"Concentration" Game

I've been wanting to make a set of these for awhile. My DIL's dad has been hospitalized, and her niece and nephews are often at the hospital with their parents for long stretches at a time. I noticed they were playing Dominoes the other day, and thought maybe they'd like some variety while "camping out" in the waiting room. These are based on that old TV game show "Concentration." I remember watching this show, hosted by Hugh Downs, when I was young.

I cut 3 1/2" squares using my rotary cutter/ruler/mat, although I did make a clear plastic template to fussy-cut some of the squares to get the best look. I cut 20 squares of one fabric for the backs, and 10 pair of different fabrics for the fronts. I used a layer of Warm & Natural inside. I used quarter-inch seams and after turning, I topstiched all around.

I needed to make these quickly so my son could take them to the hospital on Sunday and so I had to choose the fabrics from the stacks I had readily accessible. You could vary both the size and number of blocks based on the age of the child and situation where they would be used. I chose to make small-ish blocks so they would fit on the small tables in the hospital waiting room, but larger blocks might be fun for little kids. Sixteen would have probably been enough, with a 4x4 configuration, but I kept finding more fun fabric, so I finally decided they needed 20, with a 4x5 configuration. Here's a picture with the blocks facing down to start the game.

The first move is to turn over any two blocks.

If they don't match, the blocks get turned back and the players try to remember what they were and where. The next move is to turn over two more blocks, and if one of them matches one of the first two, then they can try to remember where that first one was to make a match.

If they get a match, the player removes those two blocks and makes a pile of their matches.

Anytime a player makes a match, they get an additional turn; if they don't make a match, then the next player gets a turn. The game continues until all the blocks are matched and the one with the most matches wins. Here's a pic of all the blocks facing up.

My favorites are the pickles and the popcorn - no, I'm not pregnant, haha. I also used crabs, apples, pirates, skeletons, spiderwebs, hearts,  sundaes, and the white rabbit.

Of course, I needed a bag to put them in. Fortunately, I had this one laying around. I think my DIL's niece, Nessa, will like the bag as much or more than the game, LOL! I've made a TON of these bags over the years - they are fun and practical for all kinds of uses - I use one for makeup and another for my camera and gear. They have two zip pockets, and an interesting way the zips are applied to form the pockets. And of course, I can make more bias tape, which I adore! Anyways, I hope the kids enjoy the game, and that DIL's dad gets better real soon.