Two columns with a dot beside every entry and a pencil line to draw between them. Six pairs by default: a Christmas drawing down the left, the words down the right in a scrambled order. Switch the pairing to picture to picture or picture to number from the control above the paper.
Three ways to pair
To a word is the default and is a reading task: a drawing of a robin on the left, the word Robin somewhere on the right, and nothing lined up. To a picture drops the words and puts the same objects drawn differently in both columns, which suits a child who is not reading yet.
To a number changes the sheet again. Each entry on the left becomes a small group of pictures and the right hand column becomes a list of numbers, so the child counts the group and joins it to its total. Three sheets out of one generator, and all three keep the same clean two column layout.
Why there is a wide channel down the middle
The dots sit well in from the edge of the page on both sides, which leaves a wide channel down the middle. Lines crossing that channel are easy to see and easy to follow back, and a child who changes their mind can rub one out without smudging the one next to it.
Rows are spaced so that even six crossing lines stay separable. That is the failure point on most matching worksheets, where the lines end up on top of one another and the sheet becomes impossible to mark.
Pairs and marking
The Pairs control sets five, six or seven. Five gives the largest pictures, seven packs the page. The right hand column is shuffled separately from the pictures, so most of the correct lines cross the page rather than running along a row.
The second page draws every correct line in red. Lay it beside a finished sheet and the mistakes are the lines that do not match, which is faster than reading each pair.
Questions
- How many pairs are on a Christmas matching worksheet?
- Six by default, with a dot beside each entry in both columns. The Pairs control above the paper changes it to five for bigger pictures or seven to fill the page.
- Can a child who cannot read yet use this sheet?
- Yes. Set Match to To a picture and both columns hold drawings rather than words, so the task becomes recognising the same object drawn twice. To a number turns it into counting instead.
- Do the words line up with their pictures?
- No. The right hand column is shuffled separately from the pictures, so most of the correct lines cross the page rather than running along a row, and a child has to read each word to place it.
- Does it come with an answer sheet?
- Yes. The second page draws all the correct lines in red, which makes marking a case of spotting the lines that do not match rather than checking every pair in turn.