How to Make Flash Cards for Toddlers

Your toddler is learning about new things daily, which means you need to take time to make him flash cards. Create a deck of flash cards with general information on them such as letters, shapes, numbers and pictures of different items. The flash cards are a way for you to add a little direction to what he learns. Toddlers have short attention spans, so you will need to be quick to effectively use the flash cards. Brillbaby.com recommends flashing the cards "at a speed of less than one second per card" to keep your toddler's attention.

Things You'll Need

  • Poster board
  • Ruler
  • Pencil
  • Scissors
  • Animal stickers (10 of each)--dog, cat, fish, cow, duck, horse, bird, pig, sheep and chicken
  • Black marker
  • Large cookie cutters--heart, square, circle, rectangle, star, diamond, triangle and oval
  • Construction paper
  • Glue

Instructions

  1. Numbers and Animals

    • 1

      Cut poster board into 3x5-inch rectangles; you will need 11 rectangles.

    • 2

      Select common animal stickers to use on your flash cards; make sure you have 10 stickers of the same animal. So you will need 10 stickers of the same dog, cat, fish, cow, duck, horse, bird, pig, sheep and chicken.

    • 3

      Use black marker to write large numbers on all of the rectangles on the top, right corner; number them from 0 through 10.

    • 4

      Place the card with 0 in front of you. In the center of it spell out zero; do not place a sticker on this card.

    • 5

      Begin placing stickers on the remaining cards; the number of stickers should match the written number on the flash card. For example, place one dog sticker in the middle of the card labeled 1 and write the word "dog" below the sticker. place two cow stickers in the middle of the card labeled 2 and write the word "cow" below the sticker. And so on for all the cards.

    • 6

      Complete the animal cards with the right number of the same kind of animal on each numbered card.

    Shapes

    • 7

      Select large cookie cutters in different shapes such as a heart, square, circle, rectangle, star, diamond, triangle and oval.

    • 8

      Trace the cookie cutters on colorful construction paper. Cut the shapes out.

    • 9

      Cut poster board into 3x5-inch rectangles; you will need the same number of rectangles as you have cookie cutter shapes.

    • 10

      Glue one construction paper shape on the center of each poster board rectangle. Write the shape's name below the picture with black marker.

    • 11

      Repeat Step 4 until all of the flash cards have been made.

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