Flow experiences are of central importance for the learning process of children, i.e. moments in which children are completely absorbed in an activity without experiencing excessive demands or boredom. They are fully focussed, experience themselves as effective and complete tasks under their own steam. These positive experiences have a demonstrable effect on intrinsic motivation – i.e. the motivation to do something out of one’s own drive and interest. A flow experience occurs, for example, when a child can read through a text on their own and realises: ‘I can get through this without anyone helping me.’ Or when a child can solve a maths worksheet independently and has the feeling: ‘I did that on my own.’ It is important that the children experience the tasks as challenging but manageable – without constant support from adults. A common misconception is that children are motivated just because they have completed tasks – even if they have been strongly supported. If a caregiver helps at every step, gives hints or guides the task, a successful result may be achieved, but the feeling of self-efficacy does not materialise. The child does not experience that they have achieved something themselves. Although this help is often meant lovingly, in the long term it can lead to a dependency in which children can hardly achieve anything independently without support.
An example: If a child repeatedly receives tips and hints when doing a maths problem, this is similar to a situation in which someone is constantly accompanied at work by a colleague who makes well-intentioned suggestions. Although the task is completed, there is no pride in what they have achieved – and with it the motivation to try again on their own next time. It is therefore particularly important to create learning settings in which children can have flow experiences. When reading, for example, this means choosing texts that contain a lot of repetition or are structured linguistically in such a way that difficult words are clearly labelled. An example would be a text about animals in which the words ‘lion’ and ‘tiger’ appear again and again. Frequent small function words should also be repeated so that the child does not constantly get stuck. Some difficult words can be emphasised in advance and read aloud by the adult while the child reads the rest of the text themselves – this enables the child to read fluently and successfully and gives them a real sense of achievement. A similar approach can be taken with maths: A child can work with a worksheet that only contains tasks that they can solve with confidence.
The aim is not to underchallenge the child, but to convey a feeling of security, control and success: ‘I did it, without help.’These positive learning experiences are the basis for developing long-term enjoyment of learning and motivation.If children never have such flow experiences, they often perceive learning as tedious, exhausting or pointless.Statements like: ‘Reading to relax?I can’t even imagine that!’ are an indication that these children have hardly experienced how fulfilling it can be to learn independently. Educational support should therefore not primarily be provided through constant help, but through the clever design of learning materials and framework conditions that enable flow experiences.