Materials:
Fun foam sheets (white works great; use pink or red as well)
Scissors
Colored permanent markers
Large red poster boards (optional)

These Valentine alphabet playing cards use a heart template to cut the "cards" out of easy to use and inexpensive fun foam. They last forever, are easy for early elementary students to handle, and can be easily replaced if one is lost.

For this Valentine alphabet match game, trace a heart onto white fun foam. Use permanent markers to write upper and matching lower case letters on the separate hearts. Decorate both hearts of the same letter with the same matching pattern. Use different patterns for different letters, but always match the same pattern with the same upper and lower case letter.

You can do the whole alphabet, in which case designate a large square in the classroom for the matching game. Shuffle your hearts deck, then turn the cards over onto the designated space. Students take turns overturning two cards, and when they see they have a match, they keep the cards and take another turn. The player with the most cards wins the game. Students should try to memorize the locations of the different letters of the alphabet.

Alternatively, cut a very large red heart out of poster board. Trace pairs of hearts the size of these cards onto different locations on this larger heart. Write the paired upper and lower case letters together on the smaller paired hearts, showing students where their cards should go. Students will use their deck of heart cards to find the correct letters, matching them to the game board of the larger heart. You can use this version in pairs of students or for independent alphabet activities in your classroom centers.

RETURN TO EVERYDAY TEACHING CALENDAR & RESOURCES:
http://www.everydayteaching.com/

©2007. All rights reserved. Reproducible for personal & educational use only. All others require permission:

everydayteaching (at) everydayteaching.com