Tapestry of Faith: Creating Home: A Program on Developing a Sense of Home Grounded in Faith for Grades K-1

Activity 3: Memory Game

Part of Creating Home

Activity time: 12 minutes

Materials for Activity

Preparation for Activity

  • Print out two copies of Leader Resource 2, Memory Game Picture Cards. Cut out the individual tiles to make 14 picture cards (seven matching pairs). For heavier, more durable cards that won't reveal the image when they are face down, paste each image onto an index card. (You can also laminate the sheets before you cut them, or laminate the individual cards.)

Description of Activity

Playing a game centered on making pairs helps children exercise their visual memories and prepares them for the story they will experience in Activity 4: Story - Owen and Mzee.

Show the children the 14 picture cards. Point out that there are seven different pairs: two cards each with images of a hippo (Owen), a tortoise (Mzee), a country map of Kenya, a large fishing net, a turbulent ocean, an African woman representing the general manager of the wildlife refuge, Paula Kahumbu; and a young African man in a wildlife gamekeeper uniform representing Stephen Tuei.

Invite children to play a memory matching game. Mix up the matching pictures. Lay out all the cards face down. Children can take turns flipping over two cards at a time, looking for matches. Suggest to children that they pay attention during other children's turns and try to remember where matching cards are located. When a child flips over two matching cards, take the pair out of play. Put them into a common pile to lessen the competitive nature of this game. Play long enough for every child to find matches.
Leave the cards in the workspace and ask the children to join you in the circle for another story.