Picnic Basket Pile-Up

The old “I’m going on a picnic and I’m bringing…” game. Each player repeats everything already in the basket, in order, and then adds one new thing — so the list in your child’s head has to be kept, updated, and said back again and again.

  1. Start the chant: “I’m going on a picnic and I’m bringing a banana.”
  2. Your child repeats and adds: “I’m going on a picnic and I’m bringing a banana and a kite.”
  3. Back to you: “…a banana, a kite, and a frog.” Keep going, taking turns, each time saying the whole list in order before adding one.
  4. Add an action for every item — peel the banana, fly the kite, hop like the frog. Actions make the list much easier to hold.
  5. When someone gets stuck, the other player may offer the action as a clue (not the word).
  6. When the list finally collapses, celebrate how long it got — “Five things! That’s our record” — and start a fresh basket.
  7. Two or three baskets is plenty for one sitting.

Variation: for a first game, put real objects into a real basket one at a time and cover it with a cloth, so the list can be checked by peeking. Change the frame — “In my suitcase…”, “On the pirate ship…”, “The monster ate…”. For a stretch, ask at the end, “What was the second thing we packed?”

Requirements

  • Space: None — ideal for car journeys, mealtimes, walks, and waiting rooms
  • Surface: Not applicable
  • Materials: None; optionally a basket, a cloth, and 5–6 small objects for the beginner version
  • Participants: 2 or more players; works well with the whole family around a table
  • Supervision: Light — the adult plays as an equal partner

Rationale & Objective

Each turn of this game is a complete working-memory cycle: retrieve the list so far, say it in order, think of a new item while still holding the list, add it, and store the longer version. That continual revising of what is held in mind is “updating”, which Miyake and colleagues (2000) identified as one of the three core executive functions and which Miyake and Friedman (2012) describe as constantly monitoring and revising the contents of working memory. Because a child must generate their own item while keeping the old ones alive, the game carries an executive load on top of storage — the feature that distinguished the more effective everyday working-memory activities in Rowe and colleagues’ (2019) systematic review. The gestures are not decoration: research on instruction-following shows children remember more when information is tied to actions (Waterman et al., 2017), and pairing memory demands with a strategy is a core recommendation of Gathercole and Alloway (2008). The Harvard Center on the Developing Child likewise recommends songs and games that repeat and add on as working-memory practice for young children. At five, three or four items is a typical ceiling; with actions and a supportive partner, some children reach five or six.

Progress Indicators

  • Early: adds their own item but cannot repeat the earlier ones; recalls only the most recent item or their own contributions
  • Developing: holds a list of three with action clues; order slips; remembers their own items better than their partner’s
  • Proficient: recites a list of four in order with few prompts, uses the actions on their own to cue themselves, and notices when a partner skips an item
  • Advanced: reaches five or six items, can play without actions, answers position questions (“what came after the kite?”), and invents themed or alphabet versions

Safety Notes

  • Physically risk-free; if playing in the car, the driver should listen rather than take a full turn if it pulls attention from the road
  • With mixed ages, play as a team building one list together rather than knocking out whoever forgets — elimination punishes exactly the child who most needs the practice
  • Stop while it is still funny; a list that has grown too long turns a game into a failure, so start a new basket early and often
  • Shy or late-talking children may prefer to point to pictures or add real objects rather than recite — adapt the format rather than insisting on the chant

Hints

  • Playfulness: go for ridiculous items — a wobbly jelly, a sleepy crocodile, Grandpa’s slippers. Funny, vivid, strange things stick far better than sensible ones
  • Sustain interest: change the story frame each time (suitcase, spaceship, witch’s cauldron, zoo bus) and keep a family “longest list” record
  • Common mistake: jumping in to supply the forgotten word. Wait, then give the action or the first sound as a clue — the effortful retrieval is the exercise
  • No equipment: this needs nothing at all, which makes it one of the easiest working-memory games to fit into dead time
  • Cross-domain: builds vocabulary and categories (only foods; only things that are red); an alphabet version (apple, ball, cat) adds letter-sound knowledge; a counting version (“one frog, two kites, three buns”) adds numeracy
  • Progression: real objects in a real basket → words with actions → words only → themed lists (only animals) → position questions afterwards → alphabet or counting versions → say the list backwards as you “unpack”

Sources

  • Miyake, A., Friedman, N. P., Emerson, M. J., Witzki, A. H., Howerter, A. & Wager, T. D. (2000). “The unity and diversity of executive functions and their contributions to complex ‘frontal lobe’ tasks: A latent variable analysis.” Cognitive Psychology, 41(1), 49–100
  • Miyake, A. & Friedman, N. P. (2012). “The nature and organization of individual differences in executive functions: Four general conclusions.” Current Directions in Psychological Science, 21(1), 8–14
  • Rowe, A., Titterington, J., Holmes, J., Henry, L. & Taggart, L. (2019). “Interventions targeting working memory in 4–11 year olds within their everyday contexts: A systematic review.” Developmental Review, 52, 1–23
  • Waterman, A. H., Atkinson, A. L., Aslam, S. S., Holmes, J., Jaroslawska, A. & Allen, R. J. (2017). “Do actions speak louder than words? Examining children’s ability to follow instructions.” Memory & Cognition, 45, 877–890
  • Gathercole, S. E. & Alloway, T. P. (2008). Working Memory and Learning: A Practical Guide for Teachers. Sage
  • Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University (2014). Enhancing and Practicing Executive Function Skills with Children from Infancy to Adolescence