You often need to think outside the box a little to get kids excited about history. But it is easier than you think. Some alternatives to classes can help them appreciate history and help them understand their studies better. Give these a try if your kids are finding history a bit boring!
A Family Day Out
History can be fun for all the family. A family day out is a great way to help kids appreciate the history of a local place by immersing them in an environment. Museums are a perfect example. The Charleston museum is an excellent local attraction featuring natural and cultural history. And there are tons of these kinds of places all over the world. Almost every town and city has its own museum documenting the real history of the place and you can support the funding too!
Historical Video Games
Some parents don’t like their kids playing video games. But they aren’t all about shooting things! There are many educational video games, some of which don’t even feel like studying. Your kids can learn a great deal about real history with games such as Civilization VI, the Total War series of games, and even Assassin’s Creed to a degree! Games like Civ also feature archives and “pedias” filled with the history they can read as a supplement to gaming for extra knowledge.
Get Kids Excited About History with Books
Further to reading, this is perhaps the most common way to try to teach kids about history and everything else. Some kids get bored of reading. But studies show that 70% of children between 6 and 8 years old love to read. Books aimed at kids stimulate their brains with pop-ups, vivid colors, and vibrant illustrations. This makes family education easier for the kids to understand and imprints the data into their minds. Some even come with interactive elements to play with!
Shows That Make History Fun
Screen time should be limited. But what about when it is educational? Is there too much screen time, then? This is up to you as a parent. Fortunately, not all kids’ TV shows are action-packed nonsense. There are a few shows that are aimed at making history fun for children. One of the most beloved is Horrible Histories from the BBC. There are various incarnations based on the Romans, Egyptians, and British Royalty. It has also spawned numerous movies as well.
Getting Up Close and Personal
The best way to learn about something is to get hands-on! This is true for adults and children. When it comes to history, there is only so much a child will appreciate from school text books. Most of that data goes in and back out again! But when kids are immersed in something they take it in much more efficiently. For example a visit to a castle, local museum or a heritage site like StoneHenge will make treasured memories all while learning about something too!
Summary
A family day out helps get kids excited about history. Interactive books will also help. But kids learn much more efficiently when they get up close and hands-on with something.
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