Learning through experience: why children remember more when they can explore

Learning through experience means your child discovers new things with their own senses and their own hands. They see something, pick it up, try it out, name it and then talk about it with someone. This is the most natural way for preschoolers to learn. An experience links knowledge with movement, emotion and a story, which is why your child remembers it longer than a picture in a book or an explanation from an adult. Books and conversation have their place. They work best when they build on an experience.

Ask a three-year-old what they did at kindergarten and they will often say “nothing”. But ask what they saw at the farm, and they will tell you how a goat ate a piece of paper and how warm the egg was. That is exactly the difference between information and experience. In this article you will find what research says about learning through play, and ideas for experiences in each season. We have also put together an autumn treasure hunt, step by step, and three questions that turn an ordinary outing into learning.

A picture in a book and an experience: what is the difference

In the second column your child gains one piece of knowledge. In the third they gain several at once: words, concepts, movement, counting, working with friends and a strong emotion that helps them remember.

What research says about learning through play

In 2017 the Danish LEGO Foundation summarised research on how children learn through play. The authors, led by Jennifer Zosh, described five characteristics that tell you a child is really learning while they play:

1. Joy: your child laughs, is curious and enjoys both the discovery and a challenge they have mastered.
2. Meaning: the new experience connects with what your child already knows and has lived through.
3. Active engagement: your child is absorbed in the activity rather than watching from a distance.
4. Trying again: your child tries, gets it wrong, and tries again in a different way.
5. Playing together: your child shares ideas, talks and works with others.

The authors stress that play does not need all five at once. But the more it has, the better the conditions for learning. A good experience at kindergarten usually has all five.

The Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University adds one more important element, which it calls “serve and return”. A child points to or says something, and an adult responds: names the thing, asks about it or builds on it. According to the Harvard experts, these small exchanges build connections in a child’s brain that further learning rests on. During an experience there are naturally lots of them, because your child always has something to show you.

Why we remember an experience better

Try to remember something from your own childhood. You will probably recall a trip, the smell of your grandmother’s kitchen or a moment when you touched something for the first time. It will rarely be what was in a textbook. An experience is stored in memory along several paths at once:

• Senses: your child sees, hears, smells and touches. Each sense is another hook for pulling the memory back out.
• Movement: when your child runs, bends down and jumps while searching for a track, the knowledge links with the body.
• Emotion: surprise, joy or pride in themselves makes the memory stronger.
• Story: an experience has a beginning, a middle and an end. Your child can tell it, and in doing so remembers it again.

An experience with a purpose: how to tell your child is really learning

Not every trip is automatically learning. An experience turns into learning when the adult has a simple goal in mind and leaves the child room to explore. Before an activity, ask yourself these questions:

• What new thing should my child see, hear or try?
• Which new word or idea can they take away?
• Where will they have room to try on their own, even if they might get it wrong?
• When and how will we talk about it together?

The goal does not have to be big. “Today we’ll find out what goats eat” or “let’s find five different leaves” is enough.

Ideas for experiences by season

An autumn treasure hunt, step by step

A treasure hunt is one of the simplest ways to try learning through experience at home. All you need is a park, half an hour and a sheet of paper.

1. Make a picture list. Draw five to eight things for your child to find, such as a conker, an acorn, a yellow leaf, a pine cone, a feather, a stone and a stick. A preschooler who cannot read yet needs pictures instead of words.
2. Give your child a bag or basket. Having their own bag is a big deal for a child and helps them feel like a real explorer.
3. Let them search on their own. Help only with a question: “Where might an acorn be? Under which tree?”
4. Add one extra task. For example: “Find the biggest leaf.” “Find something soft.” “Find three things that are the same colour.”
5. Sort the treasures at home. You can sort them by colour, size or whether they fell from a tree. Then count them.
6. Make something out of them. It could be a leaf hedgehog, a little conker figure or a picture on paper.
7. Talk about it. What was hardest to find? What would you look for next time?

