← Back to Ages 5-6 Games
🃏
Memory Match
Flip cards to find matching pairs of words and pictures.
⏱ 15-20 min⚡ Low energy👥 2-4 per group
📚 Vocabulary
• any lesson vocabulary
• word and picture pairs
• opposites
• animals
• food
🛠 Materials
• Matching card pairs (word + picture for each vocabulary item)
• Flat desk or floor space
📋 How to Play
- Prepare pairs of cards — one with a word, one with a matching picture.
- Shuffle all cards and place them face down in a grid on the desk.
- Players take turns flipping two cards face up.
- When they flip a card they must say the word out loud.
- If the word and picture match — they keep the pair and take another turn.
- If they do not match — both cards are flipped back face down.
- The game continues until all pairs have been found.
- The player with the most pairs wins.
💡 Teacher Tips
✓Use 8-10 pairs maximum — too many cards makes the game too long.
✓Print and laminate the cards for repeated use across many lessons.
✓Insist children say the word aloud each time — this is the learning moment.
✓This works brilliantly as a fast finisher activity for children who finish early.
🔄 Variations
→Match word to definition instead of picture.
→Match opposites — hot/cold, big/small, fast/slow.
→Play as a whole class on the board using large cards.
Want full 50-minute lesson plans for Ages 5-6?