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Animal Matching

I made these animal memory cards last year. I just took stickers and stuck them to card stock paper. I made two of each animal on the same color card stock paper. I showed the cards to Jake and we discussed the animals on the cards.
Next, I flipped the cards over and lined them up. We played Memory or Concentration with them. We looked for the matches. This is the first time we played a formal version of Memory. I took a turn and did not get a match. I was over dramatic describing the process to model what I wanted him to do. I was a bit worried that he would not want to play if he didn't get a match. He stuck with it and we had a nice game! 
When he finally got a match he was so excited! And that pushed him to play on. There were only 12 cards (6 matches) so it was a quick and easy game. The point was to practice memory, detail and playing a game.
I lined up my matches next to me on the floor. Jake just put his to the side, not lines up but close to its match.  At one point he noticed mine lined up and decided his needed to be lined up as well. It was so cute! He decided this on his own and made sure they were just as mine were. This action is just a testament to modeling behavior. I didn't need to say a thing or "tell" him how to do it. He saw how I played and mimicked me. Just a reminder of what sponges they are! 




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