From half an hour in the park your child takes away new words, sorting, counting, fine motor skills from the gluing and the feeling of having done something themselves.

A trip to a farm: what to ask

A visit to a farm is one of the experiences children remember longest. So that they take away more than “I saw a cow”, questions during the trip help:

• What does each animal eat? Can we feed them?
• What is a baby cow, goat or hen called?
• What do the animals give us (milk, eggs, wool)?
• What does the animal sound like, how does it move, what does it feel like?
• Who looks after the animals, and what do they have to do every day?

At home you can follow up on the trip: bake something with eggs, draw the animals you saw or put on a little farm play.

A themed day at home

On a themed day, the whole day or afternoon revolves around one topic. Choose one that interests your child at the moment. A water day, for example, could look like this:

• in the morning, an experiment: what sinks in water and what floats (a spoon, a cork, a stone, a leaf),
• later in the morning, a walk to a fountain or stream,
• at lunch, soup and a chat about where water comes from,
• in the afternoon, painting with watercolours,
• in the evening, a bath with boats made of paper or bark.

A colour day, an animal day or a transport day work the same way. Your child experiences the topic from every side.

Learning through experience by age

An experience has to suit your child’s age. A two-year-old needs something different from a six-year-old preschooler:

The most common mistakes adults make

• Too much at once. One main experience is enough for a preschooler. If you fit in the zoo, a merry-go-round and a shopping centre, what your child mostly takes home is tiredness.
• Explaining before your child has had a chance to look. Let your child watch and ask first. An explanation lands best after their question.
• Fear of dirt and mistakes. Muddy trousers and spilt water are part of exploring. If your child gets something wrong, give them the chance to work it out themselves.
• A finished result instead of the journey. A leaf hedgehog does not have to look like the one in the picture. What matters is that your child made it themselves.
• No conversation at the end. Without a short talk, an experience stays just a nice day. With one, it becomes knowledge.

Three questions that turn an ordinary experience into learning

Your child learns most in the conversation after an experience. Three questions are enough:

1. “What did you like most?” Your child recalls the experience and names their feelings.
2. “What surprised you?” They name the new thing they learned.
3. “What would you like to try next time?” The experience connects with further exploring.

Avoid questions like “Was it nice?”, which can only be answered yes or no. It does not matter if your child answers an hour later over dinner. That often happens.

Will play prepare my child for school?

Some parents worry that a kindergarten where children play a lot and go on trips will not prepare them for school. According to the LEGO Foundation review, however, children learn language, numbers, problem-solving and cooperation through joyful, meaningful play with others. On a treasure hunt your child counts and sorts, on a themed day they talk and ask questions, and on a trip they learn to wait and look after themselves. Everything your child needs before school is covered in School readiness skills: what your child should manage before starting school. Experiences are also excellent for learning a foreign language, which we write about in English for preschoolers: why the early years are ideal for learning English.

How we do it at Sovička

A large part of the programme at Sovička is built on learning through experience. During the year your child will take part in themed days, when the whole kindergarten dives into one topic. In autumn there is an autumn treasure hunt. Your child will come with us on trips into nature and to see animals, for example to farms, where they can see, hear and touch the animals. Because we go outside every day, the exploring carries on in the garden and on walks. Movement and experiences also come together in the Rozhýb labky project, which we write about in Physical activity for preschoolers: why children need more movement and less sitting.

Helping others is an experience for children too. In the Koľko lásky sa zmestí do krabice od topánok (“How much love fits in a shoebox”) project, your child and their friends pack presents for older people. In the Zdravé oči už v škôlke (“Healthy eyes from kindergarten”) project, they learn how to look after their eyesight. We are currently joining the international eTwinning network. You will find all our projects on our Projects page. The whole educational programme is on our Curriculum page. Extra activities, clubs and sports blocks are on our Activities page.

If you would like to know what a day full of discovery would look like for your child, book a visit at a quiet time, when the kindergarten is not busy.