Flashcards games

Hopscotch
➢ Draw a hopscotch on the floor with chalk
➢ Show students how to play
➢ You can use numbers, letters or vocabulary words
➢ Students may say the numbers or letters while hopping

Extra flashcard
➢ Display six flashcards on the board/wall
➢ Name only five of them
➢ Ask students which is the extra one

Listen and point

➢ Display as many flashcards as you like around the classroom
➢ Say a word and have students point to the corresponding flashcard

Slow motion
➢ Cover a flashcard with a colored sheet of paper, book, etc.
➢ Slowly reveal the picture until students guess what it is
➢ The first student to get it right can reveal the next picture to the others
* Variation: play it as a team or make it more challenging by showing the flashcards upside down

Memory game
➢ Display some flashcards on the board or on the floor
➢ Have students repeat the words so that they memorize them
➢ Turn over the flashcards and ask students to say the sequence
* Variation: play it as a team and give each one a different sequence

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 Flashcards games

Dance
➢ Display different flashcards around the room
➢ Play some lively music and ask students to move around and dance
➢ When the music stops, students have to collect as many flashcards as they can
➢ Students have to name the flashcards they have

Pass the ball

➢ Students sit in a circle
➢ Students chant “pass the ball, pass the ball” or listen to lively music
➢ When the teacher says “Stop” ou pauses the music, the student holding the ball answers a question

Stop
➢ Name a flashcard to the class
➢ Hold different flashcards and show one at a time to students
➢ Students must shout “Stop” or ring a bell when they see the corresponding flashcard

Quick peek
➢ Hold a flashcard so that students can’t see the picture
➢ Show the picture quickly to the whole class
➢ The first student or team to say the right word scores a point

Slam the picture

➢ Have students sit in a circle and place some flashcards in the middle
➢ Tell students to put their hands on their heads
➢ Teacher shouts out a word and the students race to touch the corresponding flashcard
➢ The student who touches it first gets to keep the flashcard
➢ The student who has the most flashcards at the end of the game wins

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 Flashcards games

Vanishing flashcards
➢ Place a number of flashcards in front of the students
➢ Give them a few moments to memorize the pictures
➢ Tell them to close their eyes
➢ Take away one of the flashcards and then tell students to open their eyes again
➢ The first to guess the missing flashcard can score a point and take away the next one

Up and down
➢ You need 2 identical sets of flashcards for this game
➢ Give each student a flashcard from one set and keep the other one
➢ Arrange the students so that they are all sitting down
➢ Hold up one flashcard
➢ The student holding the same flashcard stands up, says the word and sits down again
➢ Play the game at a fast pace so that students are standing up and sitting down rapidly.
* Variation: give each students 2 or more flashcards

Bean bag toss

➢ Lay out flashcards on the floor
➢ Students toss the bean bag and name the flashcard it lands on

Jump on it
➢ Spread out flashcards on the floor
➢ Have students stand at one end of the room
➢ Shout out a word
➢ Students have to find the corresponding flashcard and jump on it
* Variation: play it as a competition between 2 students or teams

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 Flashcards games

“Give me” game

➢ Display the flashcards around the classroom
➢ Tell the students to collect as many flashcards as they can
➢ Once students have collected all of the flashcards teacher says “Give me a (bus)”
➢ The student with the corresponding flashcard hands it to the teacher and says “Here you are”

Pass it on
➢ Have students seat in a circle and give each one a different flashcard
➢ Ask students to pass on the flashcards as the music is playing
➢ Stop the music and say a word
➢ The student with the corresponding flashcard must show it to the class

Basketball
➢ Divide the students into 2 or more teams
➢ Show a flashcard and ask a student to name it
➢ If the student gets it right, give him/her a ball and have them take a shot at the trash can
➢ Students who hit the basket score 2 points and students who miss it score 1 point

Catch me if you can

➢ Have students sit in a circle
➢ Show a specific flash card to the whole class (e.g. orange)
➢ Have one student walk around outside the circle saying related words (e.g. banana, pear, strawberry,
etc.) while touching each student's head
➢ When the "magic" word is said (orange), the student whose head has been touched at that time stands
up and chases the one who was walking around
➢ The first student to sit on the vacant chair chooses the next "magic" word and the other one walks
around

