I feel that kids learn better when they are having fun. It works for adults too. I remember when I had classes that did some pretty fun activities that engaged the students it made retaining the information fun and lead to more than just trying to force myself to memorize information for a test. Rather I was intrigued by what was going on.  I believe that if I remember to take that along with me when I'm taking the role of teacher that the students will have a good time with learning if I'm having fun with teaching them.