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Homeschool Activities: Flash Card Games

Homeschool Activities: Flash Card Games
Photo by Kelsy Gagnebin / Unsplash

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Welcome to my Homeschool Activities Series! This is all about different games to play using flashcards. It’s simple, affective, and free!

Here are 5:

  1. "Clear the Table" Flashcard Game (Warm-Up)

I like to play this game first because it is an excellent way for your kid to warm up and work through some of the harder facts.

How to Play:

All you do is lay out all of the flashcards face up in front of your child. Then have your child pick up each card and answer them until the table is clear. This simple warm up be a game changer for your child.

  1. "Save A Life" Flashcard Game

How to Play:

  1. Sit opposite your child at a table.
  2. Shuffle the deck of cards and take the top card off the deck and stand it up on the table close to your child.
  3. Tell your kid that to save the life of this flashcard they need to say the right answer FIRST. Then slowly (as quickly or slowly as you like) start to move the card towards yourself.
  4. If your kid says the correct answer, slam the card to the table and say, "You saved him!"
  5. If he/she answers incorrectly, throw the card off the table and sadly say, "Well, that card didn't make it." Say this in a way that is meant to be silly and light-hearted.
  6. If your child can't come up with an answer, just let the card fall off the edge of the table nearest to you.****At this point, you may decide to offer your kid one more chance to "bring the card back to life" and give the correct answer.
  7. Take the next card and continue with the game until you've worked through the whole deck.

At the end of the game, have your child (not you!) pick up all the cards on the floor.

Feel free to move the cards quicker towards the edge of the table to make it more exciting.

  1. "Build A Road" Flashcard Game

It is a great way to get kids engaged on a project - not the monotony of flashcards.

This game also gives kids a chance to get up and move during flashcard time!

How to Play:

  1. Tell your kid that he/she must build a road made out of flashcards.

This road can be around the table.

From one piece of furniture to another.

From one toy to another. Or anywhere your kid wants to build!

2. Shuffle the cards and start going through the deck. If your child gets a right answer, hand him/her the card. The child then uses their card to start the road!

3. If the child gets a card wrong, tell them the correct answer and then shuffle it back into the deck.

4. Continue until the entire deck is gone!

Make it challenging by telling your child that the road has to be built before a timer goes off.

If a wrong answer is given, take a card away from the road they're building.

Have a sibling play along and see who has the longest road after the deck is gone.

  1. "Tower Building Challenge" Flashcard Game

How to Play:

  1. Get out some legos, blocks, or any building materials you have.
  2. Tell your kid that they will get one block for every correct flashcard answer. They should use the blocks to build the tallest tower they can before all the flashcards are gone.
  3. Tell your child that for every wrong answer they give, YOU will get a block to build your own tower. Whoever has the tallest tower wins!

****For extra fun, pretend to be disappointed or annoyed every time your kid gets the right answer. "Oh, man! I can't believe you got that right! I should have gotten that block. Harumph!"

​At the end of the game, allow a bonus round. Take out the flashcards that your kid missed and allow them to try one more time so they can "steal" blocks back from you.

Consider including "bonus flashcards" in your deck. These should be the facts that are the most difficult for your kid. Say that they are worth 5 blocks!

​5. "Hide the Cards" Flashcard Game

How to Play:

  1. Send your kid out of the room and hide one card at a time. It should be fairly easy to see them. **Make sure you know how many you hid.
  2. Bring your kid in the room and have them run around grabbing cards as quickly as they can. Have them thinking of this as a videogame character collecting stars, gems, or extra points.
  3. When they have a good handful, have them hand the cards back to you one at a time while saying the correct flashcard answer. Your child gets a point for every correct answer!
  4. If an incorrect answer is given, then they lose that point.

​When these games are mastered and the kids speed through them, this is how you know you have succeeded!