Matching Games for Toddlers – Online and Printable

Matching games are a great way to keep toddlers entertained. But it’s not just about having fun – your little one will develop important skills as they play. Matching games help toddlers build both their cognitive abilities and their fine motor skills. They train toddlers to pay attention and focus, to process information, and to remember things. As a bonus, the interactive nature of matching games also develops a toddler’s hand-eye coordination skills.

Reading Eggs Junior, for ages 2–4, has hundreds of matching games your toddler can play online, as well as free printable versions they can play offline. Designed by experienced educators, the games are engaging and exciting, while helping your toddler develop their skills and build their confidence.

Toddler matching games are a portable and convenient way to distract your toddler while waiting for an appointment or when you don’t have access to their other toys. They can play the online games in Reading Eggs Junior on a tablet device (iOS and Android), and the printable versions are compact enough to carry in a small pouch or bag.

All the games and activities in Reading Eggs Junior are age-appropriate and ad-free.

Get access to the hundreds of toddler games, videos and books in Reading Eggs Junior free for 30 days. Plus, you’ll have access to all four award-winning programs in the Reading Eggs suite. Start your free trial today!

Types of Toddler Matching Games in Reading Eggs Junior

Reading Eggs Junior contains five different types of toddler matching games:

1. Matching game – players match familiar and everyday items

2. Colours – players match different coloured items

3. Same or Different – players select items that are either the same or different

4. Sorting – players match and sort items

5. Memory – players match items from memory.

Each game helps your toddler to develop different cognitive skills as the level of difficulty increases.

There are five different types of toddler matching games in Reading Eggs Junior, as well as lots of other fun activities. Free trial

You’ll find these games in the Activities section of Reading Eggs Junior.

You’ll find the toddler matching games, as well as many other games, in the Activities section of Reading Eggs Junior.

Matching Game

The Matching game is presented like a board game, with 20 tiles (or games) to complete. In addition, there are bonus matching game activities to play as your toddler progresses through each tile.

The games feature everyday items that your toddler might be familiar with. Accompanying audio announces the name of each item, helping your toddler build their vocabulary as they play.

The matching games contain everyday items your toddler might be familiar with, such as clothing, food, household décor and animals.

Once your toddler has successfully completed a game, they are rewarded with a hatching egg containing a surprise. The animations and visuals are highly engaging and will motivate your toddler to keep playing and learning.

Colours Matching Game

Colour matching games are a great way for toddlers to learn the names of colours as they play. In each game, players match a hue to items on the screen. There are more than 20 Colour matching games to play, plus bonus colour matching activities in between each game.

Same or Different Matching Games

Similar to the Matching Game, the games in Same or Different are presented like a board game, with 16 tiles (or games) to complete. In addition, there are bonus activities to play as your toddler progresses through each tile.

In these games your toddler will be asked to select items that are either the same (matching) or different (odd one out).

In Same or Different, players are asked to select either the matching items (same) or choose the odd one out (different).

Sorting Game

In the Sorting game, players need to sort items that are similar into groups. This game builds on the skills learned in previous matching games. Items are not identical and players must decide which ones should be grouped together based on similarities, such as colour.

In the Sorting game above, butterflies are sorted by their colour to match the colours of the flowers.

Memory Matching Games for Toddlers

Memory matching games require a deeper level of concentration and attention from your toddler. Once your child has completed the basic matching games, these games are a great way to develop their cognitive skills even further.

Presented as a board game, the memory matching games get harder as your toddler progresses through the tiles.

Matching items are displayed and then hidden behind doors. Your toddler will need to pay attention and memorise each item’s position to select the matching pairs.

The memory matching games in Reading Eggs Junior get harder as your toddler progresses through the games.

You can try out some of the memory matching games in Reading Eggs Junior by clicking on the links below:

Sample memory matching game 1

Sample memory matching game 2

Sample memory matching game 3

Printable Matching Games for Toddlers

Reading Eggs Junior also comes with free printable toddler matching games to complement the online versions. There are 12 categories of everyday and familiar items to choose from:

1. animals

2. bathroom items

3. bugs

4. clothes

5. dinner

6. farm

7. food

8. fruit

9. house

10. pets

11. toys

12. vegetables.

Each item is labelled, helping to build your child’s vocabulary.

The free printable toddler matching games complement the online versions in Reading Eggs Junior.

To play, just download, print and cut out the cards (two copies of each). You can also laminate or cover the cards in adhesive contact paper for extra durability.

Download the free printable toddler matching games here.

Reading Eggs Junior for Ages 2–4

Reading Eggs Junior is a comprehensive early learning program for ages 2–4 and was designed by experienced educators. Every game-based learning activity in Reading Eggs Junior develops a range of early learning skills including:

• fine motor

• communication

• literacy

• numeracy

• vocabulary

• alphabet skills.

The program’s colourful characters, exciting activities, games and rewards are designed to keep toddlers motivated to learn and continue building essential pre-reading skills.

Be sure to check out the other toddler learning games in Reading Eggs Junior.

Reading Eggs Junior also includes a growing library of more than 200 online books, both fiction and nonfiction, all with read-aloud audio. Beautifully illustrated stories and colourful photographic concept books encourage children to build language skills, concentration, comprehension and vocabulary.

The Reading Eggs Junior video catalogue offers hundreds of animated and real-life stories. With plenty of music, songs and stories, the videos are both fun and educational.

Curious to find out more? Read our article on how Reading Eggs Junior can support your toddler’s home learning.