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Game 1: Memory (No. of players: 2-10)

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How to Play

  1. Choose matching card pairs (word cards and picture cards) of interested topics. Place all of them on the table facedown.
  2. Every player takes turn to turn over 2 cards each turn.
  3. If the cards turned over do not form a pair, the player has to return the cards to the table and make them facedown; if the cards form a pair, the player can get the pair and turn over another 2 cards.
  4. The winner will be the one who owns the most pairs of cards.

For children who cannot identify word cards yet:

  1. Choose matching card pairs (picture cards and word cards). Place them all on the table faceup. All players can look at the cards for 30 seconds and then turn them over.
  2. Players take turns to flip one card after saying/signing the name of the card. If the name does not match with the card, the player has to return the card facedown; if the name is correct, the player can own the card and have another try.
  3. The winner will be the one who owns the most cards.

Children aged 2…

Adjust the rules according to the ability of the children: Parents can start with choosing 2 picture cards and increase the number of cards eventually.

Children aged 3-4…

Increase satisfaction: If children cannot match the name and the card, parents can say ‘they’re different’ instead of ‘you’re wrong’ to avoid inducing children’s frustration.

Children aged 5-6…

Set more challenging tasks: If children are capable of matching pairs, parents can ask which category the card pairs belong to. For example,

What category do apples belong to? (Fruit)

Game 2: Lightning Fast (No. of players: 2+)

Please turn on subtitles

How to Play

  1. Choose matching card pairs (word cards and picture cards) of interested topics. Shuffle the pairs and put all of them on the desk faceup.
  2. Players have to collect card pairs as fast as possible. Each player should collect the whole pair of cards and then collect another pair.
  3. If 2 players try to take away the same card, the card belongs to the one who have already collected the corresponding matching card. If both of them have not collected the corresponding card, play paper-scissors-stone to decide who can own the card.
  4. The winner will be the one who owns the most pairs of cards.

For children who cannot identify word cards yet:

  1. Choose matching card pairs (word cards and picture cards) of certain topics. Shuffle the pairs and put all of them on the desk faceup.
  2. Players take turns to perform the content of the card with sounds (but not saying out the exact name of the card), sign languages or actions while other players take away the corresponding card on the desk.
  3. If 2 players try to take away the same card, play paper-scissors-stone to decide who can own the card.
  4. The winner will be the one who owns the most pairs of cards.

Children aged 2…

Increase linguistic input: Parents can read aloud the corresponding vocabulary of the picture cards in hand deliberately.

Children aged 3-4…

Increase linguistic input: Parents can lengthen the sentences according to the content of the picture card, such as I see… / I like… / …is a postman.

Children aged 5-6…

Encourage language production: Parents can ask more questions to encourage children to produce more utterances, for example:

  • Parent: What picture card do you take?
  • Child: Liquid medicine
  • Parent: Where can you find it (the content of the picture card)?
  • Child: Clinic/Home

*If the child gives no responses, apart from encouraging them, parents can provide more descriptions to help, such as (liquid medicine): Something that doctors give you, something that you have to take when you are sick, etc.

Game 3: Fishing (No. of players: 2-8)

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How to Play

  1. Choose matching card pairs (word and picture cards) of interested categories. Place 4 of the cards faceup on a table (fish) and the rest of the cards in a draw pile facedown.
  2. Every player takes turn to draw a card from the draw pile. If the card can be matched with any cards on the table, the player makes a catch successfully and he/she can own the card pair.
  3. If the card drawn does be paired with the cards on the table, that card has to be discarded as fish.
  4. The winner will be the one who owns the most number of fish.

For children who cannot identify word cards yet:

  1. Choose picture cards of different categories. The chosen cards of each category should be in even number. Place 4 of the cards faceup on a table (fish) and the rest of the cards in a draw pile facedown.
  2. Every player takes turn to draw a card from the draw pile. If the card drawn and one of the cards on the table belong to the same category, the player make a catch successfully and he/she can own the card pair.
  3. If the card drawn does not belong to the same category of any cards on the table, the card should be discarded as fish.
  4. The winner will be the one who owns the most number of fish.

Children aged 2…

Adjust number of picture cards according to the abilities of the children: Choose the categories that the children are familiar with and extend to other categories eventually.

Children aged 3-4…

Develop confidence and learn to express themselves: Parents can encourage the children to speak when they make a catch, ‘I make a catch! I caught (socks).

Children aged 5-6…

Encourage children to express their feelings: At this stage, children start asking and understanding others’ thoughts and feelings and they may try to hide their thoughts and feelings.

Parents can increase interactions by asking questions and encourage the children to express their feelings, for example:

  • Parent: which card did you catch?
  • Child: Durian
  • Parent: Do you like it?
  • Child: No, I don’t
  • Parent: Why?
  • Child: Because it’s smelly

*The roles of the conversation above can shift. Children can be the one who ask questions.

Game 4: Turtle (No. of players: 2+)

Please turn on subtitles

How to Play

  1. Choose number of matching card pairs (word and picture cards) according to number of players. Shuffle the cards and randomly remove one card from the chosen cards and leave it aside face down. Deal the rest to all players.
  2. Each player removes all pairs from his hand on the table. The game starts from the player who owns the least number of cards and goes clockwise. The first player draws a card from the player on the right.
  3. This player can discard any pairs formed by the drawn card. If not, the player has to keep the card.
  4. After that, the first player offers the cards in hand to the player on the left so that the next player can draw a card; and the game continues.
  5. The final player who owns the last card in hand will be the turtle. You may compare the last card with the card removed from the deck in the beginning.

For children who cannot identify word cards yet:

  1. Choose picture cards from different categories. The chosen cards of each category should be in even number. Shuffle the cards and remove one card from the chosen cards and leave it aside face down. Deal the rest to all players.
  2. Each player removes all cards of the same category that can form a pair from his hand on the table. The game starts from the player who owns the least number of cards and goes clockwise. The first player draws a card from the player on the right.
  3. This player can discard any pairs formed by the drawn card. If not, the player has to keep the card.
  4. After that, the first player offers the cards in hand to the player on the left so that the next player can draw a card; and the game continues.
  5. The final player who owns the last card in hand will be the old maid. You may compare the last card with the card removed from the deck in the beginning.

Children aged 2…

Learn nouns and verbs together: Children at this stage learn how to use nouns first and then verbs. Parents can illustrate to the children:

  • Say ‘draw – fruit’ or ‘draw – animal’ when you draw a card that can be formed in pairs with any cards in hand.

Children aged 3-4…

Practice the use of pronouns: Children can use pronouns properly at this stage. Parents can encourage children to use pronouns during the game, such as,

  • ‘I have drawn a card already. That’s your turn.’

Children aged 5-6…

Learn cooperation and stimulate creativity: Children at this stage participate in group games more frequently that require players to take turns and follow rules and they need to cooperate with friends. Parents can ask children to work together and create a story with card pairs (word and picture cards) discarded. For example:

“Grandfather, Hamburger, Elephant, Butterfly, Pink, Taxi”

  • Parent: I see an elephant.
  • Child: It’s eating a hamburger.
  • Parent: A pink butterfly is coming.
  • Child: It flies toward grandfather.
  • Parent: It scares grandfather and he takes a taxi to leave.

*It might be hard to form a logical story using the cards, so it is acceptable if the story is unrealistic. The main point is to let the children to cooperate and develop their creativity.

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