My Obstacle Course: Engage, Encourage and Empower

A fun, structured, systematic way to work on your child's strengths and weaknesses at home!

Winter Themed Memory Match

I am in the process of gathering and creating materials for Andrew’s Obstacle Courses this month and am going to share one of his favorite station activities, memory match.  This was one of my first posts but feel it’s worth revisiting because I have had many new visitors since then.  (Click here to view the original detailed Memory Match post.)

Creating Your Own Thematic Memory Match Game

This game is really easy to make and as I was shopping for the holidays, I noticed all sorts of character themed memory match games for sale out there.  I love creating my own because it allows me to incorporate vocabulary for whatever themes or concepts I can find stickers for.  Right now, he is learning about the winter season in school so I will use winter themed stickers and talk about them when they get flipped over.

These are some examples of what I might ask or comment on for the card with the snowman on it:

  • What would it feel like outside if you were building a snowman?
  • What kinds of things would you bring out to put on your snowman?
  • Do you notice how the bottom snowball is larger than the top snowball?
  • What would happen if the bottom snowball was the smallest?
  • Is a snowman a real man?
  • Was the movie Frosty the Snowman fact or fiction?

(Keep in mind I wouldn’t ask all of these at one sitting, but would choose questions that were appropriate for him during that time.)

In addition to language building, this game allowed us to work on play and social skills.  Since it is a game with few rules, it was perfect for teaching him about turn taking, something he definitely needs to work on.  I discovered that we needed to do more things like this because he did not like it all when someone else found the card he was looking for!  Once again, an activity that combines what he likes to do with building skills he needs.

Materials needed: Â Index cards, seasonal stickers and my paper-cutter or scissors
Cut the index card in half
Place one sticker in the middle of one of the cards.
Place the matching sticker on another card.
Sets of winter matching cards
Labeled and stored in a small bag to keep them organized.

I have made a new thematic memory match game each month for two years and am now working to create some different kinds that move beyond seasonal themes.  I will share soon!

Engage, Encourage and Empower!