These Preschool Matching Games Boost Early Child Learning!

Preschool matching games provide hours of fun and excitement, but did you know they support early cognitive development and prepare kiddos for math & STEAM? It's true! Those preschool matching games set the stage for all sorts of essential learning opportunities. So, get your little one ready to sort, match, and play because we've got a fun and adventurous list of preschool matching games your child will love exploring!

12 Preschool Matching Games Your Child Won't Want to Put Down

Aargh!

2-4 players • 20 min • 3 & up

Aargh mateys! Use your memory to chart pirate seas to match and dig up buried treasures. But whatever you do, keep your good eye on ol' Squawk, the parrot who will take off with a pirate's gold if you are not careful! The player with the most points wins. Play with 2-4 players, ages 3 & up, in 20 minutes.

Watch My Wings

2-5 players • 10 min • 4 & up

If beautiful early learning games featuring colorful butterflies is your child's vibe, they'll love the preschool matching game Watch My Wings. Spin to see if you are matching colors, shapes, or both, then race to find those fluttering friends! Stay focused and show self-control as you try to gather the most matches of butterflies. Play with 2-5 players, ages 4 and up, in as little as 10 minutes.

 

Tibbar's Little Hands Big Smiles

1+ players • 10 min • 3 & up

This 3-in-1 puzzle set is a great early learning tool that not only helps build fine motor skills as preschoolers use their little hands to find the perfect puzzle shape, but they'll also learn to identify numbers up to 10, the alphabet in both lower and uppercase, plus primary colors and shapes! Play this preschool matching game with 1+ players, ages 3 & up, in as little as 10 minutes.

 

Buddy Match

2-6 players • 10 min • 5 & up

Nothing says fun for your little one quite like matching up their favorite SimplyFun Buddies! This early learning card game is a great way to help your child train their brain with quick-thinking pattern recognition as they match cards by size, color, or buddy character. Stay focused and practice self-control to be crowned the Buddy Match champ! Play with 2-6 players, ages 5 & up, in as little as 10 minutes.

 

Digger's Garden Match

1-6 players • 15 min • 4 & up

Digger's Garden Match is a preschool matching game that takes little learners out of the classroom and into a garden of imagination. This early learning adventure also helps strengthen cognitive abilities as children explore shapes, colors, and counting up to 50! Fun for all ages to hone those early puzzle skills. Play with 1-6 players, ages 4 & up, in as little as 15 minutes.

 

Rooby's ABCs

1-4 players • 10 min • 3 & up

Let your toddler's alphabetizing and matching skills take flight with Rooby's ABCs! Match uppercase and lowercase letters, spot letter sounds with fun pictures, and fill your board with letters to collect Rooby tokens. The player with the most Rooby tokens wins! Play with 1-4 players, ages 3 & up, in as little as 10 minutes.

 

Color Huey and The Four Seasons

2-5 players • 10 min • 3 & up

Come join Huey as the seasons change to learn fun colors, shapes, and early reading as players match the colorful tokens to Huey's shoes! With a flip of the board, preschoolers can match the color tokens to the words associated with the color.

For example, a red token is used for the word "red."

Children will love matching, learning colors, and practicing simple sight words with this two-in-one board game. Play with 2-5 players, ages 3 & up, in as little as 10 minutes.

 

Chums

2-6 players • 20 min • 4 & up

If your children are charmed by chums under the sea, they'll want to dive into this preschool matching game! This aquatic card game is SimplyFun's twist on the classic 'Go Fish' as players collect sets of four cards by asking other players. Score the most schools of fish to reel in the biggest catch! Play with 2-6 players, ages 4 & up, in as little as 20 minutes.

*Bonus: Kids will enjoy the fun facts poster that educates them about the colorful fish species featured in the game!

 

Get the Fly

2-6 players • 15 min • 4 & up

Get The Fly is one of those preschool matching games that often makes an appearance on our yearly round-up of best-sellers. It's THAT FUN for little ones, plus players of all ages love it too! Get The Fly (as the name implies) is a matching card race to uncover the lone fly among the series of slimy frogs! With lifelike artwork, your curious kiddos will love learning about the amphibian friends featured in the game with the fun facts poster, which is a bonus with the deck! Parents will love that Get the Fly is also a toad-ally fun letter recognition game. Play with 2-6 players, ages 4 & up, in as little as 15 minutes.

 

Crazy Ates

2-6 players • 20 min • 4 & up

If we can offer one piece of advice, don't play Crazy Ates hungry! The drool-worthing food animations on this preschool matching game will have you craving a big bowl of spaghetti and delectable fruit, veggies, and treats! To play this crazy twist on "Crazy 8's" kids match cards by color or number and type of food to empty their hand first. Crazy Ates is also a great introduction to color and number recognition. Play with 2-6 players, ages 4 & up, in as little as 20 minutes.

•  Tasty extras: Children can color in food preferences with the blank cards provided in the game. A fun and inclusive option for vegan, gluten-free, or lactose-free kiddos!

• Food for thought: Enjoy the bonus food group poster with the game!

 

*Fun tip: Save on Crazy Ates, Chums, Buddy Match, and Get the Fly with the Kids on the Go Card Set

 

Bee Alert

2-5 players • 15–20 min • 5 & up

Keep your busy bee's brain buzzing with the preschool matching game Bee Alert! Little players turn over cards to know which color bee to look for. Next, flip over beehives and use memory to pair the colors of wobbly bees. Not only is this preschool matching game adorable and fun, but it's also an ideal game for building fine motor skills. Play with 2-5 players, ages 5 & up, in 15–20 minutes.

 

Why Do Preschool Matching Games Provide a Major Boost to Early Childhood Learning?

Sorting and matching skills provide the building blocks for a preschooler's future skills in math and STEAM. Young children are naturally curious, and preschool matching games provide a fun challenge they can build off of. Throughout a child's development, foundational matching activities evolve into more complex skills like counting, subtracting, and seeing patterns in STEAM-related tasks.  

Today, it may seem like your preschooler's love for matching and sorting is more adorable than educational. However, if we distill the role of a mathematician or code developer, we essentially have a professional 'pattern recognizer.' For now, all your child knows is that matching games are a lot of fun, and that is enough. However, like all great achievements, it starts with foundational practice and a lot of encouragement from family to keep experimenting and learning. The same holds true for young children, and preschool matching games offer them a solid cognitive start to learning big things!