Quick and Simple Cup and Toy Memory Game for Toddlers

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This simple cup and toy memory game for toddlers was a big hit with my two-year old! Plus it also takes only seconds to prepare. That makes for a major win over here!

Check out this DIY memory matching game for bigger kids–using an egg carton!

To Make Your Own No-Prep Cup and Toy Memory Game for Toddlers, You Will Need:

• cups that you can’t see through
• small toys that fit under the cups

To start, you will need to show your child where each toy is hidden.

Toddlers also love playing freely with cups, no memory game required! Check out this post for more ideas on playing with cups!

Say the object’s name out loud before placing the cup over it. Make sure your child is paying close attention!

Next, ask your toddlers, “Where is the car” or whatever toy you may be using for your memory game.

Encourage your toddler to lift up the cup under which they think the specific toy is hiding.

If they get it correct, great! Clap, say hooray, encourage them with praise.

If they get it wrong, that’s fine too! Say “Oops, that’s not the car!” and replace the cup.

Then, they can try again!

You may find they are not getting them correct or seem to be randomly guessing.

If this happens, lift up the cups and show the objects to them again.

Take a pause in your memory game and let your toddlers get more familiar with the items.

Have them touch the toys and say the names with you before replacing the cups and getting back to the game.

Challenge your toddlers and preschoolers to figure out what’s missing in this simple but fun memory game!

As always, you can use this fun memory game to reinforce other skills with your toddlers too.

Try reinforcing shapes or colors while your play.

Instead of just saying “Where is the car,” for example, you could say “Where is the yellow car?” and when they find it, say “Hooray, you found the yellow car!”

Other Ways to Use a Cup and Toy Memory Game for Toddlers:

• You can use more or fewer cups depending on the age of your child. We found that three was perfect for our almost two-year old. My older kids (ages five and seven) would have fun doing this with a lot of cups!
• For slightly older kids, use letters, numbers, or specific colors under the cups to make this more of a learning activity. For example using all cars but in different colors so the focus is on the color.
• Turn it into more of a fine motor activity, use smaller objects and smaller cups. Of course, make sure they are an appropriate size for your child to handle safely.
• Make this a gross motor memory game for your toddlers. Simply use larger objects under cardboard boxes. Have your child run across the room to lift up the box!
• This activity could easily be taken outdoors on a nice day. Use objects from nature and sand buckets!

This easy DIY cup and toy memory game for toddlers was inspired by a game we got for our toddler for Christmas: Seek-a-Boo. Seek-a-Boo has a similar concept, only using cards instead of objects. Jack loves it!

What memory activities have you done with your toddler lately?

Share with us in the comments!