Practice colour, shape and pattern recognition with this simple Magna Tile matching game you can make with magnetic building tiles!
Don’t you like it when kids invent their own educational games? It is a moment of perfect parental pride and satisfaction!
The other day, my son was playing with Magna-Tiles. I thought he was making letters with them because his constructions were two-dimensional.
Suddenly, he called me over, “Mommy, I’ve made a game for you. Which two of these match?” He arranged different pieces on a piece of paper and wanted me to find the matching ones. Well, two can play this game. After I found the tile that matched, I created a puzzle for him.
Actually, I created at least four different puzzles. Moms are like that when they spot something vaguely educational that can ALSO be of interest to their wild four-year-old!
As years passed, we utilized Magna Tiles in various educational scenarios – from math to seasonal celebrations. You can find all of our Magna-Tile ideas here.
Magna-Tiles Game# 1: Find the Matching Pair
Lay out six figures. Four of them are random, but two of them match.
A variation of the game would be to make a variety of figures all of which have a pair, and ask the child to connect them.
Magna-Tiles Game# 2: Find the Odd One
When you have all the figures paired, you can slip in the odd one. Then ask the child to identify the one that doesn’t belong.
Increasing Complexity
If these puzzles are too easy, you can try with more pieces! Find the matching pair in this picture.
Benefits of Magna-Tiles Matching Games
This is the right kind of game for introducing your preschooler to some skills that will help him do math later on. It helps with:
- colour recognition
- shape recognition
- pattern recognition
- logical thinking
I’ve noticed that for my son, who is four, seeing the multi-part shape as a whole is a little difficult. Matching Magna Tiles by themselves doesn’t pose a problem, but sometimes he struggles with figures that consist of two and more parts. So it provides enough challenge to keep him interested for a while.
As for my son’s personal preference, he rather likes that he can make challenges for other people. I bet I’ll soon see him teaching math to his one-year-old sister.
More Magna Tile Activities
Build 40 Animal Magna-Tile designs!
Celebrate seasonal holidays and the passing of time with the seasonal Magna Tile idea bundle!
