Watermelon Memory Game for Preschoolers -

Watermelon Memory Game for Preschoolers

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We are well into summer, and since one of the typical fruits of this season is watermelon, it provides a good opportunity to change your preschoolers’ routine with this free, fun, and educational Watermelon Memory Game.

This Watermelon Memory Game includes four pages with nine different cards each, and you can find it at the end of this post, so be sure to grab it.

Importance of Memory Games for Preschoolers

Memory games are highly beneficial for preschoolers because they help children develop crucial cognitive skills, such as:

Here’s a more detailed look at the benefits:

Focus and Short-Term Memory: encouraging children to concentrate and attend to the details of the different cards.

Enhanced Visual Recognition: Children need to follow visual cues, such as colors, shapes, or patterns, which also helps them develop their visual discrimination skills.

Development of Problem-Solving Skills: When children learn how to locate identical cards, they can match them.

Language and Vocabulary: When they are involved in conversation, they learn the name of the item represented in each card.

Social/Emotional: As they learn to take turns and engage in friendly competition.

Confidence and Self-Esteem: Completing these games gives children a sense of accomplishment and improves their confidence.

All these skills will help them develop the ability to recognize letters, numbers, understand mathematical concepts, and literacy skills, building a foundation for future learning.

Watermelon Memory Game

One of the activities that children and preschoolers like a lot is doing memory games. These activities bring a lot of fun to your classroom or home, give your children an opportunity for a friendly competition, are easy to prepare, and are very educational, because they help children pay attention to details to recognize the pairs of cards, improving their visual discrimination, concentration, one-to-one correspondence, focus and memory skills, which are very useful for their integral development.

For this Watermelon Memory Game to serve its purpose, I suggest avoiding frustration and failure for your students, taking their level of maturity into consideration, and pairing children at a similar level. Additionally, consider how many cards each pair of children can handle. You don’t have to use all of them. Just remember always to use one pair of each card.

If your preschoolers have been exposed to other memory games, they will likely be able to work independently; however, new students or children unfamiliar with these types of games will need your guidance.

How to Prepare the Watermelon Memory Game

This game’s cards must be printed on white cardstock to ensure they are durable and strong, as the children will manipulate them in various ways, and you want them to last a long time. Once you have them ready, you may want to place them in a small basket, box, or Ziploc bag so that they can stay together and you don’t lose any of the cards.

To get this Watermelon Memory Game ready, you will need these materials:

FREE Watermelon Memory Game printable, found at the end of this post.
printer
White cardstock
Scissors
Laminator
Laminator pouches

Begin by printing two sets of each page using white cardstock. Then, cut out and laminate each tile to protect it and extend its lifespan. That way, you can store the game in a pencil case or a Ziploc bag to protect it and use it year after year.

To play the game, lay out the cards face down in rows and columns so your preschoolers can only see the backs, and invite them to join you for a matching game!

Keep it super simple: start by playing like a traditional memory game, where children take turns selecting two cards to turn over, trying to make a match. If a match is made, then the preschooler gets to keep the set of cards. If not, then the cards must be turned back over, and the next preschooler takes their turn.

Books About Watermelons

If you have read some of my articles, you may already know that I’m a big fan of using storybooks for various purposes, and I wanted to include some of my favorite books about watermelons.

You can find these books at your local library and used bookstore. If you want to purchase some to add to your collection, you can use my Amazon links by clicking on the titles you’re interested in, which will take you directly to them to save time.

The Watermelon Seed by Greg Pizzoli is a picture book that utilizes bold colors and a beautiful sense of design to introduce children to a funny crocodile who has one big fear: swallowing a watermelon seed.

Watermelons! by Hope Aicher, a colorful nonfiction book, is packed with fun facts and real photographs that teach young readers all about how watermelons grow, why they’re so refreshing, and even some surprising ways they’re eaten around the world.

Mouse’s First Summer by Lauren Thompson uses two little mice to invite the readers to celebrate summer with a picnic in the park, roll down the hill on tickly green grass, fly fluttery kites high in the sky, and enjoy some juicy watermelon.

Runski Punski and the Watermelon Shoes tells the story of a little girl who discovers a new and fun type of footwear, watermelons, and soon, all her friends and all the kids in town want to join in the fun.

Where the Watermelon Grows by Stacey Roberts uses vibrant illustrations and playful rhymes to celebrate love, kindness, friendship, and the happiness that comes from being together.

Pin It for Later

I know how busy we are sometimes; therefore, if you don’t have time right now to download and print the freebie, pin it to your Math or Summer Pinterest board for later.

Don’t forget to grab your free Watermelon Memory Game printable by clicking on the link below!

Then check out other FREE memory games and get them too, to expand your activities collection, and help your preschoolers have fun while learning.

I hope you and your preschoolers enjoy this free activity.

Be happy, safe, and creative. I wish you well.

Love,

P.D. Please let me know if you like this game. My goal is to help you in any way I can, and I take great pleasure in posting something that you might find helpful. Your feedback will help me achieve this.