Letters in a Flash

I love flash cards; they are great for reviewing letters and their sounds. We have been using our many sets for years now and the same old hold up a card and say what it is gets old fast. I am a firm believer in trying to make learning fun. If it is fun it is more likely to stick. So, I have tried to come up with more ways to accomplish the goal of my kids knowing their letters and letter sounds. My kids are always up for a game, whatever I turn into a game I know they are more willing to participate in. In fact, I have had more success with them remembering their letter sounds in the games then in just drills through a stack of cards. Add an element of competition and they are down to "win"! The games I describe below are great cause they are fun, meet a variety of levels of learners with my 3 year old and 4 year old twins, and are very easy to set-up and play.

I Spy

Materials: Flash Cards

Lay out a variety of flash cards on the ground and have your child find cards to match letters or letter sounds. Once they draw a card, they tell you the opposite of what you spied. For example, If you said “I spy ‘Eh’ with my little eye” Your little one will hunt for Elephant or anything else that starts with the “eh” sound and then tell me the Letter and word. If I said “I spy with my little eye an Elephant” then they can bring the Elephant and tell me the starting letter and sound.

Matching

Materials: Flash Cards

Lay out a mix of cards on the floor. The kids then take turns finding matches for the cards. The cards can match letters or letter sounds.

Bucket Ball

Materials: Flash Cards, Buckets, Balls

Dump the cards into several buckets and line the buckets up. Then allow the kids to bounce or throw the balls into the buckets. The kids then choose a card from the bucket where the ball landed. They then tell me the picture on the card, letter name, and letter sound.

Musical Cards

Materials: Flash Cards and Music

Arrange a selection cards in a circle on the floor. Play music while the kids follow the path of cards. Randomly stop the music and they then tell me the picture on the card, letter name, and letter sound.

There are so many more opportunities to use flash cards to enhance learning. There is no reason to ditch them when kids get bored. Just try and find other ways to integrate them into activities that you know your kids love. For mine they love games and competitions. So these were just a few successful games we played.