Peg lists have been used by students for centuries to remember information quickly and with stronger recall than with rote techniques.

There are several types of peg lists, and it is suggested by most memory experts to use them all. The more options the better.

Peg Lists can be used to remember a variety of information, and is therefore invaluable to have in the memorizer’s tool box.

This post will cover how to construct several types of peg lists. It can be used as a required reference for other posts on this site.

So let’s get started!

The Number Rhyme Peg List

The rhyme peg list uses rhymes in the place of the number.

For example, the number one(1) would could be ‘sun’ or ‘bun’.

The number two(2) could be ‘shoe’ or ‘glue’. (I prefer the former because they rhyme and shoes come in pairs.)

Here is a list of 0-9:

• 1 sun
• 2 shoe
• 3 tree
• 4 door
• 5 beehive
• 6 sticks
• 7 heaven (halo)
• 8 skates
• 9 sign
• 0 hero

The Number Shape Peg List

A shape peg list will assign numbers to shapes that look like the number.

0. donut

• 1. candle
• 2. swan
• 3. butterfly
• 4. sailboat sail
• 5. fish hook
• 6. lasso
• 7. boomerang
• 8. snowman
• 9. balloon
• 0. donut

It is important that students create these on their own as quickly as possible.

Associative Number Peg List

This peg list allows the creator to simply pick an image that associates with the number in your mind.

For example, a three could be a tricycle, an eight could be an octopus, and a nine could be a cat (nine lives). Perhaps a number could match your favorite sports figure or a family members birthday. That specific sports figure or family member would be great examples of pegs.

Though these peg lists should be more than enough to get started memorizing most classroom information, those looking to maximize their memory power should check out the post on the Major system.

Remember, you and your students can use whatever pegs you want. These are just suggestions. You will likely grow to have several types at your disposal.

Stay Concrete and Detailed!

It is important to keep your images concrete as opposed to abstract. For example, ‘love’ would be too abstract, while ‘heart’ would be a more concrete representation. You need to be able to to visualize with the sense. What do they smell like? What do they feel or sound like? The more sensory details, the better.

For more information on using sensory details go to the Power Up lesson on sensory details.

Next Tool: The Alphabet Peg List