Five Shichida Activities You Can Do at Home Today

Class techniques, home versions

Because you sit beside your child every week, you already know how these run. Here are five of the easiest to transfer.

1. The memory tray

Place four everyday objects on a tray. Look together for ten seconds, cover with a tea towel, remove one, and ask what is missing. Add objects as it gets easy. Two minutes, endless variations.

2. Linking stories

Give three unrelated words — banana, bicycle, moon — and build an absurd story linking them. Absurdity is the point; it is what makes a sequence memorable. Older children can retell the story back to you an hour later.

3. Closed-eye imagery

Ask your child to close their eyes while you describe a scene in detail: a red door, a garden behind it, what they can hear. Then ask what colour the flowers were. You are training the mind's eye.

4. Rhythm echo

Clap a short pattern; they clap it back. Lengthen it gradually. This builds auditory working memory and is unreasonably good fun on a car journey.

5. The one-minute flashcard burst

Ten to twenty picture cards, half a second each, named clearly once. Stop before interest fades.

The rule that matters

Short, cheerful and stopped early beats long, dutiful and endured. Five good minutes a day will outperform an hour on Sunday.

Curious to see it for yourself? The easiest way to understand a Shichida class is to sit in one. Message our team on WhatsApp to book a trial class and we will help you choose the right stage for your child.

Sources & Further Reading

For readers who would like to explore the wider science of early years cognitive development, the following authoritative organisations offer trusted further reading:

1. Center on the Developing Child, Harvard University. Brain Architecture & Early Childhood Development.
2. World Health Organization. Improving Early Childhood Development: WHO Guideline.
3. UK Department for Education. Statutory Framework for the Early Years Foundation Stage.
4. NHS. Children’s Development & Early Learning.