One of my favorite things to use with my children are Spanish flashcards. I know what you’re thinking… the idea of sitting in front of your kid with a picture card so they can repeat it sounds very boring and pointless. I am just like you, all about teaching the target language in context. There is no doubt that when things are taught in a meaningful way, they are more likely to be learned.

So before you banish flashcards for the rest of your life, hear me out . Flashcards can be a great resource if used appropriately and in a way that it’s meaningful for Spanish learners. Visual aids are a powerful tool when learning a second language and raising bilingual kids. There are tons of ways you can use Spanish Flashcards in a creative, fun, and meaningful way. Plus, using flashcards has a lot of benefits in young children: they help improve language skills, memory and vocabulary. Besides the cognitive side, they can help increase self-confidence and develop good and effective communication.

Here are some ideas that you can use to incorporate the use of Spanish Flashcards inside and outside the classroom:

Fish Game

For this activity, I place an adhesive magnet on top of each flash card and place all of them inside a big plastic container full of water beads or on the floor. Using a magnetic fish pole toy, or a pencil with a paper clip, learners fish for the card that has been called out. It’s simple, fun and kids love it!

Steal the Bacon

For this game, divide the learners into two equal teams and line them up facing one another. Give each group a word from the flashcard, so both groups have the same names. Place the bacon (stick, ball, bandana, flashcard) in the middle of both groups. To start the game, call out a word (from the flashcard). The players who share the same word must race to grab the stick and get back to their places without being tagged by the opposing player. The learner gets a point for their team each time he/she makes it home safe; if they don’t, the stick is returned to the center. The game continues in this fashion until the first team reaches the predetermined number of points.

Memory Game

The objective of this game is to collect the most pair of cards. For this, I print two sets of flashcards. Children take turns turning any two cards side up to find the ones that match. This game is perfect to improve vocabulary, attention, concentration and focus.

Bean Bag Toss

The purpose of this game is to identify the flashcard that the bean bag lands on. Print out your flashcards and have available a pair of bean bags. You need to lay out the flashcards face up on the floor.  Learners take turns tossing the bean bag, identifying and collecting the flashcard it lands on. The learner with the most cards wins the game.

Race it

Children love to compete, and this is a great game for them to test their competitive skills while building up their vocabulary in Spanish. For this game, I put up the flashcards on a wall outside or on the board. Split the kids in two groups and make them line up. Teacher says a word, and the first pair of children must run and grab the flashcard that was mentioned. The winner is the group that collects more flashcards.

Guess it

For this game, I have children make their own Spanish flashcards and save them in a Ziploc bag. Then, I split them in pairs and have them sit in front of each other. Taking turns, they need to take a card from the bag and hold it up in his/her forehead facing the other learner. The second person then describes it or spells the word out loud, so the first learner can guess the word in 30 seconds. You can make any variations you want, and the kids love to race against the clock.

Jump On It

For this game, I print out several sets of flashcards. Then, I spread them out on the floor and have learners stand around the cards in a circle.  Shout out a card and have children find the card and jump on it. The first learner to do this wins a point. The person with the most points wins the game.

Hot Seat

For this game, I set up a group of chairs in a circle and place a flashcard on each seat. I have learners walk around the chairs in a circle while some music is playing.  When the music stops, shout out a flashcard and have learners race to seat down on that card. The first person to do this, wins a point.

Pictionary

This is a great game for reviewing vocabulary words. Pick a learner and show him/her a flashcard picture, or whisper a word into his/her ear.  The student then draws the picture on the board, and the first student to guess the picture wins a point and gets to draw the next picture.

Mar, Tierra, Aire

I love using traditional games to work on vocabulary words. This one is a very popular game in Spain, and I just simply changed the designated spaces (Aire, Mar, Tierra) for the words I want to work on. I draw two lines on the floor using chalk, and depending on the children, I write down the words on each designated space.

To play, learners line up beside a line on the ground, so that they can jump sideways over the lines. The teacher calls out the three words, Mar, Tierra and Aire (or the words you decide to use) as the players jump across the lines to be on the correct side. The child who makes a mistake and jumps in the wrong place is out or loses a point, depending on how you want to play it.

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