There are many ways to teach basic concepts to children at a preschool level and when it comes to tools, we definitely have our favourites! One of the most commonly used tool in the classroom is the flash card and for good reason. They are simple cards with words and pictures to quickly show the meaning of the word or idea you want to teach. We absolutely love our flash cards!
The best thing about flash cards is that you can create one for just about anything you want to teach the kids! There are the basics for ideas such as: the alphabet, numbers, colours, and shapes. Then, we have flash cards for the days of the week, the months of the year and even the weather (great visuals to go with the words)! Our flash cards for the classroom rules are used daily and the images help solidify classroom expectations.
For our weekly themes, we also create specific vocabulary flash cards that go along with the theme of the week. This allows children to see visuals of the words they are learning about that week and really engage them in their learning. This is also beneficial for students just learning the language and so, the visuals help to express the ideas behind the words.
Flash cards are also fun to play with. We have created different games that incorporate the use of flash cards. For example, you can play the classic memory card game. Simply make two sets of the same flash cards and have children turn over two of them, looking for a match. You can also have them match lower and upper case letters for the alphabet as a game or match the number word with the correct image of the number. The possibilities are endless!
We suggest laminating your flash cards to make them last longer and to keep them for future lessons, especially the themed ones. You can also pull them out for games or as a review. Keep them colourful and where possible, make sure there is an image to go along with the word. This benefits visual learners.
Using flash cards is just another way to add visual aids and help build language skills in young learners. Use them often!
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