We all want what’s best for our children. That includes the best education possible. Whether your child attends a public school, a private school, or is home-schooled, there are many ways you can help them excel with their studies. As parents, there’s nothing quite like seeing your little ones grasp a new concept or learn a new word – it’s a level of love and pride that is unparalleled.
We believe that the best way to help your child developmentally is to show an interest in their learning and get actively involved. This doesn’t have to be boring or tantrum-inducing (for either of you!) – learning together can be a beautiful bonding experience that’s both fun AND educational.
You might be wondering if there are educational aids available to help your child advance? The answer is of course, yes! There are many educational aids that can make wonderful additions to your child’s daily study routine, no matter their age.
In this article, we’ll be covering everything you need to know about one such aid: educational flashcards. We’ll be talking about how they can help your child developmentally, as well as a few tips and tricks on how best to use them.
Ready to dive in? So are we!
What Are Educational Flashcards?
Educational flashcards are a versatile study/memorization tool that are beneficial to individuals of all ages, from babies to seniors. Flashcards display information on one or both sides. One-sided educational flashcards are typically used to aid learning, whereas double-sided education flashcards can be used to help someone study.
Educational flashcards can be purchased ready-made, or you can customize your own set to suit the learning needs of the person they’ll be used for. They can be brightly colored or plain, textured or smooth. How they look/feel will depend on the type of student you’re using them for. Educational flashcards are particularly useful for visual and kinesthetic learners. However, they can be used to convey details on any subject, regardless of academic level.
Educational flashcards can change up your child’s studying style.
How Do Educational Flashcards Work?
Educational flashcards can be customized to suit any need. Education flashcards used to teach something are usually one-sided and contain pictures and/or writing to depict the information. However, educational flashcards for studying purposes are generally double-sided, with details on both sides. This is usually a question on one side, either written or graphical, with the answer on the other side of the card.
Flashcards make it easier for students to retain new information as they are designed to encourage and enhance active recall skills. By practicing active recall skills, you create stronger neural connections in the brain, making flashcards a very effective method for improving memory. In addition, educational flashcards allow you to study the same information over and over again, increasing your chances of recalling the information. As you run through a set of cards, there will be a natural gap before a card appears twice, therefore triggering your memory.
By practicing active recall skills, you create stronger neural connections in the brain, making flashcards a very effective method for improving memory.
Flashcards can also work by helping develop a child’s meta-cognition, where they judge their own performance based on the number of cards they remember or answer correctly. If your child is old enough, they can use their educational flashcards to study or learn on their own.
What Are The Benefits Of Educational Flashcards?
Anything that makes learning fun already has a big tick in the plus column from us. Brightly colored and engaging designs make learning with flashcards an experience that your little ones will actually look forward to and potentially even ask for on their own. Digging a little deeper into the neural pathways involved and how our brains actually develop with the use of flashcards is where things get really interesting. Here are just a few advantages you can expect from using educational flashcards.
Advantages Of Educational Flashcards
Stimulates Visual Memory
Educational flashcards are visual aids that make learning new things easy and fun. Many people tend to remember what they see rather than what they hear when learning new topics, and that’s exactly how flashcards work. They give you glimpses of one set of information at a time, making it easier to learn many things in one go. Studies have indicated that learning through flashcards can make new information easier for young children to grasp and achieve deeper levels of processing.
Facilitates Bonding
Sometimes it can be difficult for parents to connect with their children at this age. Creativity and fantastical play isn’t something that comes naturally to everyone – and even when it does, having to constantly think of new and stimulating activities can be draining. Bright, colorful flashcards are a great way to spend time and bond with your children in an easy and stress-free environment. Prompts come naturally and so does the flow of play and interaction.
Reduces Screen Time
While there’s nothing wrong with a bit of screen time to help parents manage their busy lives, it’s also good to think of other self-led activities that your children can do while you’re occupied with other things. Flashcards are a perfect tool to get kids to be active with their hands and use their imaginations – the colors and pictures on flashcards are stimulating and there are a variety of ways your child can interact with the cards without getting bored.
Teaches Early Skills
From kickstarting STEM learning to encouraging language development and association skills, educational flashcards cover a wide range of subjects and can stimulate your child to start thinking about their world in a much broader way.
What Types Of Flashcards Are Available?
There are dozens of different types of flashcards available on the market, each with its own purpose. Here are a few types you might stumble upon:
Graphic Flashcards
Graphic flashcards give brief, visual information in the form of a story, steps, or points.
Quiz Flashcards
Quiz flashcards contain short questions on one side and answers on the other. They are best used for studying purposes.
