Best Hape Animals Memory Game & Animal Learning Toys for Kids (2026)

The Hape Animals Memory Game sits at a sweet spot: it's simple enough for a three-year-old to grasp, sturdy enough to survive a playroom floor, and animal-themed in a way that keeps young children genuinely engaged rather than just tolerating the game. If your household is already fans, or you're building a gift basket around it, there are a handful of complementary toys worth knowing about.

A good animal memory or matching toy should use clear, unambiguous images, have pieces large enough for small hands, and offer enough variety that kids don't burn through the challenge in one sitting. The picks below share those qualities — they're grouped by how they build on the same skills the Hape game develops: visual matching, animal recognition, and early focused attention.

🧸 Curating learning toys since 2004 Independent picks · no pay-for-placement

Hape Brand Picks

Products from Hape itself — the same manufacturer known for clean finishes, non-toxic paints, and toddler-durable construction.

Best Hape gift to pair with the memory game for youngest players · Hape

Butterfly Wooden Push and Pull Walking Toy

This is a Hape product through and through: solid beechwood, smooth rolling action, and a butterfly motif that echoes the nature-world themes of the Animals Memory Game. It's aimed at walkers (12 months to 3 years), so it's best as a bundle gift for a young toddler rather than a standalone memory-game companion. The push-and-pull format won't teach memory skills directly, but it reinforces the same 'animals are interesting' framing that makes the memory game click for little ones.

Builds: gross motor · cause and effect · animal familiarity

~$30· See it on Amazon

Best Hape upgrade gift for preschool-age siblings · Hape

All Seasons Kids Wooden Dollhouse

If you're shopping for a household with multiple children, this three-story wooden dollhouse is Hape's flagship toy and shares the brand's hallmark quality — thick walls, non-toxic finish, and furniture pieces that actually stay put. It doesn't teach animal memory specifically, but it's a logical Hape brand companion for the 3–8 age range and is often bundled with smaller Hape games at gift time. At $120 it's a significant purchase; it earns that price in durability but is clearly a separate category of gift.

Builds: imaginative play · spatial reasoning · storytelling

~$120· See it on Amazon

Animal Puzzles & Matching

Puzzles and sorting toys that use animal imagery to build the same visual-discrimination and memory skills as the Hape game.

Best budget animal puzzle for toddlers · B. toys

Wooden Peg Puzzle – Shapes, Colors, Animals

At under $5 this wooden peg puzzle punches well above its price: chunky pegs sized for 18-month-old hands, bright animal illustrations, and a simple lift-and-replace format that builds the same visual recognition skills the Hape memory game relies on. The trade-off is that it's genuinely easy — most kids will master it within a few weeks — so it works best as a stepping-stone toy before introducing a full memory card game. B. toys uses non-toxic finishes, which matters at this age.

Builds: animal recognition · hand-eye coordination · shape matching

~$5· See it on Amazon

Best animal + sorting combo for active toddlers · B. toys

Rollin' Animal Rescue – Shape Sorter Truck

The animal rescue truck combines shape-sorting mechanics with an animal theme, so a child who loves the creatures in the Hape memory game will gravitate toward it naturally. The vehicle format keeps kids moving — they push it around before sorting — which suits toddlers who struggle to sit for a memory game. Pieces are large and chunky. One honest caveat: the 'animal' connection is via illustrated characters on the shapes rather than realistic animal images, so it's a thematic companion rather than a direct skill-builder for the same visual-memory muscle.

Builds: animal recognition · shape sorting · imaginative play

~$16· See it on Amazon

Best animal-theme puzzle for older kids who've graduated from memory games · Mudpuppy

Arctic Life 300 Piece Shaped Scene Puzzle

This walrus-shaped 300-piece puzzle is genuinely beautiful — Arctic animals rendered in careful illustration across a puzzle that itself is cut into an animal silhouette. For a child who has outgrown the Hape memory game (roughly age 7+) it's a natural next step: more complex, same animal-world theme, same visual-matching challenge at a higher level. The 23"×17" finished size is large enough to be a satisfying project. It is a traditional puzzle, not a game, so it won't work for kids who need turn-taking structure.

Builds: sustained attention · visual discrimination · animal knowledge

~$18· See it on Amazon

Animal-Themed Early Learning

Hands-on learning toys where animals are the teaching hook — shape sorting, activity cubes, and felt craft sets that extend animal recognition into new formats.

Best multi-skill animal learning center for young toddlers · B. toys

Activity Cube – Storybook, Shape Sorter, Bead Maze, Animals

Five activity faces on one wooden cube cover shape sorting, a bead maze, animal-themed panels, and an included storybook — making it a versatile early-learning buy for 12-month-olds who aren't ready for a memory card game yet. The animal imagery across the panels helps build the creature vocabulary that makes the Hape memory game easier to grasp a year or two later. The wooden construction is solid; the storybook is a nice touch though it's thin. At $23 it's fair value for the variety of activities packed in.

Builds: animal recognition · shape sorting · fine motor

~$23· See it on Amazon

Best cognitive focus builder for 3-year-olds alongside memory games · Airbition

Montessori Magnetic Color and Number Maze

The same focused attention that helps a child succeed at the Hape memory game — tracking what they've seen, noticing differences — gets a workout on this magnetic maze. Moving colored beads along a track builds deliberate hand control and the habit of slowing down to look carefully, both useful pre-memory-game skills. It's not animal-themed, so it's a complementary cognitive toy rather than a thematic match. Build quality from Airbition is decent for the price, though the magnetic wand can frustrate very young toddlers at first.

Builds: concentration · color recognition · fine motor control

~$17· See it on Amazon

Best creative animal activity for kids who love the creatures in memory games · ARTEZA

Kids Felt Kit – 25 Pre-Cut Animal Shapes

With 25 pre-cut animal felt shapes and 357 total pieces, this kit channels a child's enthusiasm for animals into open-ended making rather than structured game play — a useful counterweight to the rules-based memory game format. It suits ages 4–10, so it has a longer useful life than many toddler toys. The trade-off is that it's a craft kit, not a toy: it needs adult setup, surface protection, and storage discipline. For families who already do art projects together it's a strong buy; for households with no craft routine it may sit unused.

Builds: animal recognition · creativity · fine motor

~$26· See it on Amazon

Pattern Matching Card & Puzzle Games

Slightly older-skewing games that layer on pattern-matching and set-collection mechanics for kids who've outgrown simple memory pairs.

Best next-step matching game for kids who've mastered memory pairs · AEG

That Old Wallpaper – Pattern Matching Card Drafting Game

Once a child has genuinely mastered a standard memory game — meaning they win regularly and the challenge is gone — this card-drafting game introduces a new layer: collecting and matching funky tile patterns with light strategic choices. It's rated 10+ and that age guidance is honest; the drafting mechanic requires reading the table and planning ahead in a way that would frustrate a five-year-old. For older kids in a family that plays the Hape game with younger siblings, it gives them their own age-appropriate matching challenge at a very accessible $12 price.

Builds: pattern recognition · strategic thinking · set collection

~$12· See it on Amazon

How we choose — and a word on the links

Educational Toys Planet has specialized in learning toys since 2004. We pick independently, only from established makers, then cross-check every candidate against current availability and the major independent award and expert lists. We don't accept payment for placement.

Affiliate disclosure: the product links here are Amazon Associate links. If you buy through them we may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you — that's what keeps these guides free and updated. Prices change; tap through for Amazon's current figure. Last updated June 2026.