10 Playful Ways to Improve Child's Memory

Between Maths, Science, Social Studies, and play, there are a lot of things your little one needs to remember.  Add to it the continuous stimulus they receive from the outside world all the time...no wonder, sometimes children’s memory max out and they draw a blank even at simple questions such as- "what happened in school today". 

Children these days have to pack in so much in a day, that at times they face memory lapses making them draw a blank on even the simplest questions like- "what did you do in the school today" or tend to forget the simple instructions you had given them.

Tips to Boost Your Child’s Memory

Here, we get you 10 tips on how to help boost your children’s memory, but in a playful way. 

#1. Using Playcards:

Give instructions to the child using playcards with a different shape on each-each shape indicating an action to be performed by the child. For example, when he sees a circle, he has to raise his arms high up in the air, when he sees a square he has to clap his hands once, when he sees a triangle, he has to take his right arm to his chest in a fist. Now, ask him to make the movement that goes with the shape one by one followed by a repeated series. You can change the order of placards in series each time to make it more complicated. 

#2. Using Child’s Magazine:

Give your child a child’s magazine and ask him/her directions to go to a particular page number mentioned by you and underline all instances of the word -“a”- in one minute. 

#3. Play Games:

While driving with them in the car, recite the letters and numbers on a number plate of a car passing by and then ask them to say it backwards too. Take turns. 

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#4. Simple Play Cards Games:

Play cards games like Crazy Eights, Matching Needs, Uno, Go Fish, and War can be excellent ways to improve your child’s working memory as the child  has to keep the rules of the game in mind besides remembering what card s/he has and which ones others have played. Even board games such as chess can help boost concentration and memory skills of the child.

#5. Ask the child to think  of an Animal: 

Start asking about as many animal's  name they know of, and make it further complicated by thinking of animal's beginning with letter -“B”-. Names of flowers, birds, insects or his classmates/family members beginning with a particular letter can also be used to play the game.

#6. Ask About Clue Words:

You can ask your child to name as many clue words for addition as she can (such as “-all together-”, “-in all-”, “-total-” and “-plus-”). Synonyms of a word or opposites can also be asked.

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#7. Introduce Numbering:

Depending on the age of your child, you can give three or four or five instructions simultaneously by numbering them. For example

1. ‘Go to the last room, find a pink towel there’, 

2. ‘Go to the study room, wrap the pink towel on the pen stand’,

3. ‘Pick up a notepad from study table and a pencil.’

4. ‘Bring it to here, write “One”  on the notepad and give it to me’.

Each time increase the complexity of the instructions given.

#8. Ask to Write or Say Aloud Everything from the Tray:

A collection of around 20 small items, for example, pencils, small value coins, purses, fake spiders, tiny teddies, lipstick, plastic toys etc. is placed in a tray. A time limit of about one minute is given to the child to look at the items on the tray, before they are covered or removed. The child is then asked to write down or say aloud everything from the tray that they can remember. This can be played with words, numbers or letters sequence also. 

#9. Play Memory Game: 

This memory game can be played between a minimum of 2 and a maximum of 6 children where the first one would begin a sentence with a location, a situation and items required. For example, the first child could say “I went to school to attend a fun fair with a bag full of sweets”. The next would repeat the sentence, including the first person’s item, and then add their own to start the list. The next child can say “I went to school to attend a fun fair with a bag full of sweets (first person’s sentence) and pencils (his own addition to the list)”. As the game goes on, each participant needs to recall the full list and add their own, and if they can’t, they will be out of that round. 

#10. Storytelling:

Storytelling is another way to improve working memory as it requires and invites a child’s sustained and focused attention as well as working memory to hold in mind all that has happened so far, different characters’ identities, story details and to relate them to the new information which are being revealed (without the use of visual aids).

I would request my readers to enrich this blog with the innovative techniques they have been using to improve the memory of their child.  Your feedback is valuable to me. Thanks for reading!