Printables › Flashcard maker

Flashcard maker: print, cut, practise

Make printable flashcards from times tables, number bonds, spelling lists, topic words or your own questions. Print them double-sided with the answers on the back, or as fold-over cards on one side of paper.

Ages 4–14Maths and spellingFree printable
  1. Choose your cardsPick where the cards come from and how big they should be.
  2. Print and cutPrint the pages, then cut along the dashed lines.
  3. Sort into pilesKnow it, nearly, not yet. See the tips below the maker.

Make flashcards

Cards from
Card size
Printing
Order

The backs page is mirrored left to right, so when you print double-sided and flip on the long edge, each back lands right behind its front.

How to use flashcards

Flashcards work best when your child has to pull the answer out of their own head, then checks it straight away. Sorting the cards into three piles shows you both where they are and what to practise next.

Know it

Answered quickly and correctly.

Look at these about once a week.

Nearly

Right, but slow or after a wobble.

Every few days.

Not yet

Wrong, or no idea.

Every day, a few at a time.

Make a Leitner box. Split a shoebox into three sections for the three piles. A card that’s answered correctly moves one section along. A card that’s missed goes back to “Not yet”, however far it had got. Over time the box shows the progress for you.

  1. Little and often. Five or ten minutes a day beats one long session a week. Stop while it’s still fun.
  2. Keep the pile small. Work with 8 to 10 cards at a time, and add a few new ones as others move to “Know it”.
  3. Say it, then flip it. Ask your child to say the answer out loud before turning the card over, so they can’t half-guess.
  4. Mix the order. Once a times table is going well, shuffle the cards so the answers aren’t remembered from their place in the list.
  5. Turn it into a game. Beat your own time, play pairs with fronts and backs printed separately, or let your child test you.
  6. Spelling words. Read the word together, then turn it over and have a go at writing it. Check, and try again if it needs it.
  7. Make them sturdy. Print on thin card, or glue paper cards onto old cereal boxes before cutting.

Choose “Two-sided” and you get a page of fronts followed by a page of backs. Print double-sided and choose flip on long edge. The backs page is laid out as a mirror image, so the answer to the top-left card sits on the top right of the backs page, which is exactly behind it once printed.

If your printer can only print one side, print the fronts, then put the printed sheet back in the paper tray and print the backs. Printers feed paper in different ways, so try it with a scrap sheet first to see which way round the sheet needs to go. Or choose “Fold-over”: each card has its front and back side by side, and you fold it down the middle.

More to practise with

Sources

Card wording is our own. The word lists come from: