How to Use Flashcards for Toddlers
Feb 8, 2022 If you want to improve your child’s development, using learning flashcards for toddlers can be extremely helpful for their articulation and vocabulary skills. In fact, many speech therapists and teachers love to use them during their therapy sessions. This blog will show some of the different ways you can utilize flashcards for speech therapy.
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When Can You Start Using Flashcards for Kids?
Parents, you can start using flashcards when your child is as early as six-months-old. While that might seem a tad early since a baby can’t read, research shows exposing babies to flashcard activities can be beneficial for giving them visual stimulation and also improving their overall cognitive development.
Indeed, for many of us, when we think of flashcards, we picture ourselves holding up a card, reading a word, and getting our toddlers to repeat it; but the truth is, there are many learning activities parents can do with their kids when using flashcards.
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Two are Better than One: Flashcards with Educational Apps
Speech Blubs 2 is a speech therapy app with hours of fun practice activities. Squeeze the app into your daily flashcard routine to improve speech and language learning in preschoolers.
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Letters of the Day
Flashcards that focus on the letters of the alphabet are perfect for this activity. After putting the cards in a bag or a hat, have your toddler randomly pick out three to five cards. As they select these cards, get them to say and repeat the letters they’ve picked.
You can also mention other words starting with those letters. (For example, “A is the letter of the day. A is for apple, alligator, ambulance, etc.”)
Matching
Having your toddler search and match cards is not only fun but doing so can also improve their memory and attention span. As they match and pair up the cards, make the behavior stick by praising them, and while also getting them to talk about the pictures or colors they see on the flashcards.
Scavenger Hunt
Who says you can’t create an indoor scavenger hunt using flashcards? It can be entertaining and lots of fun for your toddler. If you have flashcards about shapes or letters, place them in different locations and help your little ones find them by giving them clues. As they find the cards, encourage them to talk about the pictures, shapes, or colors they see.
Do-It-Yourself Flashcards
Don’t have any flashcards? It’s okay. Create your own at home. Whether you choose to make flashcards about shapes, letters, or colors, you can motivate your toddlers to decorate and color their cards while also working on their speech.
You can also create flashcards about daily routines or target sounds, too. Making your own makes each card a source of pride or a thing to look back on and talk about. If you’re feeling uninspired, there are plenty of free printable flashcards online for everything from number flashcards, sight words, to those more advanced cards teaching English, and more!
Some recommendation on flashcards you can buy for your toddler:
- First 100 Board Book Box Set (3 books) Board book
- School Zone Alphabet Flash Cards
- Carson Dellosa Alphabet Flash Cards
- Alphabet match flashcards
- Animal ABCs Ring Flash Cards
- Colors And Shapes Flash Cards (Hardcover)
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