Tutorial Tuesday – Handmade Memory Game

This is a really simple project also and GREAT for a handmade Christmas gift! You can very easily adapt it for different age levels as well. This one is a fairly simple match the pattern game. For a little more difficult version, try printing out upper and lowercase letters, or pictures and the matching words. Or even match the english word with the spanish or french word. (Told you it’s easily adaptable!)

Here’s what you’ll need:
A few packages of these:
-Wooden squares. I used two packages for the one I made. Originally I had wanted the squares to be larger than 1 1/4″ square and was going to order some from here. At the last minute I decided to just make them smaller. I found these at Hobby Lobby. Most craft stores will have them. However, if it’s for a fairly young child, the bigger ones might be better for their hands to grasp.
-You’ll also need some white paint. I painted them with acrylic paint, you can also spray paint them.
-Scraps of patterned paper. (I say scraps because that’s exactly what I used. Each paper piece I put on was a 1″ square)
-Mod Podge (or another adhesive)
-Krylon Shiny clear coat finish.

So, just paint the front and back of the tiles. We’re trying to make the back side as uniform as possible. Even a slight difference can detract from matching the pieces.

For each match cut out two 1″ square of paper (or alphabet, or whatever you decide to make it with.)

Use the mod podge to adhere the paper to the tile, adhering one piece to each tile.

When this is dry, give it a few coats of Krylon clear coat to finish it off. Don’t forget to use the clear coat on BOTH sides, not just the side that has the paper on it.

If you’re really crafty, you can make a little drawstring bag to store them in. (I wanted to, but didn’t have time.) This is such a small game that I could see this being carried around for waiting rooms in the doctors office or other such occasions.

Here is my pile of finished matching tiles.
Close-up. I love how the clear coat really gave it a smooth finished look!

The entire project took me about an hour, not including the clear coat drying time. And the only thing I didn’t have on hand was the wooden tiles, which I spent $3!

Happy Crafting!