It is very important that at a young age, children are oriented towards practical knowledge rather than relying completely over their bookish knowledge. Practical knowledge helps in contributing to the holistic development of a child. Here are some benefits of practical knowledge for kids:

 

Develops a thorough understanding of the subject

Practical experiments help one develop a thorough understanding of the subject. Theoretical matter will help the kids know about a concept but the actual learning comes from practical knowledge.

Kids might be able to understand a concept much better if demonstrated practically to them. When they visualize something happening, they can understand the intricate how to’s of the subject.

 

Practical knowledge requires practice

Theory is all about reading a given set of materials and understanding what the materials want to convey. Whereas to gain practical knowledge, you need to explore various options and see what works the best.

Unlike just reading theory and mugging up things, to get practical knowledge, you need to practice repeatedly and inculcate the habit of letting them go deep to the root to understand the concept holistically.

 

Knowledge is retained in the child’s brain

We tend to retain visual memory for longer than we retain our hearing memory. Similarly, something that the kids experience practically will always have a profound effect on them over what they read or have been taught in the class lectures.

Knowledge gained through practical experiments is retained in the body for a longer time as the kids have understood the concept and know how exactly something is working. Also, kids tend to get bored while the regular lectures or while reading the concepts in a textbook. Instead, the practical experiments are interesting to them and they are able to retain that set of information for a longer period in their brain.

 

Easy to relate to the practical knowledge and easy to understand

For kids, it is always easier if you show them how something happens rather than explaining the process to them. Children are always curious and tend to ask many questions on how things work. If we show the practical implementation of things to them, they can easily obtain the answers for their questions and satisfy their curiosity.

One of the most important learnings from practical experiments is that, children can explain a specific process in their own words when needed. Theoretical information requires them to learn and write answers in a specific way without knowing what it means whereas visualizing it practically can help them develop their own sense of ease while describing it.

 

Cultivates the habit of teamwork

Practical experiments promote group work. Since practical experiments cannot be performed by an individual child, he or she might seek the help of his/her teammates and therefore build a bond with them. Team work is always an enriching experience for children as it teaches them to socialize with other kids and work in a team.

 

Practical knowledge is associated with a sense of outdoor activity for the kids and hence, it not only interests them but also helps them gain deeper knowledge indirectly.