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Print-out and make a Meri Meri Papel Picado garland to celebrate Cinco de Mayo.
Miraculous Memory Games
Kids love challenging memory games and brain teasers, and they provide an easy source of at-home fun. Parents will be pleased to know they can also help improve attention, concentration and focus, all whilst providing screen-free enjoyment!
Our talented Meri Meri studio has crafted two sets of free, exquisitely-designed matching memory cards for your kids – delightful dinosaurs and magical unicorns.
Memory Card Fun
Our dinosaur cards not only feature the most popular Jurassic beasts, but their names are spelt out phonetically too, so you can teach the right pronunciations in a fun and educational way. The unicorn cards include wonderful creatures with a variety of names, colors and personality traits.
How to play
Step 1: Print 2 sets onto card (or onto paper which you can then glue onto card).
Step 2: Cut along the dotted lines to make 24 cards.
Step 3: Mix them all together.
Step 4: Lay them face down in a grid.
Step 5: Players take it in turns (or you can play by yourself). Turn 2 cards over at a time trying to find a match. If you successfully find 2 that match, then you get to keep the cards. If they don’t match, turn the cards face down again (in the same position) and it becomes the next player’s turn.
The trick is to remember which cards are where. The person with the most pairs at the end of the game wins.
If you want to make this fabulous game part of a roar-some dinosaur party or a beautiful unicorn-inspired celebration, then check out our amazing party ranges.
More memory games to enjoy
If your kids enjoy our matching memory cards, why not encourage them to play some other entertaining, simple memory games? Here are 5 of our favorites:
1. Simon Says
Gather around the players and give them an instruction, preceded by ‘Simon Says’. For example, ‘Simon says wave your hands in the air’. The rule is that the players must remember to only follow the instructions if they start with the words ‘Simon says’. If the instruction is simply ‘hop around the room’ then the player who does it is out. The winner is the player who remains until the end and has successfully followed the instructions.
2. Chain Of Coins
Get a mixture of 5 different coins and place them in a sequence of your choosing. Ask the player to look at the coins for a few seconds, before you move them into a pile. The player must take the coins and arrange them in the same sequence you showed them. Use a timer. The player who gets the sequence right in the shortest amount of time wins.
3. Spot The Difference
Depending on the child’s age you can vary how tricky this game is. For little people, ask them to take a good look at you then close their eyes (cover with their hands, no peeking!). Do something to change your appearance, like removing an earring or put on some lipstick. Tell them to open their eyes and ask them to reveal what is different about you.
For older children, put a variety of items on the table and get them to memorise them for a minute. Again tell them to close and cover their eyes. Remove one of the items. Ask them to open their eyes and see if they can work out what is missing. You can repeat this game for as long as you like, and can use a timer too.
4. Magic Cups
Get three paper cups and put them in a line. Place a small ball under one of the cups, making sure everyone knows which cup it is under. Now get everyone to watch as you move the cups around as quickly as possible for 30 seconds or so. Ask everyone which cup the object is under. Whoever chooses right wins, and then it’s their turn to move the cups around.
5. Build Up A Story
Get the kids to gather in a circle. Get the first player to start a story with a single word, like ‘The’ or ‘It’. The second player then repeats the first word and adds a second word, like ‘The day’ or ‘’It was’. The third players repeats the first two words and adds another word. Continue adding a new word each time amongst the players until someone forgets the sequence or can’t think of a word to add. The last player who remembers everything wins.