Different Decades: Valentine Memory Game

This is a cute Valentine memory matching game you can make for your kiddos. The pieces can be made more complicated the older the child is. I made this one for toddlers 18 to 24 months old. It consists of 12 squares. The supplies you will need are: rotary cutter, cutting mat, ruler, red, pink and white felt, embroidery thread in the same colors, pinking shears, scissors, freezer paper and fabric glue. I used Aleene's Tacky Glue.

From your pink felt cut out 12 squares 2 1/2 inches by 2 1/2 inches.

Cut out 6 white squares and 6 red squares 2 1/2 x 2 1/2 inches using your rotary cutter, ruler and mat. Then cut around the edges again with your pinking shears trimming them so they will be slightly smaller than the pink squares.

Out of the freezer paper cut 3 different sized hearts. These will be your patterns.

Iron your heart pattern onto the felt and cut out the heart shape. This is where you decide what the heart designs will be on each of the red and white squares. Just remember that you have to make two of each design so they can be matched.

Glue the hearts down onto your felt squares. Then you can embellish them with embroidery thread designs. I used the running stitch, buttonhole stitch, french knots, back stitch and scroll stitch.

Here are the designs and embellishments I did.

When you have the red and white squares completed then glue each of them onto a pink square. Then when the squares are turned faced down there won't be any stitches or marks to help with the matching ;)...no cheating allowed!

To establish the concepts of same and different for the younger tykes just put down 3 squares facing up where 2 are alike and ask them to point to the one that is different. Then ask the child to point to the square that is different. Then you can have the child put the two that are the same together. Keep playing in this manner until the child has mastered the concepts of same and different. Once the concepts of same and different are established add a 4th square and place them facing down. Have the child find the squares that match. After the matching concept is mastered with 4 squares then gradually add more and more squares until the child eventually can play the game with all 12 squares.

I made a little bag to hold the felt squares so they wouldn't get lost and they could easily be taken to places like restaurants, doctors' offices...any place where a little one would get bored and fussy. I cut two squares of fabric 10 1/2 x 5 1/2 to make a 8 x 5 bag.

On the computer I picked out a font I liked and sized it to 275 and printed out the first initials in each of the grandkids' names.

I cut the letter out of the paper and pinned it to felt and then cut it out of the felt.

I glued each letter on a contrasting heart and embellished the letters with embroidery and then stitched the hearts on the front side of each fabric piece with embroidery.