When my little Captain was around 16 month old, I introduced matching pictorial cards game to him. Each day, I spent about 10 minutes doing flashcards, card games, logic games etc with him after work, followed by bedtime story. Although tired, I enjoyed the quality time spent with my little boy.
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| Ethan matching the shape cards by himself while mommy watched on.. |
About 8 weeks later, my little Captain, then 18 months old, finally grasped the logic of the matching card game and able to correctly find the pair of matching cards when I randomly laid out 3 pairs of cards in front of him. Everyone at home were so amazed by him, little did they knew that this came from constant coaching. :)
Beginner Level
Hold the stack of pictorial cards in hand, show 1 by 1 to your little one while reading the object in the card. Repeat 5 cards at a time. This will help LO to remember the object's names.
This is suitable for baby between 8 mo to 1.5 yo.
intermediate Level
Randomly lay out 3 pairs of cards in front of LO, pick up 2 matching cards and tell LO "These are the same!". Read out loud the object name and encourage LO to help you find the matching card.
You may introduce this game to LO around 1.5yo to 2.5yo. Easy as it may seen, it takes some time and effort to train LO to understand and follow instructions.
You can pick cards of similar types in nature, e.g. all red colors, all vehicles, all toys, all food etc, to teach LO the concept of same category, and eventually spot the difference.
Depending on the LO's readiness, it may takes sometimes for your LO to understand what you wanted him/her to achieve, so it is important to encourage and praise LO for successfully finding a match. Clapping, praising openly is an effective way of let LO know he/she has done a good work. Gradually increase to 5 cards and rotate different card sets when LO understand the logic of the game. I played up to 20 pairs of card with Ethan when he was 2+ years old and he was really proud of himself with each "mission completion".
Advanced Level
At 3 years old, my little boy was getting so fluent with matching card game, I decided to upgrade the game to a different level - have all the cards faced downwards, each of us take turn to flip over 2 cards at a time; if the cards match, both are yours to keep; otherwise, close the cards (return to the same spot) and continue finding next matching pair. Whoever with most matching cards in hand, wins. Started from 3 pairs of cards, I gradually upgraded him to 12 pairs of cards and more.
So, what's the purpose of playing these matching card games?
1. Understand the logic of matching, or finding the same.
2. Train LO's ability to observe and memorize.
3. Build confidence. Remember to continuously encourage and do not hesitate to praise for the effort. I firmly believe that a confident kid is a happy kid.
If you have read till this far, thanks for reading and hope you find this useful!
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