James can take a while to get into new activities so it’s a good sign that he’s already selecting these matching cards to play with.
Helen and I have both written about matching cards before. James loves them! So when his birthday was coming round this year I was on the hunt for some new ones. I found this S and H Activities HGV Pairs Game as I was searching for resources for people with dementia (a search I often use to find different activities with real world images).
Sturdily Boxed
I ordered the cards online and they arrived promptly. They are presented in a sturdy cardboard box, clearly labelled and with a clear image of what’s inside the box. This is great as James chooses what he wants to do himself from his shelves. He packs away his own games, too, so the sturdy base and lid will cope with the fact that it sometimes takes a couple of goes to get a lid on.
The Cards
The cards are the same size as the box, A6 (4ins. X 6ins.) and laminated so they can be wiped clean after use. I did wonder if they would be too big but they fit on the table the way we play (half laid out, half held in hand) and James can handle a pair with no problems. They are thin (being laminated card) but James has no difficulty in picking them up off of the table. The images are clear and brightly coloured. They are presented on a plain background so there is no visual clutter. There are 15 pairs of cards, mostly HGV vehicles but the set does include two road signs.
The pictures of the vehicles are largely in primary colours. Some are clearly different to others. For others there are more similarities and it takes James a little more time to find the match.
How to Play
The set includes a card showing how to play the game as a traditional game of Pelmanism.
What we do for James is to lay half the cards (one of each pair) face up on the table and then give him a card at a time from the retained pile to find the match.
Another possible way to play would be to lay out half the cards and then describe what you can see on the retained card for the player to find e.g. ‘It’s a blue truck with a yellow cab.’
The vocabulary we use at the moment, as the game is quite new, is centred around the colours – some of which James can sign. As we can sign them too it’s a good way of helping him to learn the ones he doesn’t yet know, and reinforcing the more familiar ones for him. I also have a go at identifying the vehicles by name e.g. forklift truck, dumper truck – but I’m not very good at that!
James has had these cards for a couple of months now and has taken to them quite quickly. He has got them out to play with when I have been visiting him which I’m pleased about as I have bought him a set of Flags matching cards from the same company for Christmas 🇬🇧.
Availability
Unfortunately, since I bought the cards earlier this year the company has closed. However, the good news is that their products are still available on eBay and Amazon. At the time of writing (July ’22) the HGV cards are available on Amazon, and some other items from the same company too.
If you know a young person who loves matching cards why not check out our other reviews of Places of the World and Remember Food matching cards. I hope this review has inspired you!
(I have no links to any companies mentioned in this review and the opinions expressed are entirely my own)
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