My kids are my life. I love hanging out with them and coming up with fun things to do together.  With it being summertime we are pretty much living outside from the time we get up until we are off to bed.  I noticed the kids were starting to get a little bored lately, so I had to come up with something quick to bring the fun back into our summer.  I had a bunch of poster board in my craft room which I had purchased on a recent Dollar Store trip and I decided to make an oversized memory game out of them.  It’s been an awesome way to help with my children’s memory skills as well as help my preschooler recognize his letters.

Project estimate:

• 10 sheets poster board, on hand or 2/$1 and up
• Pencil, on hand
• Sharpies, on hand

Total: Free and up

Measuring lengthwise, find the halfway point of each sheet – mark a line all the way down the center.

Cut each piece on the line to create two pieces.  This will give you 20 cards in total.

Once you have cut all the pieces write or draw a matching item on two of the cards.  I did the alphabet to help my preschool remember and recognize his letters.  When finish you will have 10 sets.

To play, mix the cards all up and lay face down.  Leave space around the cards so your children can walk around them.

Have your children take turns flipping over two cards at a time until they have a match.  If you get a match you get another turn, but if you don’t then it is the next player’s turn.  The game continues until all the matches are made.  Have each player count up their matches and the one with the most wins.

** Funny little side note about my silly 4-year-old:  We were playing this afternoon and a big wind gust came through our yard.  Two cards got flipped over.  We told our 4-year-old God was playing and it was his turn.  He giggled.  A little while later it happened again.  He yelled up to the sky and said….God you already had your turn!  How cute is that!