Homemade Matching Games (2 versions!)

We love to play memory and matching games at our house! Here are two ideas on how to make your own quick, easy, and cheap matching games. These are great to keep in the car or diaper bag to use while waiting at the doctor's office or any other place you need to stay in one spot for a while!

1. Color Matching Game using paint swatches:
Materials:

~index cards or other small pieces of paper cut to the same size (about 3x5 inches)

~glue or glue stick

~paint color swatches available from a local hardware or paint store. I chose the Mickey Mouse shaped ones because I knew they'd be a hit with my children! Make sure to pick up two of each color in your game

Making the Game:

Glue one swatch to each index card or piece of paper.

2. Sticker Matching Game:

Materials:

~variety of stickers (at least two of each one)

~index cards of paper cut into matching sized pieces

Make the game:

~Make sets of cards by using two similar stickers, one on each card.

Playing the Games:

For younger children keep the cards color face up (or sticker face up) and take turns finding matches. For older children turn the cards color side down (or sticker side down) and take turns flipping over two cards, searching for matches.