Top 5 Reasons Play-Based Learning is Great for Kids’ Summer Activities
Plus How Music, Art, & Dance with Austin Arts Academy in Austin, Texas Embraces This Concept for Classes in Any Season.
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Remember that last day of school feeling and the approaching feeling of summer freedom!? The excitement of not having to return to school everyday and enjoying warm days at the pool, riding bikes, participating in summer sports teams or camps, attending music, art, and dance classes and overall enjoying that feeling of joy that summer brings.
Oh the memories of childhood summers!
Summer can also bring with it the feeling that it’s time to retreat from “learning” in the traditional school sense. But learning doesn’t stop just because school is out. A different kind of learning comes from playing with friends and experiencing the world, without the pressure of a test or needing to memorize a certain date in history or math facts.
This type of learning connects to the concept of play-based learning, which is defined generally as learning while at play with adult guidance, making the learning experience all that much more impactful.
And here’s why….
We’ve broken down the Top 5 reasons play-based learning is great for kids’ summer activities and should be a part of your PLANS, plus how Music, Art, & Dance with Austin Arts Academy embraces this concept.
TOP 5 Reasons PLAY-Based Learning is Great for Kids’ Summer Activities and PLANS:
P-Practice:
During play-based learning activities, children have the ability to practice and make connections to concepts they already know and apply what they have learned academically to real life, building their knowledge base naturally.
L-Life-Long Learning:
Learning is a lifelong process, not just during school hours where emphasis is placed on memorizing and remembering facts. Play-based learning activities allow children to experience learning in all kinds of settings.
A-Active Learning:
Play-Based learning activities are considered active learning, Active learning allows children to interact, participate, and actively engage in the learning process naturally and at their own pace.
N-Natural Desire to Play:
Children have the natural desire to play. Play-based learning can be less stressful than formal academic instruction because they are given the the freedom to use their imagination and curiosity as they explore and discover the world around them.
S-Social Interaction.
When children interact with others in a play-based setting, they learn how to problem solve, share with others, and discover social norms, while also learning about diverse cultures and customs by using their language and communication skills. Emotional and cognitive development increase as a result of social activity and peer interaction.
What PLANS do you have for your child this season?
Check out this Chalk Balloon Summer Activity
What kid doesn’t love throwing water balloons?! This play-based activity incorporates music, art, and dance into a summertime favorite that we created to celebrate National Children’s Day, but can really be used any day you want to let the kids explore and create, while encouraging play-based learning
We know this blog post features summer activities, but play-based learning isn’t limited to just summer time and can be implemented year round.
Austin Arts Academy has fun and engaging Music, Art, and Dance options to choose from, including private lessons and group classes that incorporate play-based learning components.
Check out all of our Music, Art, & Dance Class Options:
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Our teachers at Austin Arts Academy encourage and guide students to progress at the students’ pace, allowing them to learn and grow at their own natural pace. We offer classes in a variety of environments, including our group studio space in Steiner Ranch, or private lessons in the students home or virtually online through Zoom.
MUSIC Classes Austin Arts Academy
Our Music classes follow the Prodigies and Kiddykeys curriculum for young learners and new songs are learned every week!
It’s so easy and fun for little ones to learn about music.
Students learn to sing the correct pitch with solfege names and hand signs (do, re, mi, fa, sol, la, and ti). Rhythms of quarter, half, eighth, and sixteenth notes are mastered with a fun call and response time while singing and clapping to a steady beat.
Students will learn to play the following instruments: Prodigies deskbells, resonator bells, Boomwhackers, glockenspiel, and piano.
Prodigies & KiddyKeys Music Class at Austin Arts Academy
Art Classes Austin Arts Academy
Our Art classes follow our Austin Arts Academy curriculum, where we begin at each student’s skill level and progresses at a comfortable, natural pace with their goals in mind.
These goals include learning perspective, painting, drawing, design and illustration skills and more. Studio classes provide the opportunity to discover new talents, build conversational skills, improve academic skills, engage the senses, develop creativity, and rediscover old talents.
Art Class at Austin Arts Academy
Dance Classes Austin Arts Academy
We're the first studio in Austin to be a licensed Leap-n-Learn Dance studio and love watching our students grow and blossom in our play-based dance program, centered around age-appropriate movements that help develop the whole child.
Leap ‘N Learn Dance Class at Austin Arts Academy
We meet people all the time who don’t realize that Music, Art, & Dance lessons and classes provide opportunities to learn more than just note names, brush strokes or feet positioning.
Don’t hesitate any longer! Give your child a new experience with fun and engaging teachers that encourage learning at a natural pace with play-based learning concepts and make lasting memories and life-long skills this summer!
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Written by Melissa Wolken
Contributing Writer, Culture Curator, and Admin Team Member
At Austin Arts Academy, we change the way you learn Music, Art, & Dance from rigid or boring to fun and engaging-an experience students will love at any age.
Don't Know Where to Start? CLICK HERE
Watch our Spring May 2022 Virtual Recital HERE
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We invite you to stay connected with us on social media where we share videos and posts every week showing what our students are learning, both in private lessons and in our group classes.
