Tests and exams can be very stressful for kids who don’t have strong memory or visualisation skills.

Fortunately, there are activities that can strengthen short term memory (also called working memory) and long term memory skills. It’s important to note that at first these activities must be practised at least 4 times a week until they are successful. They should then be checked after 2 days. Then 4 days, 8 days, 16 days, after 1 month etc to ensure they are in long term memory. If they aren’t practised and then checked over time, it’s possible that they won’t stick.

I’ve listed below a range of activities that I begin with – it is by no means exhaustive, but it is a good place to start. Some are short tasks, while others are longer, but the beauty of them is that improvement can usually be seen pretty quickly, which instils confidence and motivation to keep trying them!

Short Activities/Games:

I Went on Holiday and Took Game: A fun (and brain-bending) activity is the verbal game ‘I went on holiday and I took…’ This can be played in pairs, or as a group. Each person begins with the words ‘I went on holiday and took a suitcase,’ and then adds an item. At first, you may only get to 2 or 3 items, and you can use items from the room (eg pen, phone, shoes) to jog memories. It’s more fun to add funny or silly items such as the pet cat, a surf board, chocolate cake, or an octopus. This game strengthens visualisation skills. If it helps, you can suggest building a story with the items in their heads (eg the pet cat is sitting on the surf board which is next to a chocolate cake being eaten by the octopus). Though it may seem impossible at first, you will quickly find you can get up to 12 or 13 items!

Sequencing Pattern with Counters: For this activity I use brightly coloured bugs – you could use counters in different colours or small toys. You lay the counters out in a straight line horizontally and tap the counters in a pattern from left to right. Do this slowly and beginning with very simple patterns (eg tap the second and fourth counters). Ask your child to repeat the pattern. Note: for children with sequencing or visual processing difficulties even the very simple patterns may be difficult). If they make an error, repeat the pattern. You can make the patterns increasingly challenging, including changing directions or skipping bugs. Don’t make the pattern too challenging as this can cause a loss of confidence; at the same time, you will need to remember the pattern yourself to check if it’s correct!

A variation on this sequencing pattern is a 3D visual/spatial pattern with plastic cups. I’ll shortly be adding videos to the site to demonstrate – keep an eye out!

Clay Alphabet:

For literacy programs, I usually start with the student creating the alphabet in clay letters and then learning it 5 letters at a time, backwards. The involves making, for example, z y x w v (or you may begin with p o n m l if the student is unsure of the sequence of these letters). Once the letters are made, lay them out and touch and say the letters forwards and backwards. Then do the same thing with eyes closed. Once these are solid, add another 2 or 3 letters at a time. Eventually, it will be possible to learn the entire alphabet backwards (I am living proof!). Learning the alphabet backwards means that the child has to make a picture in their head – they cannot repeat the letters under their breath (but they will try!).

The alphabet is the best place to start, particularly if there are any parts that the learner is unsure of.

The next step is to use the same activity, except create a spelling word instead of the alphabet. Create the word in clay, touch and say the letters forwards and backwards, close eyes and try to repeat it. When this is easy, then mix the letters up when the learner’s eyes are closed. You can also ask questions about the word when their eyes are closed. For example, for the word ‘excitement,’ I would ask: what is the first letter? What is the last letter? What letter comes after x? How many e’s are there?

Repeating Numbers Forwards and Backwards:

This activity is especially good for strengthening short term memory and visualisation. Write down a list of numbers, for example:

18

62

214

379

2436

1289

61213

Read out the digits slowly (eg “one-eight”). Ask the student to repeat them back to you. See how far you can go – some people struggle after 3 or 4 numbers while others can keep going up to 6 or even more.

Next say the numbers and ask the student to repeat them to you backwards. This can be very difficult for many people from 3 numbers onwards. Go as far as you can until the activity is difficult and then stop. Keep practicing over time until this becomes easier. You will notice that many students will  try to repeat the numbers under their breath – we want to encourage them to ‘see’ the numbers in their mind so they can look at them forwards and backwards.

Memory Games with Cards:

This activity is fun yet challenging and really helps to cement understanding in anything from the meaning of a word, to a maths concept. Cut up cardboard to create a set of cards – I suggest starting with 12, but it depends how many terms you’re learning. Organise the cards into sets of 3. Write the term on one card, the meaning or description on the second and a drawing on the third.

Take turns mixing up the cards and then matching them. After doing this a few times, flip the cards over so the blank side is showing and mix them up so the terms aren’t next to each other. Take turns turning 3 cards over. If they match, you keep them. If they don’t, you need to read them out (or identify the shape). This game is challenging, but fun (especially if you’re competitive!) and is a really good way to check knowledge.

For example, to learn the different types of triangles in Maths you could create a set of 3 for each type of triangle.

Eg: SCALENE TRIANGLE on card 1, Has no equal sides on card 2, and a drawing on card 3.

2 and 3 Part instructions:

I’ve saved one of the trickiest visualising activities for last. You will need to have good visualising skills yourself to do this! Put 3 objects out in a row – for example, a cup, a ball and a pencil. Say, ‘touch the ball before the cup.’ If the student does this correctly then try another: ‘touch the ball after the pencil.’ 2 part instructions will be really hard for people that don’t have a good sense of before and after. It may take some time to solidify understanding of ‘before’ and ‘after’ – an understanding that many of us take for granted! If the student is successful with 2 part instructions, you can move on to 3 part instructions, for example: ‘touch the cup after you touch the ball and before you touch the pencil.’ I generally find 3 part instructions to be unsuccessful in most assessments (but not all!). They are a skill that can be worked on and improved over time.