Gaming Flashcards
Gaming flashcards add an element of fun to the learning experience by incorporating interactive play into the process.
Concept Map Flashcards
Concept map flashcards show the connection between different objects/things. These are also sometimes referred to as mind-map flashcards.
Naming Flashcards
Naming flashcards are usually a set of cards, one card with a picture on it and the other with the name of the object being shown. This allows students to make a visual connection between a word and what the word describes or means.
Infographic Flashcards
Infographic flashcards combine aesthetics and data to present complex information clearly and quickly.
How To Use Educational Flashcards
Research has found that flashcards can be useful for all age groups, and that early introduction to them can greatly improve a child’s learning ability later on in life. You may be wondering, though: how do you use flashcards for kids? Find out below!
Educational Flashcards For Early Development
Educational flashcards can be extremely useful for any age group, including infants and toddlers. But how do you introduce flashcards to toddlers and babies? Is there a special trick to it? Let’s take a look at how to incorporate flashcards into your young child’s daily routine.
For babies and toddlers, you can use flashcards to help them learn words. Try using a few cards at a time, about five cards at most. Show each card to your baby and read the word aloud, pointing at each syllable as you pronounce it. Repeat this three times each day for about a week and then move on to a new set.
Flashcards can also be used to help preschoolers learn colors, shapes, numbers, or words. For example, if you’re using flashcards to help your child learn new colors, you can show them the card and then have them find an object in the house that is the same color. You can then have them read the name of the color if it’s present on the flashcard. This can apply to most other things you’d like your child to learn – however, be sure not to overwhelm your child with too much information, as this could potentially lead to improper knowledge retention.
How Do You Use Flashcards For Kids?
Using flashcards for kids is a lot easier than with babies and toddlers, as most children aged four and up can read basic words and numbers, as well as identify shapes and objects. Therefore, educational flashcards can be used to teach a child many different things.
Flashcards are most commonly used to help children advance in various school subjects. For instance, if you’d like to help your child improve their mental math skills, you use flashcards with simple equations and ask your child to answer the question without using a calculator or paper to aid them. You can also use flashcards to help your child learn to spell new words by allowing them to read the cards and then asking them to spell the words after a practice session.
How to Bring Flashcards Into Your Child’s Daily Routine
As we’ve just discussed, incorporating educational flashcards into your child’s daily routine can help them improve their literacy, numeracy, vocabulary and association skills. But what is the best way to add educational flashcards into their routine, so that they remain happy, engaged and learning? And are there different approaches for different age groups? Simply put, different ages will require different sets of flashcards and different introductory methods. As we specialize in early development, we’ve covered those ages ranges for you below:
Adding Flashcards To Your Baby Or Toddler’s Routine
When using flashcards to help your young child learn new words or the names of colors, it’s important that you do so in small sets. This is to avoid overstimulating their brain and therefore reducing their learning capabilities. To add flashcards to their routine, show them a maximum of five cards about three times a day for five days. This will allow your child to slowly learn and process the new information.
Most toddlers are more likely to learn through play rather than instruction. This means it’s a good idea to create interactive flashcards for them to learn from. These flashcards can include pictures to color in (if used to teach new colors), for example. This makes the learning experience fun for your child. You can use a new set of flashcards each day, depending on your child. However, you shouldn’t use the same set of flashcards more than three times per day as you may overwhelm them.
Adding Flashcards To Your Child’s Routine
For children ages five and up, it would be beneficial to give them a new set of flashcards every two to three days. These flashcards could be focused on what they are currently learning at school or what they need to catch up with. For example, you can give them flashcards to study over breakfast or include a set in their lunch bags for school to learn during recess. You could also use flashcards to spend quality time with your child after work by studying with them and helping them when they get confused or stuck.
Educational flashcards can make both classroom and at-home learning more engaging and fun.
What Are The Best Educational Flashcards?
The best educational flashcards are the ones that suit your child’s current needs. You can find many different kinds of ready-made educational flashcards both online and in-store. Our Educational Flashcard Set, designed specifically for children of preschool age, comes as four packs and includes 144 cards with original and fun designs that cover the alphabet, shapes, colors, first words and numbers with four binding rings that keep everything attached together.
It’s safe to say that educational flashcards are a great way to assist the learning of new material, regardless of which age group the student belongs to. Flashcards can be used to teach or study absolutely anything, from learning colors to learning the meaning of complex phrases. It’s never too early to start learning with educational flashcards – they offer a fantastic way to have fun and both with your little ones.