Memory Bricks: Teaching Children How to Remember

Jane Mitchell

Welcome to the show. I keep thinking about how often children get told to "try harder" when what they actually need is a better METHOD. And honestly, that is such an efficient way to make somebody want to give up when the real issue is that nobody has shown them what to do in their head. When I used to teach teachers how to help their children improve their memory I’d always say tell your pupils “Memory is something that happens inside one’s head, you CANNOT watch someone else who’s good at it and learn how to improve yourself”…”so if nobody has taught you how to remember better yet…..it’s not your fault” And then tell them with confidence and congruity that you can show them the methods that will help them with what ever it is that is a struggle to remember.

Jane Mitchell

Memory isn't magic. It may feel like some mysterious gift handed out to a lucky few while the rest of us stand there rereading the same page like it's going to become more cooperative on the seventh go. But it’s not. It can be taught. More specifically, the STRATEGIES of memory can be taught. And from a very young age.

Jane Mitchell

And that's why Memory Bricks are interesting. Not because they're a cute little activity, though they are pleasingly tactile, and I do think we underrate the educational power of "nice to hold." They're a kinaesthetic learning tool: small coloured wooden bricks with pictures on every face, used to build, copy and then remember sequences.

Jane Mitchell

A full set contains 40 bricks, graded across four levels of difficulty, and there's an explanation manual you can read. Although we are covering all the most important information here. In practice, the teacher takes 2, 3, 4 or 5 bricks and makes a sequence. The student looks at that sequence, then uses their own bricks to make the same one from memory. Then the two rows get compared.

Jane Mitchell

Now, if you're thinking, "Right, so... memory game?" Well, sort of -- but the important bit is the twist. The number remembered is NOT the most crucial point. The complexity isn't the main point either. The learning happens in the discussion afterwards: how did you try to remember it? What did you notice? What helped? What didn't?

Jane Mitchell

That matters because traditional memory training often stops at practice. More items, harder items, faster recall... and everyone hopes memory will improve by sheer exposure. But repetition on its own doesn't reliably build usable memory skills. If the learner never becomes conscious of the process, the gains may stay trapped inside the exercise. They don't necessarily transfer to reading, instructions, spellings, facts, vocabulary -- real life, basically.

Jane Mitchell

Memory Bricks deliberately pull those two things apart: the SUBJECT being learned and the PROCESS of learning it. The pictures on the bricks are only remotely linked to schoolwork, which is clever. It creates a low-stress space where a child can focus on acquisition, retention and recall without also having to worry about getting maths or spelling "wrong."

Jane Mitchell

And that separation is doing a lot of heavy lifting. If a child struggles with spellings , for example, we can spend ages teaching the word again. But maybe the real issue is a sequencing difficulty. Or noticing accurately in the first place. Or not having any strategy except hoping the information sticks by repeatedly saying it out loud. We all know children ( maybe even ourselves) who do not learn by rote repetition. The Memory Bricks allow us to work out what is actually going on.

Jane Mitchell

The bricks can be used for auditory or visual sequential memory -- remembering the order of a line of pictures. The teacher can start very simply, because the process is designed to be broken into small, achievable steps: first copying, then memorising sequence, then orientation, then more complex combinations. So you can meet the learner where they actually are. And progress in very small increments if necessary.

Jane Mitchell

And there's another subtle but important thing built in here: there is no dramatic "wrong answer" theatre. When the two rows are compared, the point is not to judge the child, especially if confidence is already shaky. The point is to notice differences and talk about them. Did they remember the items but not the order? The order but not the orientation? Did they rush? Did they make a story? Did they say the names to themselves? That's the real lesson. And ultimately the lesson that makes a difference in real life situations at home or learning at school.

Jane Mitchell

So instead of "No, that's wrong," the useful question becomes, "What strategy did you use?" And if the learner can't yet describe one, the adult can help make that thinking visible. That's a much more humane model of teaching, actually. Less performance, more process. Less "be better," more "here is HOW." If you want the fancy word it’s metacognition. Thinking about thinking.

Jane Mitchell

Who are these for? Quite a wide spread, actually. Children can use Memory Bricks from about two to three years old, as soon as they can recognise and name the objects and understand "same" and "different." They are used very effectively with children aged five to twelve, with primary school pupils, and with learners who have special needs.

Jane Mitchell

But it doesn't stop there. Motivated students and adults can use them too, including adult stroke patients. That's important, because it tells you this isn't babyish busywork. It's a practical teaching tool for memory skills across age and ability, used for both preventative work and remediation.

Jane Mitchell

They can support people with poor short-term or working memory, poor visual or auditory memory, poor sequencing skills, and difficulty remembering instructions, what has been read, what has been done, multiplication tables, vocabulary, or facts for tests. Which is quite a list... and also, if we're honest, describes a fair number of stressed adults on a Tuesday.

Jane Mitchell

The levels are colour-coded, and the colours tell you the degree of challenge. Blue is the easiest. Blue uses single objects. At this level, the learner is simply dealing with straightforward pictures -- one object is one object. Nice clean starting point.

Jane Mitchell

Green is the next step up. Here, the objects belong to the same topic or semantic category. So instead of a mixed bunch of unrelated pictures, you might have items that all belong together. That sounds innocent enough, but it's harder, because the pictures are more similar in meaning. The learner has to notice finer distinctions instead of just going, "Oh yes, the frog, the phone, the flower."

Jane Mitchell

Then red increases the load again by introducing orientation differences. An animal might face right or left, for instance. That means the learner isn't just remembering what the picture is, but exactly HOW it appears. Same basic object, different orientation, more information to carry.

Jane Mitchell

Yellow is the most difficult level. Here orientation, size and colour can vary. So now the learner may need to remember not just "frog," but small frog, or large frog, or which way it faces, or which colour version it is. In other words, the task moves from broad recognition to detailed noticing. And that is a very different skill.

Jane Mitchell

I think that's one of the smartest aspects of the design: the difficulty doesn't just come from making the sequence longer. It comes from increasing what must be perceived and encoded. More detail. More precision. More deliberate noticing. That's much closer to real learning, where success often depends on spotting exactly the feature that distinguishes one thing from another.

Jane Mitchell

And because the bricks are pleasant to handle, there's also that bodily, kinaesthetic element. Some learners remember better when they are physically involved with the material rather than just staring at it. Again, not mystical. Just practical. Give the brain more than one route in.

Jane Mitchell

There is one very clear safety point, and it matters: these are teaching tools, NOT toys. They must always be used under adult supervision. The stickers can be peeled off if a child is not supervised, so this really is not a "leave them alone with a box and see how it goes" situation.

Jane Mitchell

What stays with me is this: when you separate memory from the subject being learned, you give people a chance to study their own learning process without all the usual emotional clutter. And once someone can see that process -- really see it -- they may not just remember a row of bricks better. They may start learning everything else differently. I hope you’ll join me for the next episode.