Listening and then remembering what we hear is called auditory memory. Most children can remember more words, longer sentences, and more information as they get older. But some children have difficulty remembering what they hear.

A child who struggles with auditory memory might have challenges with:

• following directions
• remembering their address or phone number
• remembering songs, poems, or nursery rhymes that other children know from memory

The following tips can help your child have better memory skills. Give your child many chances to practise and encourage them to try them on their own.

Get their attention

Call your child’s name and wait for a response. Then give them directions or information. For example, “Joe. [pause] Please put your backpack by the front door.”

Reduce distractions

Try to reduce other sounds from things like TV, radio, and other people talking, so your child can focus and follow directions more easily.

Repeat

Teach your child to repeat spoken messages out loud to help them remember. Later, they can practise saying the messages silently to themself.

Practise

Help your child practice saying important information, such as:

• their full name and birthday
• their address and phone number
• letters of the alphabet
• days of the week and months of the year
• seasons

Play memory games

Try these memory games to help your child remember what they hear:

• Clap your hands and ask your child to repeat your rhythm. Do different numbers of claps at different speeds and rhythms. Your child can also clap a rhythm for you to repeat.
• Play “Simon Says.” To start, say “Simon says,” then ask your child to do simple movements, like skip, hop, walk, or run. If your child follows a direction and you didn’t say “Simon says,” the game starts over.
• Say a sentence like, “I went on a trip, and in my suitcase, I took my shoes.” The next person repeats the information and adds another item to the suitcase. Continue the game until someone can’t remember all the items in order.

Group words

Teach your child to put words in categories. Organizing words like a grocery store organizes food makes words easier to remember and use.

Practise grouping words by having your child sort laundry, put away groceries, or sort the recycling. Talk about why certain things belong together, like dark and light clothing in laundry or fruits and vegetables in the kitchen.

Teach word associations

Word associations are the ways words are linked or related. Word associations help people organize and store words. The more word associations a child makes, the better they will remember and use new words.

When cooking, ask your child to name foods that go together, like cereal and milk, hot dogs and buns, bread and butter, or soup and noodles. When talking about days of the week, link each day to activities, like Tuesday for soccer or Saturday for chores.

For older children

If your child is a bit older and can read and write, teach them to write short notes to themself to help them remember information.

You can also teach your child to make pictures in their mind of information they want to remember.

Where to get help

To learn how speech-language pathologists and audiologists can help with speech, language, and hearing concerns, contact your child’s healthcare provider or visit Pediatric Rehabilitation.​​​