French Vocabulary Cards: 10 Fun Ways To Use Flash Cards
Flashcards can be a fun way to learn new vocabulary in French. You can use these free flashcards to play fun games with your French Immersion child at home. These games made practicing French vocabulary and the letter names and sounds fun and give your child an extra boost at school.
You know that flashcards have been given a bad rap. I’m sure you can remember sitting at the kitchen table or in your classroom trying to memorize something for a test and using the dreaded flashcards.
You might have had to make your own flashcards (which you thought was totally lame) and then study with them. How Boring!
The fact of the matter is that flashcards can be super useful! They give you the ability to sum up the most important information, learn it and understand it. You know that but you still don’t want to subject your kids to the bore of them. I get it. I know that teachers often recommend flashcards as a way to practice French but it can be hard to get your child to practice at home, right?
That’s why I’ve come up with these fun games and ways to use flashcards to learn the letters and letter sounds in French so your child can succeed in French Immersion. If you don’t speak French you might want to check out how to practice reading with your French Immersion student when you don’t speak French. I got you boo.
Online Flashcards for your French Immersion Student
In case you want to snap these up right away, put your email in the box below and I’ll send you a set of free French vocabulary and alphabet flashcards. They are actually set up to print as mini-posters so you can put them up in your home or classroom and refer back to them regularly.
If you print them 4 or 8 to a page you will get flashcard-sized images that you can use in the games I’m sharing with you next. These are a great way to start prepping your child for Kindergarten. It will give them a little head start.
I laminate mine with this Scotch laminator. I love it because the plastic is nice and sturdy and can withstand my kids’ energy.
Online French Vocabulary Flashcard Games
Here are the games you’ve been waiting for. I know they will make practicing at home more fun for your kids and less stressful for you. Then when that’s done you can move on to some more creative activities like this leaf-print butterfly craft or have some lunch.
Seek and Find Flashcard Game
Hide the vocabulary cards around your home and have your child hunt for all of them. Once they find them all have them put the cards in alphabetical order.
Jump and Read
Spread all of the cards on the floor face down. Have your child jump on one card at a time, then pick up the card and read it. This is a great way to add in fine motor practice to your literacy game.
Memory Match (2 player)
For this one you will need to print out two sets of the flashcards. Arrange the cards face down and take turns flipping 2 cards over. If the 2 cards match then you get to keep them in your pile. If they don’t match then you flip them back over and it’s the other player’s turn. A classic game of memory with a French Immersion twist!
Mystery Memory Game
Place 6 - 10 flashcards on the table and have your child try to notice which cards are there. Then you remove the cards from the table and take one out of pile and hide it. The little one gets to guess which card went missing. Then do the whole thing again with another card.
Bean Bag Toss
Lay the flashcards face up on the floor. Have your child toss a bean bag and name whichever card their bean bag lands on.
Boom (2+ players)
Before starting, write BOOM on 2 of the flashcards, then place all of the cards face down on the table or floor. Have the children take turns picking up a card and saying either the letter name, sound it makes or the French vocabulary word on the card. They get to keep all of their cards in the pile… but when one of the players picks up the BOOM card they have to return ALL of their cards onto the table.
These 2 player games are great because taking turns is a huge skill that kids need to practice during Kindergarten.
Alphabet Soup
Put a set of alphabet manipulatives or magnets in a bowl. Have your child pick a letter out of the bowl and match it to the corresponding beginning sound of the correct flashcards. We have a set of adorable cookie alphabet pieces and my kids love pretending to bake with them… and mommy loves the added literacy.
Fly Swatter Game
Place the flashcards face up on a table or tape them to a whiteboard or wall. Call out a letter or vocabulary word and have your child swat the correct card as fast as they can. This is also a great 2 player game where you whichever child swats the card first gets a point. Something about using the fly swatters makes this one super fun.
Musical Flashcards
Arrange the flashcards face up in a circle on the floor or on chairs. Play music and have your child walk around and land on a card when the music stops. Then they need to name the letter, letter sound or vocab word when the music stops. A fun French twist on the classic musical chairs game.
Slow Motion
Choose one card from the deck and hide it under a table or hold it up behind a book. Your child should not be able to see the card. Slowly slide the card into your child’s view and have them say what card it is as soon as they can. If you want to make the game a bit trickier then you can show them the card upside-down.
I have created an amazing offer that will help you support your French Immersion child at home. You can check the French For Families Resource here and get reading and learning all that delicious vocabulary alongside your child.
Have you played any of these games before? Drop a note in the comments and let me know which is your favourite game.
-Breyen
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