Learning styles and preferences can take many different shapes. Some people prefer to learn visually, while others prefer to listen. Some people like reading and writing, while others prefer a more tactile approach. Experiential learning is a familiar buzzword in the education world which assists students in developing positive attitudes about life, inspires responsibility, promotes community involvement, and helps students better understand their own strengths and shortcomings.
According to research, students recall 75% of what they do, 5% of what they hear, and 10% of what they read. Experiential learning keeps students interested and paying attention to the learning goal in a world where there are many distractions in the learning environment (think cell phones and other types of technology).
Now that you have hands-on information about what the topic caters to, take the next step to understand which experiential learning activities you can include in your lesson plan as adults and college students.
Experiential learning: Learn by doing interactive activities
Experiential learning, as we all know, is very different than both active learning, and traditional learning. In this section, we’ll walk you through these easy activities you can put in place to introduce experiential learning into your learning lessons.
1. Missing Word Game
Guess-the-word games and activities help captivate your teenagers from the start. The players must guess the correct word to score a point before their opportunities run out.
The number of participants:
Minimum – 2, Maximum – 10
You will need the following:
- A whiteboard and marker
- Paper and pen for keeping score
Setup:
Prepare a list of words or phrases from a specific subject of your choice.
How to play:
- The moderator or host will choose a word and draw a blank for each letter.
- The team members must guess the possible letters to fill in the blanks.
- If they get a letter correct, they guess again and continue until they obtain the entire word.
- If they get the letter wrong, the host will draw a portion of a stick figure.
- After the host finishes sketching the figure, the team has no more chances.
This game teaches teens to be cautious and correctly guess the word when using their chances. You can also design the game on any subject you like, including math, science, environmental science, history, geography, music, art, and movies.
2. Monopoly
Monopoly is one of the most popular fun learning games for teens. The game is about creating wealth and the hindrances one may face when trying to make money.
The number of participants:
Minimum – 2, Maximum – 6
You will need the following:
1 Monopoly board game
Setup:
- Read the game’s instructions and ensure you understand everything if your teen has any questions later.
- Each player receives $1500, which is divided into 500, 100, 50, 20, 10, 5, and 1 denominations. The amount and denominations can alter between game versions.
- The bank has the property deeds (cards) and the leftover funds.
How to play:
- One player must act as the banker, managing the trades that the other players wish to make. The banker controls the deeds, houses, and hotels players can construct on their sites.
- The game starts with the player who rolls the highest number on the dice.
- The number on the dice represents the number of moves the player must make on the board.
- When the player arrives in a city or territory, he or she can purchase it from the bank.
- If a player is landed on another player’s property by the roll of the dice, the owner collects the rent.
- Building residences or hotels on the property allows players to earn higher rent from others.
- The game can last for hours or until all, but one player runs out of money.
Monopoly introduces your youngster to the world of property trade and wealth accumulation while facing obstacles such as taxes, penalties, and even jail time.
3. Dumb Charades Or Mime Games
Dumb Charades, often known as mime games, may be a lot of fun. Charades are appropriate for children aged eight to fourteen. It’s similar to Pictionary, except players try to communicate a word or phrase instead of drawing on a board.
The number of participants:
Minimum – 4 Maximum – 10
You will need the following:
Paper and pen for keeping the score.
Setup:
The teacher or parent can create a list of subject-related words or phrases that your teenager is familiar with. Make little chits of paper with the words or phrases.
Playing Instructions:
- Divide the group of participants into teams of at least two.
- A group member selects a chit but does not read it aloud.
- The player must enact the word or phrase, and the other team member(s) must guess the word or phrase.
- If they get it right, the team gets the point.
Shy teenagers may be unwilling to play this game. Allow them to participate in the game, but only make them face the audience if they are willing.
4. Name That Song
Teenagers typically enjoy music. According to one study, students love listening to music while doing their schoolwork. According to Robert A. Cutietta, author of Raising Musical Kids: A Parent’s Guide, they listen to around 10,500 hours of music between the seventh and twelfth grades. If your teen enjoys music, here is a simple instructional game that he will like.
The number of participants:
Minimum – 2, Maximum – No Limit
You Will Need the following:
- A music player
- A collection of songs or an online library of songs.
- Paper and pen for keeping score.
Setup:
- One person can act as the moderator, with the others as participants. You can form groups and compete if there are more than five participants.
- It will take you at least a couple of hours to gather enough music for the game. Make sure to include pop music as well as other genres.
- The moderator should be aware of the artist’s name as well as the title of each song.
