Things That Go Together

1. Memory match. Lay the cards face down and turn over two at a time, as in the game above. A pair only counts when the two words belong together.
2. Call and answer. Read the first word aloud (“Thunder and…”) and let the group call out the second. No printing needed, and it works well for people who no longer write easily.
3. Worksheet. Hand out the large print worksheet. The word bank at the bottom of each page makes it a matching exercise; fold it under for a harder version.

Go slowly and give hints freely: the first letter, or a little story (“You put it on toast with peanut butter…”). Accept any answer that makes sense. If someone says “bread and butter” when the card says something else, that is a perfectly good pair and a reason to smile, not a mistake.

Many pairs open the door to conversation. Who made the best macaroni and cheese in your family? Did you ever play hide and seek as a child, and where did you hide? A ten-minute game can turn into the best talk of the afternoon.

These pairs are everyday English expressions, so the game is also useful for early readers and for anyone learning English. The cards print in large, clear type, and each page of the card PDF is a complete game of six pairs, so you can hand one page to each table.