Memory Games for Toddlers

A toddler needs a little more than adult babble for entertainment. Just as we get bored with mundane talking, they do too. Challenging activity pushes us to do more, get more and think more. Similarly a toddler too needs to be kept occupied, by making him think and adapt to the situations around him. Memory games for toddlers are designed with the same motive. These games have inherent educational strategies of providing knowledge, making the receiver analyze, helping him apply with a task, then making him think and finally be able to reach to an answer. Variations of puzzles, jigsaws and picture games are good memory games that help your child develop a focus at a younger age. As toddlers enjoy these games with their parents, it becomes a group activity, making your child learn a few social skills, before he starts preschool.

Hide and Seek
We've all played hide and seek at one point or the other. The object of the game for adults is thinking out of the box and searching through all the predictable and unpredictable places for hidden players. However, for a toddler playing hide and seek is about object permanence. This means that your toddler learns to look for things even if they cannot be seen by the naked eye. Cover yourself in a sheet and give clues to your toddler by saying, "Where's mommy? Or where's daddy?". Wave out once in a while to encourage him to come and find you. Once he finds you, swap your roles so that the purpose is learned in the reverse way too.

Reading and Comprehension
Turning reading and comprehension into a memory game for your child is very simple. It can be played anywhere and does not require any special toys. Pick up any children's book, which has a lot of pictures and is extremely colorful. Read aloud and flip through the pages describing the animals and objects in the pictures to your child. Point things out to your child and allow your toddler to respond to it. Let your toddler take time to turn the pages and recognize the pictures and objects all over again. Doing this activity repeatedly will help you child learn about his surroundings at a faster pace. In return, it will also encourage him to speak and grasp words easily.

Mimicking
Natural curiosity of a toddler becomes a parent's greatest advantage. Children become what they see and do the things that very regularly witness. So choose your actions carefully and help you child develop a better memory. Pulling faces, a dance move and mimicking is not just fun, but also an excellent learning tool. The purpose of this memory game is to build motor skills, imagination and social skills. Encourage your toddler to copy your moves by seeing them once. This will not just strengthen memory but will make it absolutely entertaining activity.

Abstract Art
An untrained mind can create the greatest art, for it fears no judgments. And herein lies your scope to make your child's doodle worth a better memory. Children love scribbling on walls and every other thing they find. Join your toddler in this madness and make him name the colors of every crayon he pick up and every object he draws. Choose only primary colors in the beginning to avoid confusion. This game will also bring about fine motor control and hone his motor skills and imagination.

Sorting Games
By the time your toddler gets a little older than a year, he will be able to differentiate between colors, shapes and sizes. At this time, playing sorting games is a great way of honing his skills and strengthening his memory with repetitive tasks that are presented in different ways. Doing this activity over and over again is will sharpen his sorting and building skills.

To retain your child's interest, make memory games challenging and entertaining. The moment any game takes a tone of seriousness, it'll become a boring activity, never to be played ever again. Give your child small treats and rewards to encourage and motivate him. Hope these games make teaching as much fun for you, as the need to satisfy the humongous inquisitiveness is for a child.