Artic Card Remix! Memory Pyramid Game

Got a shelf full of artic cards (you know the ones!) and a room full of students that are *over* them?

Here’s a fresh new game I came up with that keeps even my oldest students engaged, gets lots of reps, AND works on language skills at the same time.

1 . Arrange three cards in a pyramid, practicing sounds and trying to remember.

Pulling from the deck, arrange 3-5 cards (depending on age and memory ability) face-up on the table. Arrange them in a pyramid, with two cards on the bottom and one on top. Say the cards as you lay them down.

Then, explain that the student’s job is to remember all of the cards.

Have them go through and say the words as you tap the cards.

The, flip them over (upside down) 1-by-1, saying them again.

We’ve got 3 reps PER WORD already.

2. Have the student tell you what each card will be – before you flip it over.

Ask the student what the first card will be. Flip it over. If they are correct, move on to the next one and do the same through all three cards.

If they are incorrect…”Oh no!!! We have to go back to the beginning!”

*It’s really important to make this part fun and part of the game, rather than “you messed up and now we have to start over.” It’s a way to get tons and tons of reps.

3. When you get to the top of the pyramid, do it all again, but add another row this time.

So the progression goes like this: 3 cards – 6 cards – 10 cards, you get the idea.

4. When it gets too hard – it’s time to teach strategies!

At some point (usually at 10 cards, depending on age and ability), there will simply be more cards than the student(s) can recall. This is when it’s time to teach a memory strategy.

Here’s the strategy:

When you’re looking at all of the cards face up, encourage the student to make a link between each card and the next one.

“Oh, I see this card is a caterpillar, and this next card is a leaf. Maybe I could think, ‘caterpillars eat leaves.’ What link can you make between this leaf and the next card?”

Have students explain their link OUT LOUD (more practice!).

Remember, there is absolutely no wrong link between words. The idea is that each card will trigger the next one in their mind. It’s surprisingly effective and you’ll be amazed at how large the pyramid can get with this strategy. It’s a great way to practice words in sentences and any association works!

So for the examples above you might think something like this:

Toothbrush-Tooth. You use a toothbrush to brush your tooth.
Tooth-Earth. My tooth fell out and dropped to the earth.
Earth-Tooth.* Someone on earth found the tooth.

Some are easier than others and sometimes the associations will be more of a description (maybe a category they belong to or how they look) and other times they’ll just be a sentence. It doesn’t matter! Making any sort of association will help them to recall.

*I usually zig-zag up the pyramid, always going from left to right in a row, because I find that easier to be consistent, but you can go any direction you want as long as you keep it the same.

If they can’t recall one, reveal it and start back at the beginning. We love making a big deal about getting almost to the top and having to start over!

I’ve also done a variation where kids get 2-3 tokens which they can “trade-in” to view the next card. This works well when we get to bigger pyramids.