My top 10 working memory activities

Here are 10 of my favourite practical working memory training activities:

• Teach kids the power of BASIC repetition - e.g., say the words "dog, car, train" and have the child whisper and then repeat them back to you. Continue to add a word until you reach their span limit. How many words can they repeat?

• Teach kids to visualize. Visualization is an incredibly powerful tool for kids who struggle with language and reading comprehension.

• Teach kids to "chunk" information. Chunking the number "8754691" into "8754" and "4691" is a far more effective way of storing information.

• Make it meaningful - turn a dull fact into a funny fact, be creative (here is where kids really excel!).

• Practice verbal working memory skills EVERY day. For example, number span backwards -> "5, 7, 9" - give me the numbers backwards ("9, 7, 5"). Begin where your child is at and aim to increase the span of numbers they can repeat backwards. Try it with a simple list of instructions.

• Teach kids memory strategies such as mnemonics or Method of Loci/Memory Palace.

• Play lots of visual-spatial working memory games - LEGO and puzzles are great. But so are rotated forms, parquetry blocks, and learning left vs right/directionality. Can your child guide you home from the shops?

• Practice switching and updating using well known verbal lists, e.g., "January, 1, February 2, March 3...". Make it harder: "January, 5, red, February, 10, blue, March, 15, green ..." (you can't use the same colour twice).

• Help your child achieve automaticity for specific tasks, e.g., sight words, spelling words, and times tables. Once these skills are automatic it frees up working memory to process other information.

• Mental mathematics - no paper or calculators allowed! Ask your child to add "13+12" in their head. Begin simple and increase the challenge as they become more competent.

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