Flash Cards for Kids

I am resurrecting a great project today by Mae Armstrong.  I've always been a huge advocate of flash cards for babies and toddlers.  Starting at 6 months, I regularly sat with Molly and showed her pictures of farm animals, nature scenes, fruits and vegetables, clothing, every day items, colors and numbers.  With my son, Connor, now 19 months old, I haven't had as much time to sit with flash cards as I like but we still do them on occasion.  Here's our stack that we run through at mealtime or snack time.

Molly was talking early – she said her first words at 7 months, and she was doing “flash cards” here at 17 months.  Check out this video.  It's funny to look back at it years from when I took this - I don't understand her like I did back then.

Flash cards can get expensive so Mae Armstrong created DIY Flash Cards.  This flash card system teaches counting and its better than anything I have purchased.  She created animal silhouettes and grouped them by numbers. Here's the template you can use so you can create your very own flash cards. Click the images and print away – she used cardstock to print so they’d be nice a sturdy for her twin boys. 

After printing, trim along the guides.

Mae stamped the corresponding numbers inside the circle tags using PSA Essentials Vanilla Peel & Stick stamp set.  She also added a patterned star burst paper behind the stamped tag. Glue and assemble.

She organized the set before gluing everything.

 Here they are ready to be enjoyed.

Mae’s boys had a great time with this project and she’ll be packing this for her next trip – it’s such a great travel activity that doesn't take a lot of room.    How cute are these boys?!

Tell us what you think of these DIY Flash Cards now!