Make-a-Match
I love to craft, I love saving money, and I love playing with kids! Here's an idea for all those thrifty teachers and moms out there:
Make your own Memory Game! I will share here a game I have used in my Theater and Movement classes to make a fun and educational game, especially good for those "middle of the week" days, where kids are unfocused, tired, just trying to make it through hump day, and aren't ready to get up and dance.
In my Music and Movement class, I made a set of cards on which some are music theory: an empty staff, a treble clef, quarter notes, a song the whole class knows, like "you are my sunshine", and some are movement cards with a silly little stickman demoing the move: balance in passe for 10 seconds, 10 jumping jacks, 10 knee highs, crazy dance, 10 crunches, 10 pushups, etc. They can be anything you want and changed to fit your classes needs. When we play the game, every time a match is made the match is left on the playing board (so as not to make it into a competition) and then everyone performs whatever match was made. Some of the music matches have no exercise on them, but you can add whatever if helpful to learn the theory. Like with quarter notes, clap 4 quarter notes on beat, or if a song is matched, everyone sings it together. The movement matches are self explanatory.
Now for the kids at home, I present to you the silliest memory game ever made!
For this type of memory game, on one card you draw a person or an item that is missing something to be complete, and on the other card you draw the missing item! This really brings out a child's creativity, as you can see!
Some of our matches are: half a lego minifigure who is obviously missing his legs, Captain Underpants, missing his undies! A school teacher and the school, pencil and homework, a car and steering wheel, train and train track, a bird and a nest and Harry Potter and his wand. The list goes on and on, and what is especially hilarious about this game is after you have put it away for a month or so, the next time you play you have to remember what matches go together! It's harder than it sounds :)
Some day, when my computer skills are super savvy, I will make a printable of the Music memory game, but until then I hope you have a wonderful time creating this game with your child or for your students! It is always good to have a few things in your "back pocket" for those moments in class that get a little hairy, and this game will fit right in.
-KB
