A six-year-old kneels on the rug next to a towel. Under it sits a short block tower his sister just built. He places red, then blue, then stops and lifts the towel for a peek. Later, his dad types the words working memory games for kids into a search bar.
The short answer is yes, games like this give your child real practice. Copying a hidden tower asks your child to hold a short set of colours, then build it. In studies of children aged 3 to 16, this practice helped on memory tasks like the game. But working memory games showed little sign of changing maths, reading or reasoning.
So play them because they are fun to share. You do not need an app or a paid program. They are also not a shortcut to school results.
What does working memory span mean?
Working memory is holding a few pieces of information for a short time while using them. In the tower moment, your child sees the colour order, the towel goes down, and then he builds. The peek under the towel is something many children do when the hidden set gets longer.
Span is how researchers turn this into a number. For example, a tester reads out a list of digits, and your child says them back in order. Each round, the list grows by one item. Span is the longest list your child repeats back without a slip, on that task, on that day.
That last part matters, because span shifts. Sleep, hunger, a noisy room and the type of item all change it. Also, the same child may repeat a longer list of digits than of shapes or places. So a span is one count from one task, not a fixed fact about your child.
That is why working memory games at home can work like span tasks. When the hidden tower grows by one block each round, it does the same job as the digit list.
Three working memory games to play at home
These working memory games use things you already have. Each one shows or tells your child a short set, then takes it away. Start with two items, add one when your child repeats the set in order, and drop one when they do not.
While you play, watch what your child does, not how far they get. Here are the games and what to look for in each.
- Hidden tower: build a short tower, cover it, then see whether your child peeks, says the colours aloud, or builds straight away.
- Shopping list: name a few things to buy, then watch whether your child says them back in order, mouths them, or counts on their fingers.
- Copy the taps: tap a short rhythm on the table, then watch whether your child taps it back in one go or stops and starts again.
- In all three games, look for tricks your child invents, such as grouping items in pairs or turning them into a little song.
Do working memory games help kids at school?
Two large reviews looked at this question by pooling many training studies. The first, Sala 2017, gathered studies of children aged 3 to 16 from the general population. Children who trained recalled more on memory tasks that looked like the training. However, the review found little sign of change in reasoning, maths or reading.
Sala 2017 also checked how each study was set up. Some studies placed children into groups at random and gave the comparison group another activity. Those studies found smaller effects, so the overall gain may be smaller than it first looks.
The second review, Sala 2020, pooled 41 studies that included 2,375 children in all. Again, children did more on memory tasks after training with working memory games or programs. The gain was largest when the test looked most like the training task. When comparison groups did another activity, the change on reasoning tasks, maths and language was close to zero.
How sure is this? Because both reviews pooled many studies, the pattern is fairly steady. Still, they included only children from the general population, so they do not speak to children who get extra support for learning.
What these studies do not tell you
This research does not tell you whether a game played for fun at home works the same way as a training program. Most studies used structured programs, often on a computer, repeated over weeks. The reviews also describe groups, so they cannot say what will happen for one child.
A span count from one evening of play does not tell you much on its own either. It moves with the day, the task and the type of item. If you have questions about how your child follows steps, remembers instructions or learns at school, ask your child’s doctor. Your child’s teacher can also tell you what they see in class.
Where Mores Health fits
Mores is a game where children build in a quiet open world. It records actions: what was placed, when, what fell and what came next.
In the tower moment, the boy stops between the blue block and the next one. Mores records that kind of moment as the quiet time before each piece is placed. It does not tell you what was going on during that quiet time, only how long it lasted. Mores does not test or diagnose.
Questions parents also ask
What age can kids start working memory games?
The Sala 2017 review included children as young as 3. For a young child, start with two objects they can see and touch, such as two toys hidden under a cup.
Are working memory apps worth paying for?
In two large reviews, trained children did more on tasks like the training, with little change in maths, reading or reasoning. So a free game you play together gives similar practice.
How often can we play these games?
The studies used set programs, so they do not give a home amount to copy. A few minutes at a time, ending before your child walks away, keeps it a game.
What if my child can only repeat a few items?
One count from one game moves with the day, the task and the type of item. If you have questions about it, ask your child’s doctor.
Sources
- Sala 2017. Working memory training in typically developing children: A meta-analysis of the available evidence.. Developmental psychology. doi:10.1037/dev0000265
- Sala 2020. Working memory training in typically developing children: A multilevel meta-analysis.. Psychonomic bulletin & review. doi:10.3758/s13423-019-01681-y
More stories
This article describes research and everyday behaviour; it is not medical advice. If you have questions about your child, ask their doctor.
Mores Health is in early beta. Join the beta.
Written with AI assistance from the studies listed above, and reviewed by a person before publishing.