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Because I love the memory game and I also like opportunities for learning, I created a memory game that teaches matching lowercase and uppercase alphabet letters. I came up with this easy DIY Alphabet Memory Game to play with my youngest (but my oldest also loved it).
I remember playing Memory with my parents when I was a kid. I always loved trying to test my memory to see how many pairs I could make. I found it so fascinating to compete against my own mind.
I was super excited when someone bought Memory as a gift for my oldest daughter. It was her first game!
We got a super cute Toy Story edition and started small by only matching a few cards, and then adding more and more cards every time.
It was easy to make a DIY alphabet memory game. I used supplies I had on hand to create it.
It’s easy for you to create this game with your early and older elementary school children. I loved that they were able to help me create it and then play it with me. Here’s how I created this easy game.
DIY Alphabet Memory Game
Supplies
Scissors or paper cutter
Marker/Pen
Lamination Sheets (optional)
Create your DIY Memory Game
I started out by cutting out 52 squares using my paper cutter. I made each square about 1.5 inches.
You could also measure one square out and use scissors to trace around and cut each square out.
As you can see my daughter helped me cut them out. Always make sure to watch your child if they are going to be helping you cut things out.
I had both my daughters start writing an uppercase letter on each square. Then they wrote a lowercase letter on each square after that.
Make sure that each square only has one letter on it.
When you’re finished you should have 26 cards that have the uppercase alphabet letters and 26 cards that have the lowercase alphabet letters.
If you want to make these cards sturdier you can also laminate them. If you don’t have a laminator they have laminator sheets that are specifically designed to be used without a machine. I picked mine up on Amazon.
HINT: Make sure on letters such as lowercase “u” and “n” that you write a line under so you know which one is which. An example is uppercase “M” and Uppercase “W”. We actually forgot to do that and there was some debate about which letters they were in case they accidentally got turned upside down.
Next we shuffled the cards. This is always my girls’ favorite part. They went a little crazy with that.
At one point cards flew everywhere! 🙂
Next they put them out on the table facedown.
How to Play Memory
We started to play. Same rules as Memory. You turn over two cards and see what they are. If they match you pick them up and if they don’t you flip them over.
Then the next player takes their turn. And so on.
The player with the most stacks of matching alphabet letters wins.
Learning with DIY Alphabet Memory Game
During the game it was a great opportunity to talk about how the memory works and why you put the cards down in exactly the same spot each time.
I explained that their brain associates that spot with the letter card they flipped over. And that eventually by turning over several cards their brain would start to remember each spot and match them. Then when it actually happened during the game they were so excited.
It was a fun and easy activity to create that incorporated learning with a game. Anytime I can incorporate both at the same time it’s definitely a win-win. They loved the game and my youngest liked helping and showing off her alphabet skills to her sister and I.
What was your favorite game growing up? Do you play those games with your kids? Are there any games you’ve come up with that your kids love?
{Guest Post by Heather}
Heather lives in Florida with her husband, two girls and two pups. She is a lover of most things in life, too many to name here without scaring you, but a few include working out, learning new recipes, Pinterest, organizing (yes, it’s true!), home decor and learning to lead a more minimal and purposeful life.
She started Just Becoming Me as a venture to better understand herself and what will lead her towards a more fulfilling life. Her motto is: “We only have one life, and I want to learn to live mine in a way that gets me excited to jump out of bed.”
Enjoy your time at home!
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