Memory game boosts memory and observation skills

Aunt Alisa saw this project at the Purl Bee and thought it was a great present to make for her nephew. She said:


Mine is simpler, but I think it turned out cute.  Played with Mom (a formidable opponent) and we both thought it was challenging! ; )

Supplies:
You'll need 8 different fabrics.  I chose colors, but these could be animal prints, cars & trucks...anything!  You'll also need felt, we used heavyweight wool felt but craft felt would work.  We used iron-on interfacing to stiffen the fabrics before sewing to the felt backing.


Instructions:

1. Cut two 2.5" squares from each of the fabrics
2. Cut 16 2.5" squares of interfacing
3. Cut 16 3.5" squares of felt backing
4. Iron the interfacing to the wrong side of the fabric squares
5. Pin the stiffened fabric squares to the center of the felt squares and stitch around the edge
6. Iron each square
7. Cut the felt down to the finished 3" size

I didn't start with 3.5" felt squares, so mine couldn't be trimmed much and look a bit warped.  I'd also try using a double-sided iron-on product next time so that the stitching could be purely decorative (or even skipped).


I think I'll make a little drawstring bag to keep these in and this will be a sweet little present!

To play the memory game: Arrange all pieces face-down in a grid pattern on the floor or table or other playing surface. The first player turns over two pieces. If the pieces match, the player keeps the set and takes another turn. If they don't match, the player turns the pieces back over and the next player takes a turn. The player with the most matches when all the pieces are matched is the winner. The trick is to remember where you saw the unmatched pieces that you or other players turned over previously. This is an old game that is universally recommended to build observation and memory skills.