6 Fun & Engaging Ways For Kids To Develop Technological Skills

6 Fun & Engaging Ways For Kids – In 2024, it’s vitally important for everyone to be digitally competent. While this doesn’t mean everyone has to grow up to be a PhD computer scientist, children need to learn a basic set of skills in order to thrive both in school and in their future jobs. These skills include the basics of using phones and computers, graphic design and research.

6 Fun & Engaging Ways For Kids To Develop Technological Skills

In this article, we’ll go through a few effective ways you can help kids hone their digital skills and improve their digital literacy. Keep reading to learn what they are and how you can implement them in an educational or home setting.

1. Let Them Create Digital Art

Video editing and graphic design are skills that are in high demand today, and there are many great opportunities to give children a head start in learning them. Children can use a free video editing tool to make simple animations or a graphic design tool to edit existing pictures or even make their own from scratch.

Since time immemorial, educators and parents have been using art to engage children and help them develop their creative skills. In 2024, it’s possible to get all the benefits of giving kids an artistic education while simultaneously teaching them digital skills.

2. Educational Video Games

While many teachers and parents might hesitate to recommend that their charges play video games, not all digital games are inherently bad. While it’s true that it’s possible to become addicted to games, playing them can also have educational benefits, especially if you choose the right ones. There are games specifically designed to teach kids skills like typing, coding, maths and more, all while familiarising them with digital devices.

As with all things, moderation is key. Video games can be a valuable tool when it comes to teaching kids specific digital skills and familiarising them with computers or smartphones, but anyone who’s played video games also knows how addicting they can be. It’s also important to choose the right games, as not all are appropriate for children.

3. Allow Limited Access To Smartphones And Tablets

Almost everyone has a smartphone, and there’s no point in delaying teaching kids how to use them. Whether you’re an educator or a parent, teaching children how to use smartphones properly is better than not exposing them to phones at all.

It’s also important not to overdo smartphone usage. While we want to introduce children to the concept of phones, we don’t want to start an addiction. Tools like bedtime mode and apps limiting the number of hours you can use a smartphone in a day are great ways of helping kids use phones responsibly.

4. Allow Monitored Social Media Use

Social media is a huge part of daily life, and it’s likely your students are already using it. Platforms like Facebook, Instagram and TikTok are integral to how young people communicate with each other, learn about current events and share their lives with the world.

Rather than stopping children from using social media completely, it’s important to guide them in using it effectively. Teach them how to avoid fake news, recognise when cyberbullying is happening to them or others and what sort of information is safe to post online.

5. Give Them Research Projects

Research is an important skill to learn, whether your students plan to pursue higher education or a career that requires research. Educators can foster this skill in their students by creating assessments that require a limited amount of academic research. This teaches them how to separate academic from non-academic sources, create a bibliography and summarise vast amounts of information in their own words.

It’s important to keep in mind that this is likely the first time many of your students will have done any sort of academic writing, so it’s crucial to teach them skills like creating citations and using platforms like Google Scholar beforehand.

6. Use Technology For Language Learning

Kill two birds with one stone by using technology to teach children foreign languages. You can have them download apps like Duolingo and Rosetta Stone that help them set daily tasks, as breaking down language learning into small, achievable goals is a great motivator.

Besides learning the languages themselves, students will also enhance their ability to self-study new skills using digital tools. They’ll also grow more confident in their ability to use smartphones or computers.

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The importance of learning basic digital skills is growing all the time, and there’s no better time to learn than when children are young. Teaching kids how to use technology also allows you to guide them away from its pitfalls, which becomes harder to do as they grow older.

In this article, we’ve gone through 6 ways to teach kids digital skills in a fun and engaging manner. Whether you’re a teacher, a tutor or a parent, incorporating them into kids’ educational programs will help them increase their digital literacy and grow up to be more well-rounded adults.