TEFL Flashcard games for young learners

The Basic Drill

Attach flashcards to the whiteboard using either magnets, sticky-tape or Blu-tack.
Point to the FCs and say them. After a while, point and wait for the children to say,
and when they do so you say it again with the students repeating. Finally, you stop
speaking, you only point.
You can also adapt other techniques to your drilling. One good idea is to use different
miming actions to tell the students if you want them to say the FCs very slowly,
slowly, at normal pace, quickly or very quickly.
To keep the childrens attention you need to get them to do something every once in a
while. Throw a ball, hit something, run somewhere, touch something, then it is back
to drilling.
Running (KG1+)
The teacher calls two students to stand near the whiteboard and rolls the dice. If the
dice shows a one, the students race to the other end of the classroom, touch the wall,
and then run back to their seats. The first person to sit down is the winner and
awarded points. If the dice shows two, the students must run to the end of the
classroom, touch the wall, run back and touch the whiteboard, then run back to their
seats. After this you go back to drilling the flashcards and after another half a minute
call on another pair of students.
Random card (KG1+)
The teacher stands at the front of the classroom holding a wad of flashcards. The
teacher reveals the flashcards one at a time, saying the vocabulary item, the students
repeating, the flashcard is moved to the back of the pile and a new flashcard is
revealed. When the students see the monkey flashcard they immediately realize the
randomness of this piece of vocabulary. The teacher explains that when they students
next see the monkey flashcard, they must stand up, turn around, then sit down again.
The first student to stand up, turn around and sit down again is the winner.
The flashcards are then shuffled by the teacher (with the random card being slipped
towards the back of the pile) and the drill begins
Fruit Salad with Flashcards (KG1+)
Once you have played this game a few times, you can start to use it for other
vocabulary. In fact, by renaming the game Everything, you can use it for any three
flashcards or items of vocabulary.
Association drill (KG1+)
The flashcards are put on the whiteboard and are numbered. The teacher asks What is
number seven? The first student to answer gets a point. This continues until the
teacher decides to mix it up and shout the vocabulary, the students then must respond
with the number. Once you have played the game for a while you can try to
experiment. You can replace numbers with words associated with the items of
vocabulary e.g. go-swimming, play-badminton, ride-a bicycle etc. Or: refrigerator-
kitchen, television-living room etc. If your normal scoring method is lengthy it is
worth using an alternative method for this game as it is fast-paced.
Hit (KG1+)
This game is a secondary drill, testing how well the students have been learning the
vocabulary as well as further drilling these language items. Flashcards are again on
the whiteboard. Team A and Team B form 2 standing lines. A soft hammer is given to
each of the students. The teacher then shouts out one of the flashcards on the
whiteboard and the student runs and hits it. The student must then pass the hammer to
the 2
nd
student in line and run to back. This game is again fast paced so it is better to
use a separate scoring system (e.g. draw 10 marks for each team and erase one, the
winners are the first to have all of their marks erased).
Kids like to hit things and will enjoy this game a lot, but if your students get a little
too enthusiastic and start whacking the flashcards aggressively, it is easy enough to
set a rule of thumb of how much force they should put into their action. When they
disobey the rule, award the other team instead. If they continue to be too violent,
make them sit out of the game.
Run and Touch (KG1+)
For Run and Touch. Flashcards are again laid out on floor in a line whilst two
students stand at the back of the classroom. The teacher calls out a flashcard, the
students have to run to the FC, bend down to touch it and as they do shout the
vocabulary and carry on running to the whiteboard, and finally back to their chairs.
The first student to carry this out is the winner.
Dangerous card (KG1+)
Flashcards are scattered all over the floor. Students must each chose a flashcard (they
can all stand on the same flashcard if they wish). The teacher now calls out one of the
FCs and explains that the student standing on the FC are now dead because that FC
has just exploded. The teacher then shouts change! and the students chose another
flashcard.
True or false? (KG1+)
The teacher simply stands at the front of the classroom with the wad of flashcards in
their hands. The students need to be at a stage where they are more familiar with the
vocabulary. This is because sometimes the teacher is lying. Before the game starts the
teacher draws a line down the middle of the whiteboard and writes true or false. An
imaginary line is now drawn down the centre of the classroom. Next the students are
directed to stand up and gather together along this imaginary line. The teacher holds
up a flashcard and says what it is. If the teacher is lying, then the students must jump
to the false side. The last student to jump to the correct side is out and must return to
their chair.
