Alphabet Game for Preschoolers: ABC Memory Match-Up

This ABC Memory Match-Up is a fun alphabet game you can use with toddlers or preschoolers.  It is a fun way to learn and practice the letters of the alphabet and can easily be used at home or in the classroom.  Keep reading to get your own printable ABC matching game cards!

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I recently did a poll over on Instagram stories to find out what you all liked reading the most and/or wanted to see more of on the blog and hands down, the number one response was kids’ activities.  

And so today, I’m making sure to answer those requests – with a fun and simple alphabet game that is perfect for toddlers and preschoolers! 

This alphabet learning game has actually been on my list to create for a while so I was thankful for the nudge to get it together and I’m excited to share it with you all today.

It is an ABC Memory game – an easy spin on a classic game that is actually quite versatile.  I’m hoping to share more ways that we use these cards in future posts, but for now, our version of ABC Match Up. 

I’ve even put the game pieces together as a printable that you can easily download to make your own version of this game in a snap. 

Benefits of Memory Games for Kids

When I created this alphabet game, my purpose was really two-fold.  I wanted to create a fun way to continue teaching our toddler basic letter recognition in a way that would also be useful and beneficial for our oldest (who is reading independently, and well past letter recognition).

And so, memory game it was.  I love that they can play it with me or together and there are strong benefits for both of them. 

If you’re wondering, some of the main benefits of memory games for kids include: 

• increased concentration as they have to pay attention during everyone’s turn to see what letters are turned over
• increased short-term memory as they remember which letters were just flipped over and where
• visual processing and memory as they keep track of where on the board each letter is
• critical thinking skills as they decide which cards to flip over

So, the littlest practices saying his letters and recognizing the shape of each one, the big one gets some good cognitive skills practice, and they practice playing together, helping one another, and taking turns.  

And as much as I love the academic lessons here, I am all about some good social learning, too!  

Make Your Own ABC Match Alphabet Game

It is super easy to make your own ABC match alphabet game.  

You Need: 

• Printable ABC game pieces (Download them here!)
  • You can also make your own by cutting out pieces of paper and writing the letters with a marker on each one – that’s how I made our game, but the printable will save you some of that time.)
• Card stock paper
  • You do need a heavier paper for these pieces as opposed to regular copy paper, otherwise the ink will show through the back of the paper, which defeats the purpose of a memory game, am I right? 
• Laminator/laminating sheets: optional, but encouraged to protect the pieces
  • This is the laminator we use and I haven’t had any trouble with it for the past year or so that I’ve had it. 
• Paper cutter or scissors to cut out the game pieces

Directions

• Print your ABC game pieces onto card stock paper.
  • Make sure you print 2 copies so that each letter will have a match! 
• Laminate your game pieces and cut them out. 
• Enjoy the game!

A note about the printable pieces: 

The printable is 4 pages and is in black and white.  It contains 2 versions of the alphabet – one with uppercase letters and one with lower case letters, plus the numbers 0-10.  Yes, I realize this is an alphabet matching game, but I have a set for us that has numbers also, so I included it in this printable so you can have it too. 

You’ll need to print 2 copies to have an exact match (uppercase or lowercase) for each piece.

How to Play Your ABC Memory Game

• Playing this alphabet game is simple.  It’s just like the classic game of memory.  
• Shuffle the cards and lay them out face down on a table or other playing surface. 
• Players take turns flipping 2 cards each to find a match. 
• Each player should read out the letter on each card they flip over so that all players can hear and understand. 
• If the player finds a match, they remove the cards from the game.  (And they may go again, if you want to include that in your rules.  We do sometimes.)
• If the player does not find a match, they turn the cards back over face down and the turn moves to the next player. 
• Continue this until all the cards have been matched.  
• The player with the most matches wins the game. 

ABC Memory Game Variations

There are a number of variations to this game that you can do, depending on the skill level of your kids and what exactly you’re working on.  

Here are a few ideas: 

• Play with fewer cards than a full set to focus on specific letters. 
  • Frankly, playing the full game with my toddler is a bit much for now.  We’ll often choose just 5 letters or so that we’re focusing on and play with those until we have them mastered.  
• Play with all uppercase or all lowercase cards, matching each to its exact match. 
• Play with one set of uppercase and one set of lowercase letters to practice matching each letter to its opposite case pair. 

Our homemade cards actually have both uppercase and lowercase written on each card, but I’m considering making a set of only upper and only lowercase cards for practice here. 

And that’s it!  A fun, simple way to learn and practice ABC’s with your toddlers and preschoolers!  

Tell, me – what are some of your favorite ways to practice the alphabet with your kids? 

If you enjoyed this post, you might also enjoy: 

DIY Lacing Cards for Preschoolers

Fine Motor Activities for Toddlers