Kim's Game

Named after Kipling's Kim, in which the hero trains his memory by studying a tray of objects and then recalling them. Objects (or pictures, or words) are shown briefly, then hidden. Students recall as many as possible.

Classic memory training repurposed for vocabulary recall. Featured in Bilbrough's Memory Activities for Language Learning (CUP, 2011).

Procedure

1. Lay out 10–15 items on a tray, or stick 10–15 flashcards on the board, or project 10–15 words.
2. Students study silently for 30–60 seconds. No notes.
3. Cover or remove all items.
4. Individually, students write down everything they remember.
5. Pairs compare and pool lists. Pairs often recall more together than either did alone.
6. Reveal. Score and discuss.

Why It Works

• Forces attentive encoding: the brief viewing window pushes students to actively rehearse, not just look.
• Retrieval practice: the gap between viewing and writing is where memory consolidates.
• Pair-pooling: shows learners how collaborative recall beats individual recall — a useful study strategy beyond the activity.

Variations

• What changed?: Show items. Hide them. Change one detail (swap an apple for a pear; remove one flashcard). Show again. Students identify the change.
• Clustered Kim's: Items are thematically grouped (all in a kitchen, all irregular past verbs). Recall tests both memory and category.
• Chain Kim's: After recall, the next round adds 3 new items. Recall becomes cumulative across the lesson.
• Collocation Kim's: The items are collocations rather than single words — tests phrasal memory, not word-level.

Tips

• For young learners: real objects beat pictures. Tactile memory is stronger.
• For higher levels: replace objects with abstract nouns, idioms, or proverbs for a real challenge.
• The compare-and-pool stage is pedagogically the most important; don't skip it.