It’s activity sharing time again!Following up on our previous post, IM OT Clinic is sharing another fun playing cards game today that can help boost attention and focus.
Players: 2 people and above.
How to play: All cards are laid face down on a surface. Each player chooses 2 cards and turns them face up to try to make a number-match. The person with the most pairs wins.
Grading the activity:
Easy: Use only part of the deck to play the game. E.g. For younger kids, it’ll be easier to start with just 6-10 cards laid face down on the surface. Once they are more familiar with the rules, increase the number of cards used.
Intermediate: Use the entire deck of cards for the game. The players will need to try to find the most pairs from all 52 cards.
Difficult: Use the entire deck of cards, but pairs may only be formed by cards that add up to 10. E.g. “6” and “4”; “J,Q,K” and “J,Q,K”.
Benefits:- Improve sustained attention. Focusing on the cards turned and the numbers on them can help children strengthen the concentration needed for learning.- Improve spatial concepts and working memory. Memorizing the relative position of the cards turned and comparing what they see with their memory are great opportunities for children to strengthen their spatial concepts and memory.
We hope you enjoy today’s activity idea! Stay tuned, we’ll be sharing more attention-related playing cards activities like this in our upcoming posts.