Preschoolers…Napping…Visual-Spatial Memory

 Dr. Cindy Haines of HealthDay TV, recently shared the outcome of a study on preschoolers napping in school.

A nap does a preschooler’s body, and mind good. That’s the headline from a brand new study that looked at the value of a classroom nap. Researchers in Massachusetts recruited a group of 40 preschoolers to measure their visual-spatial memory.

All of the preschoolers were asked to play a common game where you look at a grid of pictures and then you have to remember where different pictures are located.

During one testing session, the preschoolers napped for an average of 77 minutes in-between viewing the grid and taking the memory quiz. In another, they were kept awake for the same amount of time.

The preschoolers did a much better job retaining the location of the pictures after they had taken a nap.

The researchers say their findings suggest naps are critical for early learning and they are encouraging educators to develop napping guidelines for young children.