DIY Bath Time Memory Game

Here is a bath time game that is truly good clean fun with no mess, no fuss and hopefully no wet bathroom swamp floor (I can't guarantee though). What is this heaven sent game? Well the game itself is not new but it has been revamped for the bath, and that game is...Bath Time MEMORY!

I loved playing Memory as a child and my daughter is finally getting the concept. So far the little one's experience of Memory has been through an app on the tablet but since we are trying to reduce screen time here I thought why not make a bath tub version?

If you want to try it out yourselves here's how.

What you will need

•  Cutting board 
• Cutting tool like a rotary blade cutter or Stanly knife etc.
• Ruler (I find a quilter's ruler works best)
• Foam sheets ( I found one sheet was enough but you can use more and make more cards)
• Permanent marker or markers if you want colourful designs (test before hand to make sure they don't wash off)

Note: Alternatively you can ditch the cutting board and tool and just use a ruler and pen to mark out the cards and then use scissors to cut the pieces. This way though I find you end up with marks around the edges where you've drawn your lines making it look messy.


Now you can make the cards any size you want as long as they are all the same size. I made my cards 2 inches by 2 3/4 inches.  To make the designs nice and neat I found a packet of stencils to trace the designs from. Of course you can draw your designs freehand or any other way you see fit. It's a pretty simple project isn't it? The only thing you have to remember is to make two of every design!

How to play

We found you can play Bath Time Memory two ways. The first way I guess you could call the traditional way. Wet the cards to make them 'sticky' and arrange them in a grid on the side of the bath or on the wall.  Each person takes a turn flipping two cards over. If they match you get to keep them, if not then both are turned over and the next person gets a turn. The winner is he/she who has the most pairs. 

For the second way, which we have found to be a lot more fun, put all the pieces in the tub letting them float around in the bubbles. (Bubbles are not necessary but we love them here!) Again the aim of the game is to make pairs but this time it's harder to remember where things are because the pieces are constantly bobbing about. The only tip from us is to make sure there are no pieces hiding behind anyone when playing Bath Time Memory like this. We didn't notice the ones behind my daughter and we ended up confused as to why we couldn't make a pair with some of the cards.

So there you have it, a very simple but fun alternative to a much loved oldie. Of course the difficulty level of the game can be adjusted by having more or less cards. You can also make it harder by having similar images such as a set of similar fishes or flowers which means you have to concentrate more in order to remember what was where.

Well until next time happy bath time and happy playing!