
In informal learning situations, youth leaders need special ways to engage young learners and hold their interest.
Why is This a Key?
- Planning sets the stage for quality learning. A well-run meeting or activity feels more comfortable to the learners.
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Involvement of youth increases their interest. Encourage them to:
- set their own goals and pick learning topics of personal interest;
- share the teaching and help each other learn.
- Young people learn in different ways and at different rates. Some are more interested in what is being learned. Others focus on how they can learn it. Others are really concerned with why they need to know. Some youth like to ask, what if? What happens if I use the knowledge in a certain way?
Keys to Understanding
Variety is the spice of life. Lessons presented in various ways will not seem repetitive. Use a variety of teaching styles. Some popular techniques are:
- Inviting a guest speaker — Guest speakers can reinforce previous material as well as present new topics. Members can be involved in welcoming the guest and writing “thank you” notes after the visit.
- Using models and visual aids — Pictures and props can help get details of important points across, and can provide a “hands on” experience to involve other kinds of learning.
- Playing a game based on the material — Quiz games and simulations can be effective ways of reviewing facts or assessing skill development. Small prizes can be important reinforcers.
- Discussing the information — Members are often energized when they get the chance to state their feelings and ideas.
- Asking a member to demonstrate a technique or describe information — Often both the audience and the presenter benefit from this technique, which boosts self esteem of demonstrators.
- Using role plays to examine a topic — Putting themselves in someone else’s shoes can help members understand other viewpoints or handle difficult situations.
- Taking a field trip — Often an exciting change, it allows members to broaden their range of experiences.
Young people learn more in a secure, caring environment. Youth learn more when they know adult leaders care about them personally and reward their achievements.
What Key People are Saying
I hear and I forget. I see and I remember. I do and I understand — K’ung Fu Tzu (Confucius), China, 600 B.C.
Members find out what they like and choose their own projects. Adults help the officers, and the members really go for the idea of running their own club. — Rosetta Johnson, Cuyahoga County 4-H Advisor, 1999
Young people remember about: 10% of what they read; 20% of what you say to them; 30% of what they see in a picture; 50% of what they watch in a video; 70% of what they tell others about after they have learned it; and 90% of what they show others how to do and explain after they learn it. — Teaching Techniques for Volunteer 4-H Advisors, 1989
Learning in 4-H should be a total body experience. — Ohio 4-H Youth Development Agent, 2001
Keying In
Below are five examples of 4-H leaders who used creative techniques to make learning more enjoyable. Pick two that you like and describe an example of how you could use with your Club.
- We made a “pin the vegetable on the plant” game using pictures of vegetables to teach members which ones came from which part of the plant.
- We took some of our animals to a nursing home for residents to pet. This helps members learn about the elderly, and about caring for others.
- We took a field trip to the Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center to help club members understand how science is used in growing flower and food crops.
- We invited a fire fighter to a meeting to show us how to “stop, drop and roll.”
- Our members did demonstrations about foods or crafts or other items from their family heritage.
Key Resources
- 4-H Green Pages 4-H Advisors Handbook (1995)
Columbus, OH, The Ohio State University, pp. 18―21 - Hall, Larry, Nonformal Teaching Methods (1999)
Extension Fact Sheet 4H-018-99, Columbus, Ohio, The Ohio State University - Teaching Techniques for Volunteer 4-H Advisors (1989)
Columbus, Ohio, Ohio State University Extension
Teaching Outlines
We hope you found this material helpful. If you did and would like to use it as the topic of a training session with other youth leaders (time - Approx. 1 hour), select the topic(s) of interest to you below, fill in your E-mail Address and click “Send!”send this page to us at the address below:
4-H Keys for Leaders
2490 Lee Boulevard, Suite 108
Cleveland Heights, OH 44118
We will contact you with more information about our Teaching Outlines.
