Footsteps Memory

Substitute Indoor Game:	Footsteps Memory

Age Groups:

• elementary
• preschool

Equipment Needed:

• Sets of game cards, in matching pairs, featuring images and concepts from the week's lessons on the obverse, and identical footprint emblems on the back.

Overview:

Wikipedia has an article describing the basic game, but we're going to play it with cards that feature things from the week's Bible lessons. I'm including some small thumbnails of the card pages below. To get a version that is suitable for printing, see SVG Documents.

Preparation:

Make enough sets of the cards so that small groups of 2-4 children can share each set. Print them on card stock, with the identical footprint backs on one side and the lesson concepts and images on the other. Each set should consist of two copies of each card, so that they can be matched up. Use a paper cutter to separate the individual cards from one another on each sheet. (If you laminate the cards, you can continue to use them for a long time after Bible School is over, reminding the children of the lessons from VBS.)

For the preschool age group, remove the cards that feature words, leaving only the pictures.

Instructions:

Divide up the kids into small groups and give them the decks of footsteps memory cards (one deck per group). Instruct the kids to shuffle the cards and, without looking at the backs, lay them out in rows with the footprint up. (For preschool, remove the cards with words on them, and help them shuffle and lay out the remaining ones.) Then they take turns each turning over two cards, trying to get a match. If the two cards match, they get to keep those two cards in their pile and take another turn. If they do not get a match, they turn the cards back over and it's the next person's turn. The goal is to get the most matched cards in your pile. If time remains, shuffle and play again.