How to spot an exercise that does something
A memory game and memory training look alike. Three things tell them apart.
- It ends with a number — Seven out of ten, four digits backwards. Without a number there is no way to see whether anything changed in a month.
- It has a difficulty dial — More items, a shorter preview, a longer pause before answering. An exercise without that dial wears out in a week.
- It requires recall — Pointing at a picture among four is recognition and is always easier. The real work is naming everything with your eyes closed.
Six exercises at the table
One a day, five to ten minutes. Take the starting level from the table below.
- Objects under a cloth
Lay out ten objects from a drawer, give thirty seconds to look and cover them. The child names everything from memory. Harder: ask for the order from the right, or the colours.
- Digits backwards
You read out a string of digits, the child repeats it backwards. Start with four and add one at a time. It is the shortest working-memory exercise you can run with nothing at all.
- The shopping chain
The first says “I am buying bread”, the second repeats and adds their own. Whoever drops an item loses. Harder: the items must go in alphabetical order.
- A picture from memory
Thirty seconds on an illustration in a book, then a description with the book closed: what was on the left, how many characters, what time of day. You check together.
- Repeat the rhythm
You tap a rhythm on the table, the child repeats it. Four beats, then six, then eight with pauses. It trains auditory memory — the same one that catches the teacher's instructions.
- What has changed
The child looks at a shelf or a desk and leaves the room. You move three things. They come back and name the changes — saying them, not pointing.
If the exercise turns into a graded test, the child stops wanting it in three days. Write the result down but do not comment on it — comment only on the fact that it happened today.
Ten different objects · thirty seconds · a cloth · a sheetThe same exercise done twice
“Objects under a cloth” is the simplest task on the list. We show it twice, because the difference between the two versions applies to all ten.
The version that gives nothing
- Seven objects on the tray, three of them pens that differ only in colour.
- The child looks while the adult prompts: “see, there is a key”.
- After the cloth the child names four and the adult finishes the rest out loud.
- Nobody writes the number down. A week later there are seven objects again.
The same tray, an exercise rather than a game
- Ten clearly different objects: an eraser, a teaspoon, a key, a paper clip, a candle, a coin.
- Thirty seconds of looking, in silence. The adult says nothing — including “try hard”.
- The child writes down what they remember. You wait, even through a ten-second pause.
- The number goes on the sheet with the date: 6.
- A week later: seven objects, because six of ten came back — and the level goes up only after three good attempts in a row. The number goes on the sheet again.
The version on the right takes just as long. It differs in three things — variety of objects, silence, and a number written down — and only with those is it an exercise rather than a game at the table.
Do the first exercise now — three minutes
Nothing to buy: a drawer, a cloth and a sheet of paper are enough.
- Pick ten different small objects
Different in shape and size. Three similar objects merge into one in memory and spoil the measurement.
- Thirty seconds of looking, in silence
No prompts and no “remember carefully”. The child chooses how to look — that is part of what we are training.
- The cloth and the sheet
They write down what they remember, in any order.
- Write down the number and the date
One digit. That is your zero point.
Today's number only means something as a reference for your own number a month from now — not for comparison with anyone else. From it you choose the starting level: as many items as came out today, adding one more whenever it works three times in a row.
If the child treats this as a test and tenses up, swap the order: you recall first while they watch, then they do. Adults get it wrong too, and seeing that takes half the tension away.
What these exercises give, and what they do not
Two papers that mark the limit — worth knowing, because memory exercises are the easiest thing of all to sell to parents.
Melby-Lervåg and Hulme, 2013 — a meta-analysis of working-memory training
The exercises improve performance on the exercises themselves and do not carry over to grades or to reading. That is why there is no promise of better marks below — there is a list of tasks and a way to measure them.
Simons et al., 2016 — a review of “brain training” programmes
The evidence for brain-training apps is weak, and the improvement is usually confined to the trained task itself. That applies to the tasks on this page too — the difference is that ours cost nothing and can be run on school material.
So why do them? As light material for practising the technique: the chain, the images, recall from memory. On odds and ends from a drawer the technique goes in without the stress of a grade, and is then carried over to school material — and that carrying over is done deliberately, not by itself.
Four exercises for the road
No table, no paper, no preparation — on a tram, in a queue, in the car.
Number plates
Memorise three letters and three digits from a passing car, repeat them two stops later. The material refreshes itself.
I am going on holiday
The classic alphabetical chain: apples, blanket, compass. Everyone repeats the whole list before adding their own.
What we passed
After ten minutes of the journey the child names the places passed in reverse order. It trains memory for sequences — the kind you need for stages and dates.
A list without paper
Five things to buy, memorised before entering the shop. At the till you compare with the list on the phone.
The most common mistakes with these exercises
Four things that stop a good exercise from giving anything.
An exercise with no number at the end
“We played a memory game” cannot be compared with anything. Each of the ten tasks above ends in a number — that is the whole point.
Prompting along the way
Pulling something out of memory takes a few seconds, and those seconds are the exercise. A prompt does them for the child.
The same level for weeks
If everything comes out, and instantly, the exercise has stopped being an exercise. Add one item at a time.
Exercises instead of studying
Ten small objects under a cloth will not teach history dates. This is a warm-up for the technique, not a replacement for work on school material.
How many items to start with
Starting level by age. Raise it only after three successful runs in a row.
| Age | Starting level |
|---|---|
| Ages 8–10 | 6–7 items, 40 seconds to look |
| Ages 11–13 | 8–10 items, 30 seconds to look |
| Ages 14–18 | 10–12 items, 20 seconds to look and a question about the order |
Start with a measurement
Our free test is three game-like tasks: memory, attention and logic. It gives you a number you can come back to after a month of exercises and compare.
Take the free testshort test, about 7 minutes · no sign-up · instant result
Where these exercises come from
These are home versions of the warm-ups that open a Space Memory lesson. In class the coach runs them with a group of 5–10 children and after each one asks what the child did in their head — the answer to that question is where learning the techniques begins.
Parents' questions
How many exercises a day?
One. Ten minutes on a single task gives more than five tasks of two minutes each: only after several attempts does a child start looking for a method.
Will this work with a child who dislikes games?
Then it is better to run the same exercises straight on school material: instead of ten objects, ten dates or formulas.
What about memory-training apps?
They are fine for those ten minutes as long as the level grows. The drawback is that the child only practises on the app's own material.
Is it worth practising with a sibling?
Yes, competition helps — as long as the children are at a similar level. Otherwise the younger one always loses and stops playing.
How long do we keep the same set?
Until the child knows the answer by heart instead of working it out. You change the material, the rules stay.
Will exercises replace learning the techniques?
No. They warm up and show the level; the techniques — images, associations and routes — are described separately.
More on memory
- How to improve memory for kids
- Working memory in children
- Memory problems in children
- Memorising techniques for kids
Pages: how to turn this into training and what the techniques are.
Memory course for kids
The same techniques in weekly classes with a coach, on material from school.
Memory training for kids
What memory training is and what a child practises in class.
Memory test for kids online
Check for free how your child remembers now — before you start practising.
How to train a child's memory
Weekly rules and raising the load
Mnemonics for kids
Techniques one by one: images, associations, chains
Concentration exercises for kids
When attention is the problem rather than memory
Would you like your child to do this with a coach?
Classes run 90 minutes once a week in a group of 5–10 children, and in between the child practises 10 minutes a day on the platform. Leave a request and we will tell you about the next group.
Request a callAll the exercises are free and need no account. Classes are a separate thing — for those who want to work with a coach.