It’s been a full weekend. It started out with roaring laughter late into the night (morning?) with some of my favorite people, and continued with a family brunch and then a baby shower with some old friends. I’m exhausted and my eyes are burning, but baby shower season (is there such a thing??) is upon us and I really wanted to share this simple but fun baby shower activity that I came up with! Make a game of Memory!
Traditionally, baby showers mean games of baby bingo, smelling “poopy” diapers (actually baby food), or decorating onesies. All cute and fun, but sometimes it’s also nice to just sit around and catch up with friends while coloring some flowers in a collaborative ABC book for baby. I love the idea of making something that the family or baby will actually use and enjoy in the years to come, and I recently came up with a new baby shower activity that I think you’ll love!
The guests of the party get to craft and make a matching pair of tiles for the family to play the game of Memory with! You know, the game where you get to flip over two tiles, see if they match, and keep them if they do.
I got the idea because when my friend Akemi asked me if I had ideas for shower activities, I was in the middle of teaching my toddler how to play the game of Memory. And I thought… heyyyy we could all make a set of tiles for the family so they could play memory… it would be fun, personal, and a simple but cute craft for guests to participate in. I wasn’t actually sure how it would all pan out in the end- would people have ideas for what to put on the tiles? Was the felt too clumsy of a material? Would the glue work and dry quickly enough?
To prepare, I bought these gorgeous unfinished wood circles on Amazon. They are smooth and sturdy and feel like great quality for any number of crafty purposes- perfect for this activity. I happened to have round 1″ flower stamps on hand, so I stamped the back of each circle with an orange flower (using colors from this gorgeous ink pad set) to make it look like a matching set. I also made similar stamp designs on a cute muslin bag for holding the completed game tiles.
At home, I made an example pair of tiles with a cloud design, using Aleene’s Tacky Glue, which worked great. That was all the prep it took!
Today, I simply set out a sign, the wooden circles, some scrap felt, fabric scissors, and tacky glue, and that was it! In the future, I’d probably stick with only putting out a bottle of Fabritac which my friend said worked really well and dried quickly.
Happily, I think it all worked out. Soon there were cute hearts, birdies, and flowers being made for this garden-themed baby shower. SO CUTE. I really, really like the way they turned out!
When Wendy told me today that she liked this idea and would totally use it for a baby shower, it was a green light to me to share it with ye citizens of the Internet… especially you Pinteresting people out there. So enjoy, and be sure to save it to your board for the next time you’re in charge of baby shower activities! 🙂
Make Memory Game Tiles
Materials
- an even number of wood circles (suggested quantities: 16, 24, or 30 because they lay out nicely for a game)
- Different colors of scrap felt
- 2+ fabric scissors
- Fabritac glue
- Muslin bag, to hold tiles
- Thin sharpies, for people to sketch before cutting
- Optional: a 1″ circular stamp, such as this flower, to decorate the tiles and bag (with this ink pad set)
Instructions
- Prepare the tiles: Stamp one side of each tile beforehand so they look like a matching set.
- Make a pair of tiles as an example for party guests to look at: Choose a simple design, cut it out, and glue it down onto one tile. Repeat with a second tile so they are the same.
- Make a sign with instructions, like “Make a pair of matching Memory tiles for the family to enjoy on family game night!” or something. Draw pictures and show examples and ideas.
- Day of: Set up the table by setting out your sign, the wooden circles, the example tiles you made, fabric scissors, felt, and glue. You can also set out a cup for people to throw their felt scraps into afterward. Some people might also appreciate having pens on the table to sketch out their drawings first. Explain the activity, and watch lovely creations appear!
One response to “Baby Shower Activity: Make Memory Tiles!”
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I’m not planning a shower, but I just added the wood circles and Fabritac to my shopping cart so I can make a game for my granddaughter! Many thanks for a great idea!!