One problem of this method of rewarding the correct students is that the weaker
students are often out first. This can be overcome if necessary by having it so that the
first student to jump to the correct side is allowed to sit down.
Race to draw (KG2+)
The first student to successfully draw on their part of the whiteboard and then return
to their seat is the winner. There is of course a balance between how good their
artwork is and how fast it is drawn, speed is usually the priority to keep the game
interesting. Alternatively it is a good idea to make clear that any old scribble will not
do.
Target (KG1+)
Draw a target on the board. Next, set up a line of flashcards along the floor. Individual
students now take turns to throw a ball to hit the target. A student must stand on the
first FC and say the FC, if they answer and pronounce it correctly, they can take one
step closer to the board. If they answer the flashcard wrong, they have to remain
where they are and throw the ball at the target from there.
Lucky Dice (KG1+)
Attach the flashcards in a line at the bottom of the whiteboard with numbers along the
top. Two students are called to the front. The teacher rolls a dice. The dice lands on a
six. The first student to call out the name of the flashcard mumber 6 gets a point.
The Dice Scoring System (KG2+)
Draw a ladder on the board. Teams move up the ladder when they are awarded for
good behavior, answering the teachers questions or winning games. When they get to
the top they can throw a dice. If they throw a one they get 1000 points, if they throw a
2 they get 100 points. If they throw a three, every student in the team can throw the
dice and the total number of points is added to their teams score (Super Dice!). If
they throw a four, everyone has to get out of their seats and do something crazy like
star jumps or falling asleep on the floor. If they throw a five they can make all of
their opposing teams points disappear. If they throw a six they have the option of
swapping their total points with the total points of the other team.
Whats missing? (KG1+)
Guess the flashcard (KG2+)
For this activity a target of circles within circles needs to be drawn on the whiteboard.
Next you write numbers within each circle to represent how many points can be won.
A board magnet for each team is placed on the middle of the outer circle. The teacher
takes a set of flashcards and stands at the front with this wad of flashcards in their
hand. This time however, only the teachers can see the flashcard at the top of the pile.
The teacher twirls a board marker on the floor to determine which team can go first.
Team A is selected and one of the teams students can guess what the flashcard is.
The game continues until one of the students guesses correctly. When this happens,
their teams circle magnet can be moved on circle further in. The first team to get
their magnet to the centre is the winner and receives 100 points. The losing team
receives however many points their magnets current position shows.
Slow reveal (KG1+)
Face-Off (KG1+)
The students form two parallel lines, all facing the teacher and the whiteboard. The
teacher quickly reveals the first FC to the two #1 students. The first #1s to say the
flashcard is the winner and can go back to their seat. The other #1s must go to the
back of their teams line. No helping from other team mates! The first team to have all
of their members back in their seats is the winner. If the students name the flashcards
at the same time, you can either send them both to the back, reveal another flashcard
to the same pair or get them to do rock, paper, scissors to decide who must sit down
and who goes to the back. This is a quick and easy game that can be used to review
FC vocabulary at the beginning of the class as a warmer, or in the middle of the class
as a change of pace and to get them out of their chairs.
Crocodile (KG1+)
Set up a line of FCs along the floor. Explain the game on the whiteboard by drawing a
picture of a river with some stepping stones. You can point to the floor and say this is
the river and make clear the FCs are stepping stones. Then draw a picture of a
crocodile in the river and explain that you are the crocodile. Individual students now
take it in turns to cross the river. Each time they step on a flashcard they must say
what it is. If they forget or mispronounce it, the teacher runs at them and gobbles
them up. You can either reward the students who successfully cross the river or allow
them to have a shot at the basketball hoop for a chance to win a sticker.
Flashcard Collector (KG1+)
The teacher calls for a volunteer to come and stand at the whiteboard. Next the
teacher hands out the flashcards t to the rest of the students. They then hold up the
flashcards for the volunteer to see (shout Cards up!). The volunteer then has thirty
seconds to memorise which cards each student has (Cards down). The volunteer now
has 30 seconds to go around the class naming the FC each student has. When they
guess correctly they collect this flashcard. When the time is up count up the
flashcards, now another volunteer tries to beat this score.