Going to school and absorbing all that was taught in class, requires the child to develop focused concentration, listening skills, and retention capacity. We’ve heard that practice makes a man perfect, and so the key to ‘acing’ it in academics, begins with a little practice at home. Memory games are a great way to help children develop concentration and keep them busy productively at home. Instead of Googling numerous ideas of memory games to play with your kiddies, here’s a comprehensive list that we have compiled for you;

Matching Pictures

This is probably the most favorite game amongst children. To begin with, take a pack of flashcards and ensure each image has its corresponding matching pair. You can download printable flashcards according to a theme; summer fruits, spring flowers, wild animals, etc. Make sure that cards are placed on a mat with the ‘image’ facing downwards. Ask the child to randomly pick up two cards from the spread and turn them over. If the two cards ‘match’ then pick them up and keep it aside. If they don’t match, flip the cards with the ‘picture side’ downwards again, and repeat this exercise until all matching pairs are found. The idea is to remember the placement of the cards and where their match was located.

Guess the Missing Item

Take a large tub and fill it up with some household items. You could get anything that is readily available at home like; a spoon, book, cup, toy car, pencil, etc. Take about 10-12 items to make the game more challenging. However, if your kiddo is just 3 – 4 years old, restrict yourself from choosing 5-6 simple items only. Place all the items in the tub and let the participant observe them for 10 minutes. Now cover the tub and ask the child to look away. Gently remove one item from the tub and hide it from anyone’s sight. Uncover and let the child guess which item is missing. Repeat this activity, until all the missing items are guessed correctly. Applaud the efforts, and congratulate your child later.

Shuffling the Cups

This is a classic game, that you must have played as a child. Take three identical paper cups and place pom-pom balls under one cup. Now shuffle the cups randomly. Pick up the cup under which there are pom-poms and ask the child to keep an eye on that one. Shuffle again and this time, ask the participant to choose the cup – which had the pom-poms. If the child guesses it correctly, appreciate his efforts. If not, try again until the pom-poms are found.

Memory Train

This is a group activity to be played in class. The game starts when the first child says ‘I am going to the market to buy….’. The child has to name any item that he wishes to purchase, for example; an apple. Now the next child introduces one more item and has to remember the item already bought by his friend in the previous turn. The second student says; ‘I am going to the market to purchase apple and pasta’. The third child continues; ‘I am going to the market to purchase an apple, pasta, and chocolate’. The idea is to remember and reproduce the sequence of items in the exact same manner, as it was revealed.

Spot the Difference

If you have a subscription to a magazine or newspaper for kids, you would be acquainted with the ‘spot the difference’ game section. There are two identical pictures, however, in one image, there might be elements that are missing or different. For example, One picture might have a photo frame missing, the color of the cushion may be different, or the pattern on the wall may be slightly non-identical. Between the two images, there could be 7-9 differences, that the child is required to spot. It seems pretty easy, but do not fooled! Concentrating and identifying the minutest error requires an ‘eye for detailing’ and thus helps in developing the child’s attention skills.

We are certain by choosing the above memory games, your kids will have lots of fun. They also learn to form meaningful connections with their peers and enhance their communication skills, memory power, concentration, and much more.

If you are looking for ideas related to specific Math related games; check out the Mathletics Platform. Mathletics is present in 110 countries across the globe and its popularity in Dubai in the Middle East is growing by the day. Mathletics has games for children 2 years to 16 years and includes interesting activities such as; Multiverse, Play Paws, Magic Mentors, Numbeanies, amongst others. If you belong to GCC or anywhere in the UAE, do check out Mathletics.

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