How to play:
- The moderator randomly selects a song from the library and plays it for 10 to 15 seconds.
- Teams or individuals will be allowed 30 seconds to come up with the artist’s name and the song’s title.
- If the first team fails, the question is passed on to the second. If no team gets it, make it a free-for-all question and urge participants to guess.
- If no one correctly answers, the moderator reveals the answer.
- You have the option of playing as many rounds as you wish.
You can modify the game by asking participants to identify the genre of music, the instrument being performed, and the chord (if the group has knowledge of music).
5. Word Reaction
The chain reaction is a simple game for building a teenager’s vocabulary.
The number of participants:
Minimum – 10, Maximum – NA
You will need the following:
- Sheets of paper
- Pens
Setup:
- Choose a topic appropriate for teenagers, such as cuisine, novels, names of people, animals, cities, songs, anything from nature, or a specific discipline such as biology, geography, or arithmetic.
- Inform the participants of the topic or theme; if in a school, write it on the board.
- Provide each participant with a sheet of paper and a pen.
- Request that they write the alphabet from A to Z vertically.
How to play:
- Allow your participants five minutes to brainstorm an alphabetical list of terms related to the theme or issue.
- The game begins when the first individual reads out a word that he or she has written.
- The following person must say a word that begins with the last letter of the first word.
- The game continues until all of the letters have been covered.
- Players who cannot provide a related term are eliminated.
You can play the game with different topics as often as you wish. The chain reaction is one of the most effective techniques to help learners remember and recall all they have learned.
6. Passing the ball
The goal of this game is not to be the one holding the ball.
The number of participants:
Minimum – 8, Maximum – 12
You will need the following:
Football or a stuffed-toy ball
Setup:
- Make the participants sit in a circle, with enough space between each other to pass the prop comfortably.
- Select a host or moderator to observe the game and identify ‘It.’
How to play:
- It is the guy holding the ball.
- The host or moderator asks a question and then commands, ‘Pass the ball.’
- When the moderator says “pass the ball,” answer the question before the prop returns to him. For instance, the host might say, “Name five baseball teams.” It requires the player to pass the ball and name five teams before the ball is returned to him.
- While the player answers the question, the other players must pass the ball.
- The player who has the ball at the end of the answer becomes the new ‘It’ and must answer the following question from the moderator.
- If the prop returns to the original holder before he or she can answer the question, they remain ‘It.’
This game pushes teens to think quickly and respond in order to avoid the host’s inquiries.
How to put experiential learning into practice?
You can use virtualization, cloud computing, augmented reality (AR), and virtual reality (VR) to provide, enhance, and accelerate remote experiential learning. Simple synchronous and asynchronous tools like video conferencing, discussion forums, e-portfolios, interactive surveys or games for skill testing, and remote labs for experimental work can be utilized for collaborative work. The influence of technology becomes clearer in this case.
Knowing the importance of feedback in education, receiving rapid, automatic feedback on performance in virtual environments, such as cloud-based games and quizzes, improves learners’ understanding of their strengths and limitations, allowing them to self-improve. The student is encouraged to reflect on their performance, absorb what works and what doesn’t, put their new skills to the test, and change their behavior to achieve better results as they participate in the activity.
- Determine ‘why’ you want to invest in experiential learning activities.
- Ensure that all materials that support all phases of the Experiential Learning Cycle are easily accessible to your staff. (The Experiential Learning Cycle consists of the following steps: learning by doing, reflecting, thinking, and applying what has been learned.)
- Maintain a strong feedback loop.
- Encourage it as part of the business culture rather than as a separate initiative.
Conclusion
Most teachers eventually realize that just providing material to a teenager does not ensure that it will be assimilated in a meaningful way. As a result, these examples of experiential learning activities highlight the value of experiential learning as a methodology.
Among other tools like books, apps, and quotes, experiential learning activities assist you in avoiding this issue by utilizing a student-centered strategy that enables participants to take learning into their own hands and apply it in an interesting environment.
You’ll be able to feel the exhilaration directly if you apply these exercises effectively. After all, the demonstrated success of experiential learning suggests that how your students are taught, rather than what they are taught, can make all the difference.
An engineer, Maths expert, Online Tutor and animal rights activist. In more than 5+ years of my online teaching experience, I closely worked with many students struggling with dyscalculia and dyslexia. With the years passing, I learned that not much effort being put into the awareness of this learning disorder. Students with dyscalculia often misunderstood for having just a simple math fear. This is still an underresearched and understudied subject. I am also the founder of Smartynote -‘The notepad app for dyslexia’,