My family loves playing games. Not only is it a fun group bonding activity, but it is one of our favorite forms of entertainment without including a screen. We aren’t anti-screens by any means, but everything within moderation, right? Games can be a way to lasso high energy or even the perfect low-key way to spend an afternoon! One of the first games that we introduced to our girls is the concept of matching games. They are easy to adapt for any child’s level and help strengthen a whole list of skills for kids! These 3 Free printable Fruit Matching games are exactly that!
Fruit Matching Games
Matching Games are beneficial for strengthening a whole list of skills. These types of games are great for helping improve concentration, strengthen visual and short term memory, help to sort and classify objects, help with attention to detail and finding differences, just to name a few.
These Fruit Matching Games do all of those things while being versatile and adaptable for your children or students.
Materials Needed For Fruit Matching Games
Scrapbook Paper | Laminator | Lamination Pouches | Scissors | Fruit Manipulatives (optional) | Clothespins
edx education Fruit Counters – Pack of 108
Learning Resources Super Sorting Pie, 68 Pieces
Using the Matching Activities
Fruit Memory Matching Game
I love printing the game pieces on the plain side of scrapbook paper or cardstock. I do this because when printing on plain printer paper, kids may be able to see the objects through the paper.
With the scrapbook paper they are less likely to cheat.
Of course, my daughter thinks it’s perfectly acceptable to flip twenty cards until she finds the ones she wants to pair up. #facepalm
After the game is printed, laminate and then cut each piece out.
You could skip laminating, but that’s kind of like assuming that the kids will be gentle with the game.
Wait, that’s exactly what it is.
You should definitely laminate.
If you don’t have a laminator, I highly recommend this super fast laminator. It laminates 13 pages per minute! It was an investment, but I do a LOT of laminating.
If you are more of a ‘casual laminator’ , you may prefer this cheaper laminator. I haven’t tried it myself, but it has a ton of great reviews.
- You may also be interested in this 2D Shape Fruit Themed Matching Game
Playing the Fruit Memory Game
The traditional way to play is to take all of the game pieces, place them all upside down and mix around.
Each person playing takes a turn, flipping over two cards.
If they match, the child creates a ‘personal pile’.
The next person takes a turn and so on. When all matches are found, the person with the most matches in the pile wins.
Variations Of The Game
One of the first variations of this game is for children that are just learning how to play matching games or identifying objects. Using the full amount of pieces for this game can be very intimidating for children new to these skills. Use half or even less of the game pieces until you kids/students start gaining the skills needed.
Using the Fruit Cover Up Game
Another, super simple game!
Print the game board and cards, laminate and cut apart the cards.
To play, put the fruit cards face down, then one at a time, flip a card.
Find the matching space on the game board and place a mini eraser or other small eraser on top.
You can also use dry eraser markers to cross off the spaces.
Using the Fruit Clip Cards
I love clip cards because they are crazy low-prep. Print, laminate, cut & go.
Easy peasy.
The kids simply place a clothespin on the correct answer at the bottom of each card.
Do you want to hear some crazy, low-prep magic??!?!?
If you don’t want to laminate and cut, you can stick the entire page into a page protector and have the kids circle the correct answer with a dry erase marker or place a mini eraser on the right answer.
Pair these matching games up with our other fruit games and then grab some fruit themed books for a fun literacy activity. See how many of the memory game fruits you can find in each book!
Eating the AlphabetEat Your Colors (Rookie Toddler)My Very First Book of FoodMrs. Peanuckle’s Fruit Alphabet (Mrs. Peanuckle’s Alphabet)End of the Rainbow Fruit Salad (Kitchen Club Kids)Give It a Go, Eat a Rainbow
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Rebecca says
I love this printabels
maryanne says
I could see this working well in a language classroom, too!