Animal Memo: an animal memory game for kids, in English and Spanish
Face-down cards, familiar animals and a voice that says each name as the card turns over. A short game for practicing visual memory, focus and animal words, made for kids ages 3 to 5.
Play in the valleyFor now, in Spanish. English is coming soon.
How to play at the Farm in Leo's Valley
Step by step
- Leo, wearing his straw hat, explains that the farm animals are hiding behind the barn doors.
- For a few seconds the doors swing open so your child can see who's behind each one. Then Leo opens one door with his paw and closes it again, to show how it works.
- Your child taps a door: the animal peeks out, makes its sound and says its name.
- They tap another door. If it's the same animal, both run off to the pen. If not, they giggle, wave and hide again.
- When the pen is full, the animals put on a little concert, and Leo playfully asks where one of them is.
The first world, the Pen, uses six farm animals that are easy to tell apart: cow, pig, chick, sheep, horse and duck. Pairs are picture-to-picture, with no written words. Boards start with 2 pairs and grow to 3 and then 4 depending on how your child is doing.
If your child gets stuck, Leo helps in steps: first a door that was already opened wiggles, as if asking "remember who was here?"; then his flashlight lights up a pair for a moment; and finally he opens it together with your child. Play always moves forward.
The question at the end is never shown as a mistake. If your child taps a different animal, Leo simply shows where the one he asked about was.
What your child practices
A memory game looks simple, but it asks for several things at once: looking carefully, remembering where each animal was, and deciding which card to try next. That's what gets practiced every round.
We don't promise outcomes. Every child moves at their own pace, and a game is only one small part of the day. What Animal Memo does offer is lots of short chances to look, remember and hear words, in a format kids can repeat without getting bored, because the animals change.
- Visual memory: remembering where on the board each animal showed up, and going back to it.
- Focus: paying attention to two cards, comparing them and waiting to see if they match.
- Animal words: hearing a name every time a card turns over, many times in a short game.
- English and Spanish: seeing each animal found with its name in both languages.
- Handling mistakes: when there's no match, the cards simply turn back over and your child tries again.
How it connects to early learning standards
Draft · pending a teacher’s review
- MEN Colombia · preschool. Colombia's Bases Curriculares para la Educación Inicial y Preescolar name play and exploring the world around us among the guiding activities of early education. Recognizing and naming familiar animals is part of that exploration.
- MEN Colombia · preschool. Colombia's Derechos Básicos de Aprendizaje de Transición: connects with the communication goals, like growing vocabulary and naming living things in the child's surroundings, and with curiosity about the natural world.
- Common Core · Kindergarten (US). Kindergarten, Language — Vocabulary Acquisition and Use: hearing and naming common animals supports everyday vocabulary, in English or Spanish depending on the version your child plays.
- Common Core · Kindergarten (US). Kindergarten, Speaking & Listening — Comprehension and Collaboration: playing side by side and chatting about the animals found is a chance to listen, respond and take turns.
Screen-free idea: the cup memory game
You need five minutes, eight plastic cups you can't see through, and four pairs of matching things from around the house: two spoons, two socks, two jar lids and two clothespins, for example. If you have doubles of toy animals, even better.
Hide one object under each cup, shuffle them while your child watches, and take turns lifting two cups. Every time something shows up, say its name out loud, in English and, if you like, in Spanish too: "spoon, cuchara." If they match, the pair comes out of the game. If not, the cups go back down in the same spot.
For younger kids, start with two or three pairs and add one more once it feels easy. Let your child hide the objects for you to find, too. Getting one wrong on purpose now and then shows them that missing is just part of playing.
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Frequently asked questions
What age is it for?
It's made for kids ages 3 to 5. Up to age 4 the board has 4 pairs, which is a friendly place to start. With 3 year olds, it really helps to sit alongside at first and say the animal names out loud together.
Does my child need to read?
No. One card in each pair shows a written name, but your child hears the name when it flips. On the Spanish version of the site, the picture and the word say the same name, so kids can play just by listening and looking. On the English version, the word card is in Spanish, so it's a good one to play together at first.
Is it really bilingual?
On the English version, the picture card says the name in English and the word card shows and says it in Spanish, and every animal found is listed with both names. On the Spanish version, names are spoken in Spanish and the English name appears in writing next to the Spanish one.
Is the voice a real recording?
Not yet. Names are read by your device's built-in synthetic voice, so it can sound a bit different on each phone, tablet or computer. There's a button to mute the sound whenever you need to.
Is it free? Are there ads?
It's free, with no ads and no chat. You can play without signing up.
How long should my child play?
Each board is short: it ends when every pair is found, and then your child chooses whether to play again. That ending is a natural place to stop, talk about the animals they found, or switch to the screen-free cup version.