Feed Your Hippo!

You may have heard your child say that they have to feed their hippo before they go to bed. This is true!  The hippo they are feeding is their hippocampus which is a part of the brain.  It is a very important part of the brain because it transfers information to long term memory.

This important step in learning only occurs during sleep!  I’m sure they would like to take a nap in class to facilitate this process, but that won’t quite work.  But each night, going over what they learned that day, even reading their planner right before they go to bed can help this process.

The reason “feeding the hippo” is so critical right before bed is this:  The brain processes FIRST what it did LAST!  If a child watches TV, plays video games, texts, or does anything similar to that right before bed, the brain will spend the night processing that FIRST, and then may not get to the important “stuff” from school.  Reminding the brain, though, what it was taught that day, will help the brain process that important information thus creating long term memory.

Keep your hippo FAT!!