Inside Out Core Memory Game

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When we attended Disney Social Media Moms Conference about six months ago, we were treated to a special early viewing of Pixar’s Inside Out. It was so new that the film wasn’t yet finished so we only saw about two thirds of it. We just had to see how it ended so when we saw it in the theaters back home when it was officially released. As soon as I heard Inside Out was available for purchase earlier this month, I hurried to Walmart to buy a copy. They were almost sold out but I was lucky enough to get my hands on one of the last copies available.

Inside Out had us feeling all of the emotions; it had moments of fun and sadness and even disgust. But my favorite thing about this film was that it was a vehicle to deeper discussion. It can be so difficult getting kids to share their feelings, and this movie was a great lead-in to an important topic.

We hear about devastating consequences of bullying almost every day and many parents are in the dark about what is going on. If we can keep an open discussion and even make it into a fun topic, we’ll be in  Talking about our feelings, no matter the situation or our age, is very therapeutic and releases stresses so it’s always a good thing.I was inspired by the movie to create a fun Inside Out core memory game that we could play together as a family.

Just print out this page onto a heavy stock paper and cut on the white lines to get your pieces; play the gameas you would any matching game. For a longer and more challenging game, print and cut additional pages. Start face up and then flip them over onto a table and let the kids take turns making matches.

Each time we made a match, we discussed a “core memory” that matched that emotion. The kids got a kick out of the TOMY toys we purchased from Walmart. I let them both choose a favorite; for Emma that was Disgust and Ryan chose Anger and I picked my favorite, Bing Bong!

Click the image above to download the INSIDE OUT core memory game free printable I created so that you can play this game with your children.

How do you get your children to talk about their feelings?