Creating teams or finding partners has never been easier—or more fun! Each child is given a card featuring one of six animal designs. The goal? Find someone with a matching card, or gather into groups with the same animal, depending on the game format you choose.
Make Partner Selection Fun with an Animal Match Game!
Turn pairing kids into partners or teams into a fun experience with the Partner Match Game! Featuring printable cards with vibrant images of lions, tigers, bears, eagles, dragons, and sharks, this game is perfect for classrooms, parties, or family activities. Kids will love matching their cards to find their perfect team!
How the Animal Partner Match Game Works
Setting Up the Game
- Download and Print the Cards: Use the free printable cards featuring colorful, kid-friendly animal images. Print them on sturdy white cardstock for durability.
- Cut and Prepare: Cut out the cards and shuffle them thoroughly.
- Distribute to Players: Lay the cards face-down on a desk or table and let the kids choose one at random or hand out to form partners or teams of your choosing.
- Establish Partners or Teams: Gather the kids into partners or teams depending on the game variation you need.
Game Variations
- Partner Match: Each child finds the one other player with the same animal card.
- Team Formation: Players group together based on their animal cards (e.g., all lions in one team, all tigers in another).
- Relay Challenge: After forming teams, players can compete in animal-themed challenges, like roaring like lions or soaring like eagles.
Why Kids Love It
The Partner Match Game adds an element of surprise and excitement to any group activity. Instead of awkward pairings, kids enjoy the thrill of finding their “animal match” while building social connections in a fun, interactive way.
Ready to Play?
Download the free Partner Match Game printable below and get ready to add a touch of fun to your next classroom activity, team-building session, or playdate.
Looking for More Valentine’s Day Fun?
Here are some other great Valentine’s Day activities your kids will love:
- Sweet Kid’s Valentine’s Stained Glass Hearts
- How to Throw a Rockstar Valentine’s Day Class Party
- Valentine Word Search
- Valentine’s Day Heart Bingo
- Musical Hearts: Reading, Moving and Crazy-Fun Kid’s Game
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7 comments
Sounds awesome, I will try it out on my little ones this weekend! 🙂
thanks, friend! let me know how it goes!
In the pictures, I see more partner pairs than are on the download. Arthur and Fran, and the Berenstain Bears are missing. is there a second set of downloads available?? I have more than 20 kids in the class and would love to use these for my Valentine’s party. thanks!
Jill!
THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU for the reminder, my friend! I needed to update the document to use this year because my Owen’s class has 24 students! YOU saved the day!!!
I updated the post and you can find it in the same spot: http://christmasnostalgics.com/partner-match-cool-game-for-questioning-thinking-chatting-moving-and-more/
LOTS of new partners!! Happy Valentine’s Day!
I will be using this game tomorrow for my son’s 1st grade school Valentine’s party. Thanks SO much for sharing!!:-)
YAY! It’s a fave over here–have fun!
I’m doing this for my daughter’s first grade class. I added Elephant and piggie from the Mo williems books. Love this!