Baffling Balloons

Balloons are both colorful and mysterious. What a perfect match for a challenging matching game of Concentration!

• 1.

  How good is your memory? Playing matching games are fun ways to test your tricks for remembering. You might even start to remember better! Here’s one way to create a game that can be as difficult or as easy as you like.

• 2.

  Measure at least 20 small squares on heavy felt with Crayola® Fabric Markers. Draw brightly colored, matching pairs of balloons on the squares. Cut out your memory squares with Crayola Scissors.

• 3.

  Fill the back of every square with the same colorful design. You’re ready to play! The game’s portable, so you can take it anywhere.

Benefits

• Students choose a variety of design elements to create playing squares for a challenging matching game of Concentration.
• Students distinguish matching patterns, numbers, and colors as they test their memories.
• Students hone skills and techniques to strengthen their memory capacity.

Adaptations

• Ask your family and friends for their memory tips. Try them yourself. Share ideas with classmates.
• Collect and play memory games like this one: Place several items on a tray. Stare at the tray for a few minutes. Cover it. Write down everything you remember seeing on the tray. Change objects and see if the number of things you remember increases.
• Learn the hand-clapping game that requires you to concentrate by remembering the rhythym that was just clapped. Use it with vocabulary words, math facts, or other material.