I am always looking for new ways to practice skills with my students. What about a giant memory game? I mean, who doesn’t remember playing memory or concentration from when you were a kid?! (Does anyone remember the game show where the prize round at the end was the person matching the two pieces of the car…and if they matched them all they won that car?! Anyways…)
This game got us up and moving and was great to practice number recognition and counting skills! And lots of giggles and laughter! And bonus! You can use this for a center game or activity as a matching game!
I made giant ten frames (mustache of course) and numbers and printed them on bright cardstock. Then laminated them for durability.
After we reviewed what a ten frame is and what we use it for (to count) and how counting tells us how many…On one side of the carpet I placed the numbers face down in random order. I did the same thing with the ten frame cards on the other side of the carpet.
Then I called a student to turn over a number. Then I called a student to turn over a ten frame. We counted to see if we had a match. Each time we also had a little convo about remembering where that ten frame was.
If the number and ten frame did not match, we left the number up and turned over the ten frame and had someone come up and choose another ten frame. We continued until we found the right ten frame!
Now, I will say this…it took about 10 minutes to find our first match. And quite honestly, I was getting very nervous that this game might not work….but after we found that first match, we were off and running.
It was fascinating to see them helping each other and pointing and giving advice and to see them start remembering where we saw certain ten frames….And if they turned over that pink 2 ten frame once, they turned it over a billion times….seriously….
This picture sums it up….look at him cheering in the background. That’s how the game went. For 30 minutes we were engaged, and talking math and cheering and supporting each other.
I call that a successful lesson!
Click the image below to get your free giant ten frame memory game!
