GAMES TO HELP IMPROVE MEMORY...!!!
Playing games is good for your brain!
Using Games and Songs to build Memory
A technique to help students learn is involving them in games and teaching them songs with repetitive lines. Songs that spell out words and games that sharpen their memory retention are effective methods to hasten and improve learning.
Games as brain training techniques involve the verbal, auditory, visual and spatial memory, and contribute to faster brain development for the children. Not only that they are fun and fun gets more of that ‘feel good’ brain chemical, dopamine, into the mix which increases creative problem solving too.
One of the most popular games to improve memory is story telling. This method involves the creation of a story that includes all the elements that must be remembered at a later time. A mental image is created along with the story which improves memory even more. When using such a technique, the information is transferred from the short-term memory to the long-term memory. Story telling is also one of the games to improve memory that can be played in a group. Start the group off with a topic – for example ‘home’ and then the first child in the circle says one sentence about this topic. The next pupil then picks up the thread from that sentence and says their sentence. The story will weave all over the place as it is developed by the group. Great fun and good for improving memory too.
Other games to improve memory, such as Mahjong, require people to make pairs of piles or cards. This kind of game is also useful when measuring the reaction times and the alertness. The games that require more mental processes to be involved are the most effective at building brain power.
Another effective game involves mixing up playing cards on a table or tray. The cards are placed upside down and the players turn over one card at a time and turn it back again after the players seeing what it is. When playing with 12 cards, 6 pairs must be present in the pack when the players begin playing. For older children more cards can be involved up to a full pack of playing cards. The person who discovers the pairs fastest is the winner.
Jigsaw puzzles are also amongst the best games to improve memory. For the best results, people can look at the original picture for a few seconds to memorise it and then put it away and immediately begin recreating the picture using the pieces.
Trivia quizzes are another type of game to improve children’s memory. The topics are varied and can include geography, film stars, books, cars and many other things that encourage a child’s mind to range far and wide to get answers. Practically, the quizzes can be about anything – including recent learning which can improve retention of the topic greatly. It is better to play them in a group.
see brain games in our online store