Between homework, exams, sports and clubs, art can often get pushed the side for all except the most enthusiastic students, however, new research has shown that even low-quality drawing can have a remarkable effect on memorisation for both children and adults. The study showed that not only does doodling make people more likely to remember new information but it also helped them to learn faster.
Research has long shown that pictures are generally remembered better than words, however, ready-drawn, relevant pictures aren’t always available for learners and so a recent Canadian study looked at whether drawing would have a similarly powerful effect. As the study points out, drawing is one of the easiest and least disruptive ways of studying new material – far less disruptive than techniques such as putting actions with words or reciting something aloud. The study looked at the effects of drawing a sketch related to a word or definition in comparison with writing it repeatedly. Researchers found that spending just 40 seconds on a drawing made people far more likely to remember a word or definition, regardless of the quality of the sketch.
This research has powerful implications for school students, especially those sitting the 11+. Multiple studies have shown breadth of vocabulary to be one of the strongest predictors of a child’s later academic success. This makes sense too – a broad vocabulary improves our ability to comprehend new information across any subject and, of course, a subject must be understood before it can be learnt. Many of the 11+ exams are also geared towards students that have a natural gift for learning vocabulary, which can be difficult for children with strengths in other subjects. Learning vocabulary by doodling could help to overcome these barriers, therefore improving your child’s chances of success in school, the 11+ and in future life.
Our video below demonstrates an effective way to put this technique into practice. This exercise involves your child spending 10 to 15 mins a day playing with someone else at home. You should select six words to focus on that day and the two players take it in turns to draw pictures based on one of the words and have the other person guess which word is being used. This exercise is also useful for revising the definitions of Latin Roots.
11+ Vocabulary List [Download] – make a game of working through our vocabulary list as a family.
Kin Learning Online Vocabulary Course – our weekly vocabulary course covers up to 200 words in just 8 weeks. Live teaching sessions help children to understand the definition, synonyms and usage of each word.
Mrs. Wordsmith – A vocabulary subscription service that provides beautiful and witty illustrations and activities to introduce children to new words.