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 Flashcards games

Charades
➢ Have a student come to the front of the class and show them a flashcard or whisper a word
➢ The student then mime that word
➢ The first student to get it right can be the next one to play

Cross the river

➢ Spread out flashcards on the floor (each one represents a stone in the river)
➢ Ask students to “cross the river” by stepping on the right stones
➢ Students name each flashcard they step on

Flashcard fun
➢ Hold up a flashcard, ask a question and elicit answers
➢ Students get the flashcard if they answer the question correctly
➢ The student with the most flashcards at the end of the game wins

Ask the right question

➢ Choose a flashcard and hide it from the students
➢ Students try to guess the word by asking Yes/No questions: "Is it a dog?", "Is it a ball?", "Is it a
book?" etc.
* Variation: encourage students to ask different questions depending on the topic they are learning: “Is it
yellow?”, “Is it fast?”, etc.

Hot or cold
➢ Have one student wait outside the classroom
➢ Choose a flashcard and hide it somewhere in the room
➢ Ask the student to come back in
➢ The other students help him/her find the hidden flashcard by saying “hot” or “cold”
➢ When the student finally finds it, he/she has to name it

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 Flashcards games

Follow the leader

➢ Display the flashcards on the floor
➢ Students pick a flashcard in turns
➢ One student at a time mimes his/her word moving around the classroom
➢ The other students follow the leader and mimic him/her

Get it
➢ Spread out the flashcards far from the group or in the next classroom, outdoors etc.
➢ Divide the class into 2 teams
➢ Elicit one student from each team
➢ Name the flashcard you want
➢ Students race to get the corresponding flashcard and the first one to come back with the right one
scores a point

Groups
➢ Display flashcards around the room
➢ Divide students into pairs
➢ Teacher says: “Groups of three, four, etc.”
➢ Each pair must collect the exact number of flashcards belonging to the same category (animals, school
objects, etc.)
➢ The pair that was not able to form the group is out

Help the teacher

➢ Ask students to help you guess the flashcard
➢ Hold it up over your head
➢ Ask Yes/No questions like “Is it a ball?”

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Jump
➢ Ask students to jump if the flashcard they are holding is the one you say
➢ Students must stand still if the item they hear is different from the flashcard they have

Hop on one foot

➢ Place the flashcards in a row on the floor
➢ One student at a time must hop on one foot next to the flashcards and say each item
➢ If they touch the other foot on the floor, they lose

Show me
➢ Give each student a different flashcard
➢ Walk around the room and say “Show me the …”
➢ The student with the corresponding flashcard must show it to you

Stand up, sit down

➢ Ask students to stand up
➢ Hold up a flashcard
➢ Ask students to sit down if you name the flashcard correctly
➢ Ask students to stand up again and repeat the procedure faster and faster

Do what I say
➢ Display some flashcards on the classroom walls
➢ Ask students to stand up and listen to your commands
➢ Say “Walk to the (…)”
“Hop to the (…)”
“Jump to the (…)”
Etc.

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Repeat after me
➢ Show a flashcard and say a word
➢ Students must repeat it if the word corresponds to the flashcard
➢ Students remain silent if the word is wrong

Hourglass
➢ Spread out various flashcards on the floor
➢ Divide the students into two groups
➢ Elicit a member from each team
➢ Use the hourglass to allow some time for each student to say as many words as possible

True / false line

➢ Draw a line on the floor (you may use a tape etc.) and name one side "True" and the other one "False"
➢ Hold up a flashcard and say a word
➢ Students jump on the corresponding side of the line depending on the word you say
* Variation: choose a specific topic (e.g. food) and have students jump on the correct side of the line
depending on the category (e.g. healthy food to the right, junk food to the left); students who miss it are
out

Spin the bottle

➢ Sit students in a circle
➢ Place a bottle in the middle and spin it
➢ The student who the bottle points to shows his or her flashcard and names it
➢ If the word / pronunciation is correct, that student can spin the bottle; if it is not, he or she is out