Instant replay is a great ice breaker for the beginning of the school year, and it can be used to build memory skills. Have the students stand up and arrange themselves in a circle. Select a student to go first, and have that student say his or her name, and then perform a hand gesture of that student's choosing. The student to his or her left then repeats the first student's name and gesture, followed by his or her own name and original gesture. The game continues until each consecutive student has participated. It's a good idea if you, as the teacher, participate as well: going first allows you to set the tone, and going last gives you the toughest job of repeating each student's name and gesture.
To test your student's short-term memory, begin by giving each student a sheet of paper and a pencil. Then, place 10 to 20 small items on a tray (coins, pens, pencils, marbles or erasers, for example) and cover the tray with a cloth. Instruct students that when you remove the cloth they will have one minute to memorize as many of the objects on the tray as possible. Remove the cloth, and after one minute, cover the tray again. Allow students one minute to write a list of all the objects they can remember.
Select one student to be "it." Have that student cover her (or his) eyes while you silently select 5-10 other students to stand side-by-side at the front of the room. Tell the student who is "it" that -- on your command -- she will have five seconds to look at the students and memorize who they are, after which the "it" student will have to close her eyes again. Allow her the five seconds, and after she closes her eyes again, select one of the standing students to leave the room. Have the remaining standing students change positions in line, so that the order is significantly different. Tell the "it" student to open her eyes and see if she can identify the missing student.
One activity that improves a student's visual memory is to regularly question him or her about daily activities, according to visual memory professionals from North Shore Pediatric Therapy in Illinois. They suggest asking questions such as "What did you have for lunch today?" and others that require students to recall visual images. Furthermore, by asking questions like these regularly, students come to expect them, and as a result, they sharpen their visual observation skills as well.