Children Learn By Experiencing Things : One view about learning says that children construct knowledge by acting upon things. They pick up things, throw them, break them, join them, and learn about their properties. A child's natural urge to explore and touch things helps her to develop an understanding of various aspects of these things, like their shapes, sizes and other material properties. This helps her to slowly understand and use the spatial properties of things, that is, she can decide what thing can go under what, or how toys can be fitted into her toy box, etc.
Of course, a child may not always be able to explain what-,he has understood, for example, the difference between a ball and a stone. She may know the difference and may even demonstrate it, but she may not be able to articulate it. Just as you may know how to ride a bicycle, but can you explain in 10 sentences how you do it?
In dealing with and thinking about concrete materials, children do many things. The games they play and the way they interact with adults gives them opportunities to deal with concepts and skills' that they are trying to master in different ways. For example, while learning the meaning of 'half, when a child is made to find halves of a variety of objects, she will slowly construct the understanding of 'half '.
Thus, by doing varied activities, and by analysing and synthesising what happens in the course of these activities, the child constructs a framework for understanding the phenomena around her.
Now, for an exercise for you to assess how much you've understood about how children learn.