Free Printable Under the Sea Memory Game For Kids

I just love finding simple yet memorable ways to spend time laughing and bonding with my children, don't you?

These free ocean themed memory games are a fun and educational way to use up free time. Just download and print at home, voila! 

Many of us are spending a lot more time at home with our kiddos due to the pandemic - these printables are one more awesome way to cherish the time together. I have a toddler and a preschooler at home and they just LOVE that I sit down and play games with them. 

Even if your schedule hasn't been impacted much by the pandemic, this is still an awesome way to take out 15 minutes or so and dedicate it just to your kids. Our kids really just want us to be present and feel loved more than anything. 💖

Benefits to matching and memory games

Did you know there are benefits to playing matching and memory games with your kids? Those benefits include:

• improve concentration
• train visual memory
• increase short term memory
• increase attention to detail
• improve the ability to find similarities and differences in objects
• help to classify objects that are grouped by similar traits
• improve vocabulary

Playing with these under the sea themed cards will also help develop color identification and matching! Your little one is even learning to follow instructions while playing (but maybe don’t tell them that LOL!)

I've included a 3x3 game and a 4x4 game. Young two or three-year-olds might do better starting off with the 3x3 game; kids a little bit older, like my 5-year-old, will love the 4x4 game!

Here's How to Play Your Printable Memory Game:

• First, print out two copies of each page.
• Then, cut out all of the cards for the 3x3 game or the 4x4, whichever you are playing.
• Turn all of the cards face-down so that none of the sea animals are showing.
• Take turns with your little one flipping over two cards at a time.
• If the 2 cards match, pick them up and place them in a discard pile. Now it’s the next player’s turn.
• If the two cards do not match, then turn them face-down again. Now it’s the next player’s turn.
• Once all the matches have been found, the game is over!
• If you want to play for points, then each pair that is in your discard pile is one point. After all the matches have been found, the player with the most points wins! 

Tip: You canlaminate your game cards (before you cut them) so that they last longer. Store them in a reusable baggie so that you can find them later ;) 

Download Your Free Printable Under the Sea Memory Game For Kids!

As you are playing this printable memory game with your kids, you can even take the time to learn interesting facts about the ocean. Older kids would especially appreciate this! 

Here are 5 fun facts about the ocean:

• Animals like sea turtles, clownfish, and seahorses live on what is called a coral reef. The corals are actually animals too!
• Kelp plants provide food for many animals as well as shelter and hiding places.
• Animals with a backbone are called vertebrates. Animals without backbones are called invertebrates. It is estimated that 95% of the ocean’s animals are invertebrates.
• The Blue Whale is a mammal that is as large as two school busses! It is the largest animal ever on the Earth.
• Some of the smallest animals found in the ocean are called zooplankton. You would need a microscope to be able to see them!

These interesting facts were found at National Geographic.

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