Grades K–1
Ten Frame Memory Match
Sixteen cards: count the dots in a ten frame and find its number. Counting practice that feels like a game.
Classroom activity · Matching and memory games
Contractions Memory Match
Match two words to their contraction (do not and don’t, we are and we’re) in a cut-apart memory game.
- Grade level
- Grades 2–3
- Time
- About 15 minutes
- Answer key
- Not needed: answers vary
- Kids practice
- Memory, Matching, Taking turns
What kids do
“Cut out the cards. Play memory: match the two words with their contraction, like do not and don’t.”
Printed on the sheet:
- How to play: cut out the cards and mix them up face down. Take turns flipping two. A match? Keep it and go again. The player with the most pairs wins.
Words on this sheet
don’tdo notshe’llit’sI’mI amcannotis notshe willthey’vewe arecan’tit isisn’tthey havewe’re
Teacher tip
Show how the apostrophe takes the place of the missing letters.
How to use it
- Print on card stock so cards do not show through.
- Teach the memory game routine: flip two, keep matches, then it is the next player’s turn.
- Let kids work with a partner so they talk through their thinking.
Watch for
Cards that show through the paper. Print on card stock or color the backs.
Talk about it
- Which match was the hardest?
- What would you change to make it harder?
Take it further
Have kids make new cards for the game.
US Letter, prints well in black and white. Free for home and classroom use: print as many copies as you need.
More matching and memory games
Grades K–1
Shape Names Memory Match
Match each shape to its name, from circle to hexagon, on sixteen cut-apart cards.
Grades 1–2
Addition Facts Memory Match
Eight addition facts and their sums, from 2 + 3 to 7 + 5, as a cut-apart memory game.
Grades 1–2
Animal Homes Match
Bird to nest, bee to hive, beaver to lodge: draw a line from each of eight animals to the home it lives in.
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