Children are wired to explore all that is new and different. Teaching children is a matter of showing and explaining. Adults need a reason to learn. Adults want to know why they need to learn what you have to teach them. You need to provide them with reasons why every aspect of what you teach is important. It may be so they can master a skill that gives them a chance to move up the ladder at work or to get a better-paying job. The "why" may be to learn skills to help them better deal with their children, finances or improve communication with spouses, employees or the boss. Show adults how what you're teaching will impact their lives in a positive way.
Adults often learn better in a group situation where they can discuss the ramifications of the information among the group using their life experiences and resources. Adults are more self-directed, and teaching adults, especially in group situations, is about sharing the information and assisting them in focusing on how the information or skill helps them personally and/or professionally. It is about treating them as adults.
A technique for teaching adults is to allow the them to work with the process, the information or the formula in a way that they can see and touch for them to absorb the principle involved. For example, if you are teaching about making butter, have them put whole, unprocessed milk into a jar, tighten the lid and shake. In a group situation, the jar can be passed around as each student tires. Once the butter forms, you can have them open the jar, strain the liquid into one container and the resulting butter into another. In making butter themselves, the adults learn the basics not only of butter but of buttermilk---the liquid left after the butter has been churned. This is the type of hands-on learning with which adults identify.
Adults need practical applications to solidify what they learn. A technique for teaching adults involves taking what you teach from the concept stage to the practical stage. Let the adult students know how the concept can be applied to their lives, family and business. When teaching about budgeting, have them make up an actual budget for their personal life or business. Show them how a budget can make a difference in earning, spending and saving money by providing real-life examples in which having the budget makes a difference.