Make Your Own Card Games!

If you're getting a little tired of the same old games and you're handy with a digital camera - this activity is fun to do with your child! (If you don't have access to a camera, you can achieve the same results with magazine pictures or by drawing shapes, etc. on paper.)

Go around your house, with or without your child, and take close-up shots of different objects - make sure you have some of the same things in a group, such as two different candlesticks, two or three toy cars, some vegetables or apples.... you can then print out pictures 9 or 16 to a page and make them into little photo cards. You will need duplicate pages, so you have at least two copies of each picture.

Now you have what you need to play Memory.  Choose 8 or 10 pictures, in pairs, and place them face down on a flat surface. Your child will turn over one and then turn over another to try to find a match. If they don't match, you flip them and try another two, until matches begin to come together. This will encourage your child's memory and visual discrimination - and, it's FUN!

Now,  for a different game, take the cards, face up, and try to form patterns. To get your child started, verbally play the game yourself - model for them the thought process you go through to choose your pictures. "I think I will try to make a pattern with these toy car photos. I'm going to start with the blue one, then the red, then the blue again ... hmm, what comes next?" Before you know it, your child will be putting together sequences of objects in two-part patterns ... then, try three!  These are great to keep on hand for restaurant trips, doctor's office waits, etc. - they travel well and take up less space than all the objects they represent! 

Have fun!