Tailor Shop

This game is about remembering what each person has said and repeating it in the correct order. When we practice memory and attention, we can keep track of and use important information. This helps us engage deeply in learning with each other.

1. This game is played in teams. To start, each team should have no more than four students.
2. One student in each team is the tailor at the shop, and the other students pretend to be customers. Customers take turns ordering their clothing of choice, picking one item and its color, length, or style (e.g., “I would like a red shirt please”).
3. After the last customer finishes his/her request, the tailor delivers the correct items to each customer (e.g., “Here is your red shirt, here are your blue pants,” and so on).

• What about this game was easy or hard for you?
• What strategies did you use? What might you do differently next time?
• When do you need to use your memory at home or at school?
• How else would you like to play this game?

For primary school students:

• Students may benefit from a concrete representation of the items. Display pictures of common clothing items for students to reference as they play.
• Instead of a tailor shop, students can imagine they are ordering groceries from the market or selecting the characteristics of their ideal football team.

For students in grades 5-6:

• Instead of naming the items in the store, adapt the game so that students draw the “purchased” items.
• For an extra memory challenge, students can share more adjectives to describe the article of clothing. Students can describe the item’s color, length, and style instead of choosing just one descriptor.