17 Interesting Memory Games For Kids

Be it academics or sports or any other skill, a sharp memory and good attention is a must to achieve excellence. Usually, kids have difficulty in memorizing certain topics, especially if they are related to schooling or academics. Whether they find the subject boring or they have trouble remembering things in general, it is not difficult to improve their memory power. Of the many ways, memory games are an excellent way to engage them, exercise their memory, and enhance their learning acuity.

In this MomJunction post, we provide a list of memory games for kids to play every day.

17 Interesting Memory Games For Children

The stronger and better the memory, the faster is the learning. Here is the list of memory games that you can play with kids at home or school.

1. Match the coin

It is an interesting memory game to play with little kids. You will need different types of coins and a few kids to get started with.

How to play:

• Arrange 15-20 coins of different types in a random pattern.
• Choose two or three types of coins and show them to the child.
• Let the child observe it for at least ten seconds, to memorize the heads and tails of the coins.
• Mix up the coins with the others on the table and ask the child to identify the ones you showed them before.
• Set a time to finish the task.
• One who finishes it in the shortest time wins the game.

2. Find the missing one

To find one thing from a bunch of things is easy, but to notice a missing item from the bunch needs the brain to work a bit more. To start the game, you will require a few random things, including small toys, some accessories, coins, key chains, etc.

How to play:

• Arrange all the items that you have on the floor.
• Let the child have a look at all of them for a minute.
• After that, close their eyes with a blindfold and remove one item from the bunch.
• Rearrange all the items randomly.
• Open the blindfold and tell the kids to find the missing item from the bunch.
• One who finds it in the shortest time is the winner.

3. List the pictures

This game can help sharpen the child’s memory and is easy to play too. All you need for the game is a picture/poster of a garden or a zoo.

How to play:

• Show the poster to the kids.
• Give them a minute to go through the poster and then put the poster away.
• Give them a pencil and a paper.
• Ask them to list down as many items from the poster as they can remember.
• The one who lists down the maximum number of items will be the winner.

[ Read: Classroom Games And Activities For Kids ]

4. Follow the sound pattern

This musical memory game can be played by a few children or more. This game is more about following a sound or rhythm pattern and checking how quickly the child grasps it than about memory or retention.

How to play:

• Make the children stand or sit in a circle.
• An adult should start the game by clapping once, and the children need to follow it.
• Once that round is over, immediately the adult should change the clapping pattern.
• Let the kids echo with the pattern.

5. Word play

This is an interesting game that sharpens the child’s memory, and also helps them learn some new words. Ideal for playing with a group of children.

How to play:

• Choose any topic like places, animals, or things for kids.
• Let one child start the game by saying a word from the chosen topic out loud.
• The next child will have to repeat the first word and then one of his/her own. The next kid says the first two words and another word of his or her choice. And so on, the kids will keep building the list of words related to a specific topic.
• The one who remembers the maximum number of words and recalls them without fumbling will win the game.

6. Observe and recall

This becomes a fun game when played outdoors. You can play it with your children by taking them to a park or any other exciting place. All you need is a pencil and a paper.

How to play:

• Take them to a park or a zoo.
• Let them go around and observe the surroundings.
• Once you come back home, tell them to recall what they saw and write down all that they remember.

7. Tell a story

It is an excellent game to play with little older kids. The activity is engaging and encourages them to listen carefully and recall the details.

How to play:

• Gather a group of four to five kids.
• Narrate a short story and ask the kids to listen to it carefully.
• Then, ask the kids to narrate the story back to you, but one line at a time.
• One kid will begin the story with the first sentence. The second one has to take it forward with the next sentence. This will continue with each kid until the story ends.
• If anyone misses out a particular sequence, he/she will be out of the game.

8. The card game

It is a fun-filled memory game to organize during the parties. All you need is a deck of 52 playing cards and a group of children.

How to play:

• Shuffle the cards and put them face-down on the floor.
• Arrange the cards in four rows with each row containing 13 cards.
• The first player has to pick two cards from anywhere and if the pair of cards matches, then the kid gets to play again.
• If the cards do not match, then they should be placed in their original positions.
• Other kids must closely observe the placement of the card.
• The kid who collects the maximum number of pairs wins.

