Why drawing helps us remember more, and learn faster
Have you ever noticed how engaged children are when they draw?
Children may already know a secret trick to learning! When they draw what they write, they are also remembering more and learning faster.
What may look like a “fun” activity is actually supported by decades of cognitive science!
Drawing is not an “extra.” It is a high-impact literacy strategy.
One of the clearest explanations comes from a concept called “Dual Coding Theory”. When students write a sentence and also draw it, they are not just repeating the same idea—they are encoding it in their brains in two distinct ways.
According to cognitive research, information stored across both systems is more likely to be retained and retrieved later (Paivio,1990). For example, a student who writes: “The elephant used its trunk to drink” and then draws that scene, is far more likely to remember and understand it than a student who only writes the sentence.
Drawing deepens thinking by constructing knowledge.
The benefits go beyond having “two pathways.”
Drawing fundamentally changes how students think. Drawing forces students to decide what matters, organize their ideas, and translate language into imagery. This process aligns with generative learning theory (Wittrock, 1990), which emphasizes that learning deepens when students actively construct meaning rather than passively receive it.
Drawing helps all students understand better, remember more, and express themselves with greater clarity.
A well-known study found that students who drew concepts remembered significantly more than those who only wrote them (Wammes et al., 2016). In other studies, drawing has been shown to improve memory better than writing definitions or re-reading notes. The reason is simple: drawing requires elaboration, visualization, and physical action all at once,swhich creates richer and more durable memory traces in our brain.
For young learners, drawing is not just helpful—it is foundational. Early literacy research shows that children naturally combine drawing, talking, and writing as they make sense of the world (Dyson, 1986; Rowe, 2013). Drawing allows children to express ideas before they have full control over spelling and sentence structure, reducing cognitive load and keeping the focus on meaning. Drawing also serves as a bridge from oral language to written language. When children draw as they write, they tend to produce more detailed stories, use more robust vocabulary, and develop more complex ideas.
For multilingual learners, drawing acts as a powerful bridge between oral and written language.
Drawing can be an especially powerful for multilingual learners (MLLs). Drawing reduces cognitive load by giving MLLs a way to connect new words to meaning without relying entirely on translation alone. Drawing can make abstract vocabulary concrete and provides a way to express understanding even when written language is still developing.
This is why StoryWorld incorporates drawing throughout all our writing exercises.
The message for all teachers is powerful: when students are encouraged to write and draw, they are actively building stronger mental models, deepening their understanding, and creating more lasting memories. Over time, this translates into better vocabulary retention, stronger recall, and a deeper grasp of concepts—ultimately leading to more creative thinking, and expression.
What a “fun” way to learn!
Cynthia Harrison Barbera
Cynthia Harrison Barbera is President and CEO, StoryWorld International. She served as VP Educational Technology for Scholastic and is the recipient of two US Presidential awards for educational programs. An Emmy-award winner for a television series on education, she has taught English to native-speakers and ELL students in the US and overseas.
References:
- Dyson, A. H. (1986). Transitions and tensions: Interrelationships between the drawing, talking, and writing of young children. Research in the Teaching of English, 20(4), 379–409.
- Krashen, S. (1982). Principles and practice in second language acquisition. Pergamon.
- Paivio, A. (1990). Mental representations: A dual coding approach. Oxford University Press.
- Rowe, D. W. (2013). Emergent writing: Picturing writing in early childhood. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 28(4), 874–889.
- Wammes, J. D., Meade, M. E., & Fernandes, M. A. (2016). The drawing effect: Evidence for reliable and robust memory benefits in free recall. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 69(9), 1752–1776.
- Wammes, J. D., Fernandes, M. A., & Meade, M. E. (2018). Drawing as an encoding tool: The role of elaboration and motor action in memory. Memory & Cognition, 46(7), 1089–1103.
- Wittrock, M. C. (1990). Generative processes of comprehension. Educational Psychologist, 24(4), 345–376.