UNIVERSITY OF CALOOCAN CITY

Graduate School
Tulip St. Area C. Camarin Caloocan City

Discussant: SY, JHOANA MARIE R.

Course: Master of Arts in Teaching Early Grades
Subject: INSTRUCTIONAL APPROACHES AND TECHNIQUES IN ART EDUCATION
Course Code: MATG 310
Date: April 2,2022
Professor: Dr. Mary Grace R. Pelagio

Topic: HANDS- ON LEARNING

OBJECTIVES:

1. Define Learning and Hands-On learning.

2. Discuss the benefits of Hands-On Learning.
3. Gives example of Hands-On learning.

LEARNING CONTENT:

Learning is defined as a process that brings together personal and environmental

experiences and influences for acquiring, enriching, or modifying one’s knowledge,
skills, values, attitudes, behavior, and world views. Learning theories develop
hypotheses that describe how this process takes place.

Hands-On Learning is a form of education in which children learn by doing. Instead

of simply listening to a teachers or instructor lecture about a give subject, the student
engages with the subject matter to solve a problem or create something.

1. Experiential Learning Theory by David A. Kolb

- is the process of learning through experience , and is more narrowly defined
as “learning through reflection on doing”
2. Learning by doing by John Dewey
- It’s a hands-on approach to learning, meaning students must interact with their
environment to adapt and learn.

THE BENEFITS OF HANDS-ON LEARNING

Hands-on learning is the process of learning by actually doing and experiencing

something, rather than just being told about it. The term “hands-on” is used because these
activities usually involve the physical use of the hands.
 Hands-on learning is particularly important for young children, as this is how they
are programmed to learn. Children learn from observing, copying, and experimenting with
their hands and body as soon as they are born, and play continues to be the most
important way of learning new skills until they reach school age and beyond.

❖ IT’S MORE FUN AND ENGAGING

Children can develop skills much faster when they’re having fun. For example,
teaching the alphabet and basic letter forming skills can quickly become boring for
young children with traditional pencil and paper or flashcards.
Instead, allowing them to use a tray of sand or shaving foam to trace out letters
with their fingers, or providing playdough or clay to form the letters is a fun activity that
won’t seem difficult or intimidating. Not only is it more enjoyable to learn about letters in
this way, but children are also more likely to remember how to form the letters better
than more traditional literacy exercises.

❖ ALLOWS LEARNING FROM REAL EXPERIENCES

Boring and mundane activities for adults can become fun learning experiences for
young children. In their early years, Toddler’s love to copy their parents with basic tasks
around the house like sweeping and folding clothes, and while their initial attempts may
not be exactly helpful, they’ll be learning important physical and behavioral skills to use
in later life. Using actual experiences to learn concepts and skills is much more effective
than simply being told about them, as in the proverb: “Tell me, I’ll forget; show me, I’ll
remember; involve me, I’ll understand.” If you ever doubt this principle, just think about
how many people learn to drive from reading a book.

❖ ENCOURAGES INTERACTION WITH NATURE

Spending time outdoors engaging with nature and exploring activities such as
farming, and gardening are wonderful types of hands-on learning for the early years.
Interacting with nature has been proven to be important for people of all ages, aiding
optimal physical and mental health. It’s potentially even more important to encourage a
love of the outdoors from a young age and encourage natural experimentation and
interaction with the world outside the classroom. Being outside certainly provides more
opportunities to run around and burn off steam, which as any care of young children will
know is a necessity to keep them happy and reduce behavioral problems, as well as
staying healthy and active.

❖ ALLOW EXPLORATION OF ALL FIVE SENSES

Anyone with young children will know that mess is inevitable but messy play is not just
an inconvenience for adults – in fact it’s an important way for young children to learn
about the world. Activities such as messy and sensory play allow children to make their
own discoveries about materials and carry out their own mini experiments to learn about
the world. Messy play can be a multi-sensory experience, involving sight, touch, smell,
sound, and even taste. Engaging multiple senses has been shown to help children
learn and remember more effectively.

Exploring different tactile materials such as sand, water, paint, dough, and slime can
also be a social activity and can encourage language development as children learn
new vocabulary to describe the texture and properties of different materials.

❖ ENGAGE MULTIPLE AREAS OF THE BRAIN

During early childhood the brain is developing fast, with the first six years being
recognized as a critical period for development. The brain is split into two sides or
hemispheres, with each side responsible for different skills, as well as controlling the
opposite side of the body.
The right side of the brain, most active during early childhood, is engaged by visual and
spatial activities, as well as anything involving creativity and the imagination. The more
analytical left side that deals with skills like logic and mathematics does not start to
develop in most children until the age of 10 or 11.
When multiple activities such as talking, listening, and using the hands are combined, it
activates more areas of the brain than a single activity. This helps to aid learning and
recollection in the same way that multi-sensory play does.

❖ BUILD FINE MOTOR SKILLS

Any activity that involves the hands such as cutting, sticking, sorting, molding, or
manipulating helps to develop the fine precision that is needed for important real-world
tasks like tying shoelaces and writing with a pen.
Hands-on activities help children to strengthen the muscles of the hand, improve
accuracy, and learn functional skills that they will use for the rest of their lives.

EXAMPLES OF HANDS-ON LEARNING ACTIVITIES

• playdough
• building blocks
• sand
• obstacle courses
• baking
• gardening
• art activities
CONCLUSION:

Hands-on learning combines the use of the senses and the important concept of
learning through play. This method of learning challenges the brain into thinking and
solving problems.

The wonderful positive factor of hands-on learning is it lends itself to all the three
learning styles. It promotes the early development of both sides of the brain, increases
neural pathways, and begins developing young minds at the very early stage of
learning.

Hands-on learning is the ideal learning tool for learners.

REFERENCES:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Experiential_learning#Comparisons
https://appletreekindergarten.com/blog/benefits-hands-learning-children/
https://empoweredparents.co/hands-on-learning/
https://www.playgroupqld.com.au/the-benefits-of-messy-play/
https://journal.imse.com/multi-sensory-instruction-in-the-classroom/
https://penfieldbuildingblocks.org/developmental-milestones/importance-fine-motor-skill-
development/