Memory is a vital part of learning no matter how old we are. When we’re toddlers we need to retain all the new things we’re being taught. Thankfully, toddlers and children are like sponges. They have no problem memorising things and taking on lots of new information.
But memory is just like any other muscle - if we don’t use it, it will fade away. This is why it’s so important to care for and improve your toddler’s memory power when they’re young. If they know how to take care of their memory, they’ll have this great resource for their whole lives.
Why Improve Your Toddler’s Memory?
We know that memory is one of the most important parts of learning, as it helps your toddler retain information. However, developing memory is also the first step to your child gaining complex cognitive abilities that are necessary for growth. This is why memory plays a huge part not only in learning, but in your toddler’s daily life.
Good memorisation and recall help your toddler with:
Active imagination
Following instructions accurately
Problem-solving
Planning and organisation
Learning to talk and write
Individuality
Impressions of others
Empathy
Not to mention, toddlers are going to start school in the coming years, if they haven’t already. A trained brain with lots of memory power will give your toddler a flying start in formal education.
Techniques to Improve Your Toddler’s Memory
When you take it back to basics, there are two kinds of memory. Short-term memory, and long-term memory. When your child learns something new it is committed to short-term memory. As they begin to learn more and more about this subject, all this information is transferred to their long-term memory. Generally, if you find your toddler struggles a little more with memorisation, it’s probably because they have trouble with long-term memory.
Here are some great ways to train your toddler’s short and long-term memory, and improve their memory power:
Use All the Senses
You might already know that memories are formed and stored in an area of the brain known as the hippocampus. The hippocampus is near to the part of our brains that processes smell and emotion. This is why olfactory memory, also known as the memory of smells is up to 7x more effective than the memory of things we have seen. If you want to improve your child’s memorisation and recall, involving smells, tactile surfaces for touch, and a variety of sounds is one way to make sure their brains commit any information to their long-term memory.
Visual Aids
Sight is only so effective in memorisation without the other senses. But, visual aids are perfect to ensure your child is taking on the information you want them to learn. Flashcards mean you can create games wherein memorising the images or information on the cards becomes a fun challenge for your toddler. They won’t realise how much they’re learning, as they simply want to remember what’s on the visual aids and win the game. Finally, you can stick these visual aids up around your home so your toddler will never forget what they’ve learned.
Encourage Inquisitive Minds
Toddlers and young children love to ask questions. Never are humans so inquisitive about the world we live in as when we’re young. If you want to improve your toddler’s memory, you should encourage these questions and answer them as best you can. By telling your child about things they want to know about, it’s more likely they’ll remember this information because they asked for it. If you don’t know the answers to some of their questions, learn with your toddler and find the answers together.
Creativity and Craft
Another great way to ensure your toddler is committing information to long-term memory is with arts and crafts. Toddlers love to draw and create, so why not ask them to draw a picture of something they’re learning about? This will boost their recall, and allow you to teach them even more information. If you want to boost your toddler’s memory power, create crafts with them. These can be things like a model of the solar system, or small figures of animals. Make your models as accurate to the real thing as possible, so toddlers can learn all the facts about their craft’s real-life equivalents.
There are lots of free online kids games including memory games on the Everything's Rosie website. Check back soon for the latest.