Mind mapping: A game to increase your kid’s concentration  

Tony Buzan is a successful English author and educationist. But as a child, he would get bored with studies, and always wondered why the school did not allow using images and colours while taking class notes. This is how he hit upon the concept of mind mapping, which is a technique of encouraging thought processes that include colour coding, visuals and words to organise the mind more effectively. It’s a bit like creating a Google Map of our brain, moving from thought to thought, with mental ‘notes’ to mark each mental milestone.  

Can mind maps benefit kids in some way?  
In his book ‘Mind Maps for Kids’, Buzan demonstrated how mind maps gave some concrete benefits to kids. We are quickly listing a few of them here:  

• Mind mapping improves study skills. It’s a form of brain exercise, so it teaches logical and analytical thinking, heightens concentration and helps kids cultivate process thinking  
• Ming mapping can be a great creativity boosting game for children  
• The mind mapping approach automatically teaches kids to think through a problem towards the best solution 

Since kids look upon mind mapping essentially as a game or a fun activity, they not only enjoy it, but also retain whatever they learn.  

We will now look at a sample mind mapping game.  

‘My room’ mind mapping game for kids   
These are the steps to introduce your kid to mind mapping through a simple game:  

• To begin with, tell them they should re-decorate their room in a way that would make them most comfortable in it  
• They must first make an inventory of the things in it, including everything in the wardrobe, shelves, on the wall or ceiling  
• Next, they have to write down how they can place the same objects in a way that will make the room seem bigger, more well-lit, peaceful and organised  
• Ask your children if the newly arranged room would also be a great place for parents, siblings, friends, pets and any other visitor to their world  
• They will now draw the floor plan and draw a schedule for the re-arrangement process  
•  Ask them if they are satisfied once they are done  

Ask your kid to now analyse what works well in this arrangement and why. It will start a journey of self-discovery.