Dugong Remembers
Remembering things in order: watch and listen, then do it back
How it plays
A few water friends light up one after another, and the dugong says each name ("A jellyfish! An octopus!"). Then it's your child's turn: tap them in the same order. A wrong tap never tells off: "Watch again!", and the same order is shown once more, and there's a Watch again button any time. The friends stay in the same places for a whole level, because where they are helps you remember. It starts with two in a row and grows to six as your child gets the hang of it.
What it's for
Remembering things in order: watch and listen, then do it back. It adapts as your child plays: after a few rounds that go well it steps up a little, and after a couple of hard ones it quietly steps back. The level number only ever goes up.
There is no score to lose and no way to fail. A wrong move is met with a gentle nudge, and a level ends when it's won.
Away from the screen: What's in the bag?
About two minutes, with things most homes have.
- Put three things from around the house in a line: a spoon, a sock, a toy.
- Name them in order together, then cover them with a tea towel.
- Can your child say them back in the same order? Swap, and let them test you. Add a fourth when three is easy.
Three questions to ask while they play
- Which one came first?
- What came after the octopus?
- How did you remember them? (Saying them, or where they were?)
Play together
Things to say or ask
- Watch and listen first, then it's your turn.
- What came first? What came next?
- You remembered a long one!
Taking turns on one device: One player watches with their eyes, the other with their ears. Together, say the order before tapping.
Talk-about cards: a question a day for a week, for the car or the dinner table. Print them, or read them from your phone.
If they find it hard
Say the names along with the dugong, out loud. Saying things helps us hold them in mind. Or try A Match for the Patch first: remembering where things are, one pair at a time.
A sheet to print
Print the Dugong Remembers sheet
One A4 page, in black and white or colour.
What it practises
- Holding something in mind. Remembering a word or a pattern for a moment while you use it.
EYLF 4.2 (Early Years Learning Framework V2.0) - Paying attention. Keeping focus when the easy answer is the wrong one.
PSC Self-management (General capabilities, Personal and Social Capability); EYLF 1 (Early Years Learning Framework V2.0) - Australian animals. What animals look like and where they live (My animal friends cards).
AC9SFU01 (Science, Foundation); AC9S1U01 (Science, Year 1)
The codes are from the Early Years Learning Framework V2.0 (for children from birth to five) and the Australian Curriculum v9 (Foundation to Year 2). Each links to the official wording. Every skill, and the games for it.
What it costs, and what we collect
Nothing, and nothing. There is no account, no advertising and no tracking of any kind. Which games have been played is remembered on your own device and is never sent anywhere. The full version is here, and it's short.
Where it lives
Dugong Remembers lives in The Dusty Red — attention and impulse control. It works on a phone, a tablet or a classroom screen, and once it's been opened it keeps working with no signal at all.
Updated