Memory Building Games

Object Memory Games

• Using small items and cards to train memory is an accessible way to explore memory training. The game Concentration is one that many children play. Take two of each rank, including the joker from a deck of cards. Shuffle and deal them out in five rows of six cards each. Turn over two cards at a time, trying to find the the pairs.

  Set 10 to 20 common household items on a tray and let the player look at them for one minute. At that point cover the tray and have the player list the items verbally or in writing. Try the same with a twist. After one minute, hide the tray and remove one item. Reveal the tray and ask the player to identify the missing item.

Verbal Memory Games

• With a group of players start with one saying, "I'm going on a trip and I am packing..." have him fill in the blank with a common traveling item. The next player adds an item, and so forth, each player naming her own item and all the others before.

  Write two lists of 10 words. The second list should be made up of six words from the first list and four new words. Let the players study the first list for one minute. Hide the first list and read the second asking them to raise their hands for words they remember.

  Every player says his name and something he likes to do, "I'm Bobby and I like to swim." The next person repeats this and adds their own until you have gone through the entire group, each person repeating all that was said before.

Group Observation Memory Games

• In a classroom that has been much the same for some time, move six major items, such as the clock, a pencil sharpener or a globe while the students are not present. Write down the items you moved. Ask students to write down what was moved.

  Without warning students in advance, have a visitor come into a classroom and carry out an agreed upon list of actions, such as reset the clock, go through the teacher's desk and speak to a student. Once the visitor leaves, ask students to write down what the person did while in the room.

  Send one student out of the room. While they are gone hide another student who was in the room. Bring the first student back and ask them to figure out whose missing.