9. The cup game

This interesting game improves a child’s observation skills. The children have to notice specific details about the objects and try to use them to guess correctly. You will need three cups and a toy to start this game.

How to play:

• Arrange three similar cups in a line on a table and place a toy under one cup.
• Show the kids the cup under which the toy is kept.
• Now shuffle the cups randomly by sliding it over the table.
• Allow the kid to guess the cup that has the toy under it.
• Let each kid take the turn to try their memory.

[ Read: Brain Games For Kids ]

10. What is in the shopping bag?

The game is very simple and can help them learn the names of things that they may find in different stores. Can be played by a group of kids.

How to play:

• The first kid starts the game by saying, ‘I went shopping and bought ______.’
• The second kid takes the game forward by saying ‘I went shopping and bought _____ and _______,’ wherein the first word is repeated and the second word is new.
• This is similar to the word game mentioned earlier but in a different context.

11. The rhyme game

Learning becomes more exciting and fun with the rhyme game, which is an excellent way also to enhance the child’s literary skills. It is ideal for a group of kids.

How to play:

• The first player will start the game by saying a short sentence like, ‘I love my cat.’
• The second player will have to repeat the sentence and use a word that rhymes with the last word of the sentence. For example, the second player says, ‘I love my cat mat.’
• The third player continues it by adding a new rhyming word at the end of the sentence.
• The rhyming continues, and the one who fails to say the sentence with all the rhyming words goes out of the game.

12. Memory test

It is a fun game for kids as well as the family and a great entertainer for a family get together. You will need paper and a pencil to start the game.

How to play:

• One person will read out a list of around ten randomly picked words related to the household.
• Wait for a minute and ask each kid to write down as many words as they can remember.
• The one who writes the maximum number of words wins the game.
• Make the game challenging by asking them to draw the pictures against each word.

13. The number game

The best way to learn math is by introducing the concepts through some fun activity, and number game is one such you should try.

How to play:

• Pick a multiplication table or a number series that you want the child to learn.
• The game starts when the first player starts with the first number in the series.
• The second player will repeat the first number and then add the second number in the series.
• Each player repeats the previous numbers while adding the next number in the series, which makes it an excellent activity to teach kids math concepts.

14. Lego challenge

This interesting game allows children to focus on an object and create a picture of it in their mind. A group of few kids can play this game.

How to play:

• Make two teams comprising of three to four players.
• A Lego structure should be made in advance and kept in a room.
• Call one player from each group.
• An adult will escort the player to the room. Let the child go through the Lego structure thoroughly for two to three minutes.
• The player should come back and describe the structure to the remaining players.
• The team then starts replicating the structure kept in the room.
• The group that comes closest to recreating the original structure will win the game.

15. The alphabet game

It is a perfect game for smaller kids and a great way to introduce them to the alphabet. All you need is an alphabet board with capital and small letters and the alphabet card with capital and small letters.

How to play:

• Show the alphabet board to the children.
• Let them observe it for a minute or two.
• Now keep the board aside and tell them to pair the alphabet cards with the corresponding capital and small letters.
• This game can also be played with numbers, wherein the child needs to arrange the numbers in the right sequence.

[ Read: Team Building Activities For Kids ]

16. Spot The Difference

This game helps improve the child’s visual and memory skills. This can be played with just one child or a group of kids too.

How to play:

• Dress up or put on some accessories and meet the children.
• Let the kids take a close look at you for a minute.
• You can go to the room and remove some accessories or change certain things about you.
• Come out and ask the children to find the differences.

17. Passing the message

As the name suggests, the game is all about passing a message from one person to another. This game exercises the child’s listening skills as well as memory.

How to play:

• Make two groups with four to five players in each group.
• An adult must whisper a message into the ears of the first player, who will whisper it in the ears of a player from the second group.
• Make sure the message is neither too short nor too long.
• The message should pass from one child to another, and the last player will have to announce the message loudly.
• If the sequence of the words in the message is broken, then the team loses a point.
• The team that scores the maximum is the winner.

Memory games can be fun and also let the children improve their ability to retain and recall information at will. Pick the right games considering the child’s age, the context, and resources available. Most of these games need few things to begin and can be played anywhere. So make the most of them and let the kids put their minds to work as much as possible.

Do you have any memory game ideas to share? Tell us about them in the comments section below.

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