How to develop a child's memory and attention: popular games and exercises for the child's brain

Improve children's memory, thinking, and intellectual abilities from birth. World psychologists and educators have been talking about this for many years. Children's early development methods are designed for ages zero and up. And this is not without reason. Scientists have proven that increased brain activity occurs at the age of up to three years, then there is some slowdown. That is why toddlers so easily grasp frequently repeated information, process it in significant volumes. The more new knowledge a child receives at this time, the more productive his independent thinking, ability to remember, and logic work. Why are not all children willing to meet new knowledge? How to attract a fidget to the necessary, useful reading, counting, and alphabet?

Child and adult memory: what is the difference?

Have you noticed how a baby easily sings a song he likes, but categorically refuses to remember the first letters of the alphabet? Day after day you try to teach him to count, but all attempts are shattered into pieces. Why is that? The answer is simple: the baby lacks motivation, interest in the activity suggested by the parents.

The principles of the child's brain are significantly different from established thinking. The memory of an adult is based on the associative method of recording information, i.e. makes certain notes (the mechanism of mediated memory). The memory of a small person does not use the above method. Its susceptibility directly depends on the imagery, emotionality, colorfulness of the event - the "picture" that leaves a trace in the child's head.

The more interesting, brighter the new information (its presentation), the faster it finds its "shelf" in the head. The main thing is not to complicate its presentation.

Below I have collected the simplest, most interesting ideas, thanks to which your favorite naughty child will easily remember the necessary and important information.

Useful tips for parents: how to develop children's memory while playing

1. Development from birth. Communicate with your baby all the time he is awake. Tell nursery rhymes for the little ones, sing simple songs, show large, simple pictures, explain the features of the world around him. Over time, you will see that the reaction to already familiar poems and images is conscious. The baby reacts to new jokes with restraint.

2. What is missing? This game is played with a one-year-old toddler. Place several toys in front of your favorite fidget. Ask him to close his eyes or distract the naughty child, while quickly hiding one of the objects. See if he can guess what is missing.

3. Glenn Doman Cards. Starting from birth, show your baby several cards a day. The growing brain of a baby is focused on learning, does not require motivation, like a sponge it absorbs large amounts of unfamiliar information. Do not explain what is shown in the pictures, do not focus on them. It takes 1-2 seconds to look at each illustration.

I am convinced of the uniqueness of the Doman method from my own experience. However, we started working with my son when he was 9 months old. My little one remembered 20-25 names a day. Seeing that I had just sat down to rest, he immediately brought me a stack of cards, which I laid out on the floor. We started with 4 pieces, gradually increasing the number. I took turns saying what was written under the picture, then asked to show the right card. I was convinced of the benefits of the classes very soon. Long poems were easy for our son. At the age of two, he easily recited Pushkin after several readings, amazing guests and relatives. Now he learns school poems in 5 minutes, getting the highest score.

4. Audio fairy tales. We will not touch on the benefits of reading books - this is an indisputable fact! Unfortunately, not all parents devote enough time to their children. And not every mischievous child likes to sit quietly, listening to children's poetry. For such naughty children and very busy adults, audio fairy tales will be a convenient option, which have become an ideal replacement for a TV, tablet, and other newfangled gadgets. Their advantages:

• make the brain work, draw a picture of the plot in your head - imagination, ingenuity, logical thinking awaken. When watching cartoons, the image of the hero is set by the animators. When listening to an audio story, the baby brings his own individuality to the story;
• eliminate the feeling of guilt in parents (after all, the fidget is busy with a super-useful task, and not left to his own devices);
• do not harm vision;
• develop verbal-semantic memory if you ask the listener to retell the audio story.

Of course, an audio story cannot be compared with a book read on the lap of a dad (mom). But thanks to audio materials, the baby learns more stories than parents tell him in their free time. Do not force the baby to listen! Turn on the story in the background for a game, joint activities with the child, during creative activities, meals, before bed.

5. The past day. A useful exercise for memory is a child's story about the past day. 50% of children cannot immediately construct a structured story or remember the essence of a conflict. Sometimes they claim that they forgot what they were fed in kindergarten, what homework they were assigned, or why the teacher (educator) scolded them. Such "excuses" do not mean that the offspring is lying. Perhaps he is tired, overexcited and unable to restore the chain of events or negative memories at the moment. What to do in this case? Don't scold, feed him, let him rest, relax within the walls of the house. Then unobtrusively question him again, ask leading questions, and the child will remember the smallest details.

Such parental practice has a beneficial effect on memory, lays the foundation for strong trusting relationships in the family. This is how intimidation in kindergarten (school), conflicts with classmates come to the surface. The reason for tears, nervousness, aggression in the behavior of a small person is revealed. The baby gets used to sharing painful things with relatives. Don't scold if the little one is really guilty! Be grateful for the frankness. Then the son or daughter will come to the family, home with the first teenage problems.

6. Retelling what you saw (heard) - exercises for visual (auditory) memory. Invite the child to look and then describe a shop window, an advertising billboard, his room, a playroom in the garden, a classroom. On the way home, learn a new piece of work, foreign words with him. The game "Photographer" - ask the child to look into the closet, on the shelf and "photograph" what he saw. Then tell what and where it is. The brain is an organ that needs daily regular training, new knowledge. By telling about what he saw in his own words, the child develops memory, speech, artistic perception, logical thinking.

When communicating with children, do not focus on one type of memory (for example, memorizing poems). Try to harmoniously develop the younger generation. Use exercises that involve the motor, visual, tactile and auditory functions of the child's body.

7. Smart fairy tales, educational literature. The good old "Turnip", "Teremok", "Kolobok" help the little one to logically restore, build the plot correctly. When memorizing the sequence of actions of the heroes, auditory memory is trained.

8. Fun exercises. Doing a daily combination of exercises, memorizing dance figures, we train motor memory. Invite your child to repeat the movements of animals (bear, bunny, fox), tell them about their habits.

9. Guess-ka is a game aimed at developing tactile memory. Place 4-5 objects in front of the student, when he closes his eyes, hide 1 object and ask him to identify the remaining toys by touch, tell which one is missing.

10. A pair for each word is a logic trainer. Offer your child several interrelated phrases as an example, for example, table - chair, pillow - blanket, door - window, fish - sea. Then say the first word, and let the child name the pair.

Remember, the more interesting the game, book, pictures, the more enthusiastically the child learns. Children are inquisitive by nature. The main task of parents is to find an approach to their beloved child, to raise him as a well-rounded person. And without a tenacious memory it is difficult to achieve success in adult life.