Flashcard Games

Basketball: Students take a shot at the trash can/box/etc. First show a flashcard to Student 1. If they answer correctly, they get 1 point, and then they can have a shot at the basket. If the student gets the ball in the basket then they win 2 points. The team who gets the most points is the winner.

Rope Jump: you need a rope for this one! Have your students stand behind each other in a line. Hold a rope (have a student hold the other end) at a height that the students should be able to jump over in front of the line of students (if your students are just little ones you can just lay the rope on the ground for them to jump over). On the other side of the rope spread out some flashcards and a box. Call out the name of one of the flashcards/objects to the first student. They have to jump over the rope, pick up the correct flashcard and put it in the box. For other rounds you can hold the rope down low, so students have to crawl/roll under.

Over-Under: Line up your student in two teams. Give the two students at the front each a flash card. When you say go, the first in line says the word and passes the flashcard over their head, the next student says the word and passes the card under between their legs, the next student over, then under, etc. The last student in the line races to the front to hand the flahscard to the teacher and says the word. The first team to do so gets a point.

Pass: Sit the students in a circle. Teacher holds up a flashcard and says its name (e.g. “Pen”). Teacher passes it on to the next student who also says its name and passes it on to the next student. Variations: change directions, speed, or have many flashcards going round at the same time.

Touch: Place flashcards around the room and have students run around the classroom touching the flashcards that teacher orders them to do (e.g. “Touch the car” “Touch the bicycle” “Touch the bus”).

Vanishing Flashcards: place a number of flashcards in front of the students. Give them a few moments to memorize the pictures and then tell them to close their eyes. Take away one of the flashcards and then tell the students to open their eyes again. The first student to guess the missing flashcard can win that flashcard (for 1 point) and take away a flashcard in the next round.

Catch Me If You Can: Have students sit in a circle. After reviewing the chosen set of flashcards, place them in a pile in the center of the circle. Take the first card and show it to everybody. Have one student walk around the outside of the circle saying words from the specific subject – like fruits or days - while touching each student's of the circle on the head. When the "magic" word is said, the student whose head is touched at that time, must stand up and chase the student who touched them around the circle. The first one to sit in that spot remains seated and chooses the next "magic" word. The student standing begins again; "Sunday...Monday…"

Cross the River: Place flashcards on floor in winding manner (like a river). Each represents a stepping stone in the river, as students must say word/phrase/question/etc in order to step on it and cross the river!

Four Corners: The teacher hangs a flashcard (4 in total) in all 4 corners of the room. One student is chosen to stand in the middle with his/her eyes closed and counts to ten while the other students scramble to one of the four corners. At the count of ten, the student in the middle shouts "STOP" and picks one corner by naming it's corresponding flashcard. The students in that corner are "out" and must sit down. Continue game until only one student remains; they are then "it" (the counter in middle).

Slap Game: Lay flashcards on a table or the floor, picture side up. Teacher calls out the word/phrase/etc. and students compete to be the first person to grab or touch the card. If they touch it, they keep it. Game continues until all cards have been picked up.

Line True or False: Put a line of tape on the floor and designate one side "True" and the other "False". Hold up a flashcard or object and say its word. If students think that you have said the correct word they jump on the True side, if not they jump on the False side. Incorrect students sit out until the next game.

Race Track: Lay out the flashcards like a race track with a start and finish line. Students play in pairs or teams. Student 1 rolls a dice and moves a counter along the track. The student must say the flashcard landed on and if wrong must move back to the original position. Variation: put in some 'throw again' cards (e.g. brightly colored cards) and a nominate a 'crash' number on the die (e.g. if student throws a 6 they crash and must stay where they are and miss a turn).

Shopping: This can be used with a wide range of flashcards (food pictures work well). Gather all the students and show them all the flashcards you have. Ask a student "What do you want?" (or maybe "What would you like?" to higher levels). The student should reply (e.g. "a hamburger, please"). The teacher then says "Here you are" and the student finishes with "Thank you".

Tic Tac Toe: Place 9 flashcards (representing words, phrases, questions, etc) face down and numbered (or letters of alphabet) on a large taped grid on the floor. Students call out number or letter to see flashcard. The student or team with correct response claims that space with an X or O.

Zoo Game: This is a fun activity for young learners on the topic of animal noises. After teaching the animals and their noises sit each student in a different part of the classroom and assign them as different animals (to make it clearer you can give each student a flashcard of the animal they are representing). Walk around the room and talk to each student, who can only reply as an animal. E.g. T: "Hello Yumi", S1:"Moo! (cow). T: "What's your name?" S2: "Roar!" (lion). T: "How are you, Kenta?" S3: "Bow-wow!" (dog).

Climb the Stairs: Draw a set of stairs on the board (one for each team), maybe with about 5-6 steps. When the student answers a question correctly their team moves to the next step. If the answer is incorrect, they don't go up (or you can have them move down a step for a wrong answer).

Mr Wolf: The students line up against the wall and the teacher stands at the opposite wall. Show the students the chosen flashcard. Ask the students questions about the flashcard, which would get a "no" response. Example, "Is it a dog?" "No, it is not a dog." Every time the students answer no, they can to take one step forward. When the students are close to the teacher, ask them a question about the flashcard that would get a "yes" response. When the students answer "yes", teacher chases the students and try to tag them. Whoever is tagged is "Mr. Wolf" and they ask the questions.

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