Using flash cards doesn’t have to be boring and repetitive.  It can be fun and something children look forward to if you turn it into a game.  The possibilities are endless, but I will list just a few uses of flash cards that can help kids look forward to playing with flash cards or even do it on their own.

Many kids like challenges and love to accomplish things so the first part is to be encouraging and congratulate your child whenever the answer is correct.  Often just knowing you are pleased is reward enough for toddlers and preschoolers.  This is very important so be sure to do this often and not only with flash cards.

One flash card game would be to challenge the child to memorize the flash cards.  This works best with the printable math flash cards, but can be used with any set.

Another flash card activity that is sure to go over will with children is to offer a reward for every correct answer.  The reward should be something simple like a small piece of candy or fruit.  If the reward is food it should be possible to eat it in one bit because there will be more flash cards to look over.

Speed flash cards is a challenging game where the kids only have seconds to get the answer before the next card is flipped.  Start out by timing how long it takes for your child to get the answer and then cut down from there.  This really helps with memorization and can be fun if used in conjunction with rewards.

There are many methods available on the Internet that will help children and adults learn.  Flash cards have proven to be effective for all ages and they are free to download and print from your own computer.