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3 Fun Flashcard Activities for the EFL Classroom

3 Fun Flashcard Activities for the EFL Classroom | ITTT | TEFL Blog

The idea of flashcards is essentially very simple. They are meant to introduce vocabulary and review existing vocabulary already learned in the classroom. Other than this, flashcards can be placed around the classroom for students' reference when performing activities. They may be used in drilling activities as well but this may also get boring for the students, and should be mainly used for sparking creativity and classroom games. Some of the possible flashcard ideas include, and are not limited to the following;

This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Hussein D. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT.

Name cards

Name cards are made for the students in the classroom which can be placed on the front of their desks. The name cards can be used to play name games in a future where students try to pronounce other students' names or where each student draws their favorite animal on the opposite side of the name card and other students try to describe them. The circle pass. In this activity, the teacher takes a card with an animal or a picture of something focused around the lesson. The teacher says what’s on the card and passes it round in a circle to the other students who also confirm the picture. To make things a bit more challenging, multiple cards may be passed around or to particular students. This activity allows for a lot of student and teacher interaction and allows the teacher to analyze pronunciation.

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The missing card activity

It is another one that can be used to not only help with the knowledge of new vocabulary but can also serve as a game to motivate students. Cards are placed face up and the teacher turns around. The teacher then asks the students to turn any card over and the teacher guesses which card has been turned. This can be performed with letters, numbers, and pictures. The activity can be varied to make it a bit more challenging for the students. Another activity that can be performed with flashcards and carn serve as a memory game is storytime. In this activity, cards are distributed to students with a word on it. The teacher begins to read the story so help students understand how certain words are placed in sentences.

teacher and students

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The final flashcard activity

It should be included in the summary is the Word of the day. Just like the previous activity mentioned earlier, this one also focuses on memory thorough review of the past vocabulary used in lessons. With that in mind, it begins by placing several flashcards of past learned vocabulary in a hat and the students pick one, each day of school. That word becomes the word of the day and the students can perform some action like clapping or snapping their fingers when the word is said. The flashcard activity can be effective when used for the teaching of young students who are open to the learning process and even older students when trying to elaborate on new vocabulary.


It has been shown through research that there will exist multiple intelligence in anyone class and teachers are to be reminded of this to set the base for teaching and appeal to all students during the course. Flashcards are focused on visual learning which most students will have and can have a real impact. In the case of young learners that have begun reading, they can also be used in turn with word cards to provide correct pronunciation. They have proven to be effective in every stage of the lesson and can most importantly be used in the review of old or learned vocabulary and the teaching of new, and more difficult vocabulary.

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