← Learning Games
🍎

Remember the Tray

Look closely, cover it up, and remember what was there.

⏱ 5–8 minutes 👀 Visual memory 👥 1 adult + 1 child

What you'll need

  • 🖥️
    Or play online — no printing needed (best on a tablet or phone)
  • Optional: printed object cards for tabletop play
  • 🧣
    A tea towel or piece of paper to cover the cards (print version only)
  • 🎲
    A dice — optional, for the "roll and name" variant
  • 🍽️
    A tray or flat space to lay the cards on (print version only)

How to play — classic version

  1. Lay out 3 cards face-up in a row. Say each object's name together, out loud.
  2. Give your child a slow, unhurried look — about 10–15 seconds.
  3. Cover all the cards with the cloth or paper.
  4. Ask them to name every card in the same order they were laid out.
  5. Uncover and check together. Celebrate what they got — memory games should feel good, not like a test!
  6. Repeat with a fresh set of cards, building up to 4, then 5, then 6, 7, or 8 as it gets easier.

Two more ways to play

🫥 What's missing?

Lay out 4–6 cards. Cover them, secretly remove 1 card, then uncover. Child says which one is gone. Once confident, remove 2 or 3 at once.

🎲 Roll and name

Lay out 6 cards. Roll a dice and ask your child to name that many objects from the tray, from memory, without looking.

🎛️ Adjusting the difficulty

🟢
Make it easier: leave the cards uncovered for longer, or let your child say the names out loud twice before covering.
🔴
Make it harder: increase the number of cards, shorten the looking time, or ask for the names without pointing to where each card was.
▶ Play online → Printable cards 🧒 Child sheet