Ahhhh, Memories...

There is a whole collection of games on the shelf in the Kindergarten classroom. Many of which are either from my childhood or from one of my siblings' childhood. I brought many of the games to the classroom during my first year teaching. It was either that, or they would just collect dust on a shelf somewhere in my house! It has been so neat seeing all my kiddos enjoying the same games that I enjoyed playing as a child.

I try to find time to play a game with my kiddos right before lunch each day. Sometimes it doesn't happen, but for the majority of the time it works out. Every week someone is selected to be the "Game Picker." It is definitely one of the favorite "jobs" of the classroom! Although every game has been played at least 3 times during the course of the school year, there are definitely a few favorites.

Today the Memory board game was picked. I had to smile. I always smile when that game is picked. You see, that was one of my favorites as a child! I am not sure how young I was when I started playing that game, but it definitely was played many, many, MANY times.

A brief overview: Every one starts on a certain spot. All around the board are pictures of various objects. In the middle of the board, the same pictures are on cards, but the cards are flipped over. The object of the game is to find each of the pictures around the board, finally getting back to the spot on which you started. Every one eventually has to find all the picture cards, but it will be at various times depending on where you started on the board.

Oh yes, I played this game so many times as a child that I ended up memorizing the colors of each of the objects! And now, almost 2 decades later, I still remember which color each one is on. When my kiddos ask, "Miss Follett, which color is the bird on?" Orange! "Which color are the scissors?" Blue! etc...

But do you know what? My kiddos have started playing this game so much that my "color services" are not needed as much as before. They are starting to remember the colors of all the objects!

Oh yes, I love when this game is pulled off the shelf for game time. It's like reliving a piece of my childhood all over again! The game box may be falling apart, and the pieces may be worn, but it doesn't mean that it can't still be enjoyed!