Memory Card Game

Match Making

A format I have used a lot is to have participants play a matching card game. Remember Memory, the card game in which you take turns turning over pairs of cards? Just adapt it.

Here is one I am working on to review the topic of sustainability. I want the students to review the 3 key areas of social, economic and environment as the basis for the term sustainability.

So they lay the cards out, turn them over and, if they make a match, come up with a scenario to describe the term they have turned over. If they can think of a scenario, well, they win the cards.

See below.

Format: Matching card game

What Happens
Students review the basics of sustainability and give real life examples in this card game.

What You Need
A set of cards from card stock as follows:

4 pairs of cards reading Social
4 pairs of cards reading Environmental
4 pairs of cards reading Economic
2 wild cards

What You Do
Set. Set the cards by laying the cards face down in random order on a tabletop.
Create. Create two teams on each side of the cards.
Take turns. Take turns turning over two cards at a time. One person from each team takes on this task.
If the cards match, e.g. Social and Social the team has an opportunity to win the cards.
To win the cards, the team has to come up with an example of a scenario that illustrates the social aspect to sustainability, e.g. community opens up a soup kitchen.
If the cards do not match the team gives up its turn.
If you turn over a wild card, you can call it anything you want.

Teacher TipVariation for the game: Positive stories only, negative examples only, examples from the community, etc.

The great thing about card games is they are easy to make, pretty cheap and can be used in such open-ended ways. Sometimes I make big cards and lay them out all over the floor so that the whole class can see and play the game.