What you will need to play with cards
For the games in this article, you will need several thematic sets of cards for children with subject pictures (3-5 sets at least). Subject pictures are pictures that depict one object without a plot (for example, a birch tree, a ball, the Sun or a cloud, a cornflower, a dolphin, and so on).
You can make such cards yourself by cutting out subject images from coloring books, magazines, advertising booklets and gluing them onto thick cardboard.
It is desirable that all cards be the same size, but this is not at all necessary.
As mini-cards, you can also use pictures from old board games - lotto and dominoes on different topics (“transport”, “vegetables”, “toys”, etc.)
Section 3. Games with cards for children: games for the little ones
Requirements for cards for young children
— Pictures for the little ones should be very simple and easily recognizable by the child.
— The images are outlined, making them easier for children to distinguish.
— Pure colors are used.
— It is better that the picture contains no unnecessary details that complicate its recognition by the child and distract the child from the main features.
— Cards must be printed on thick cardboard without sharp corners (safe for small children).
For young children (up to three years old), pictures with different images of the same object are very necessary:
- for example, a soccer ball, a patchwork ball, a knitted ball, balls of different colors and sizes.
- or different chickens on cards: a real chicken in a photograph, a fairy chicken - an illustration for a nursery rhyme, a chicken - a clay toy, a chicken - a rubber toy, a chicken made of plasticine.
Such a series of cards is needed so that the baby learns to identify the most important characteristics of this bird and so that the first skills of independent generalization (mental operations) develop.
You also need cards with pictures that depict different actions. For example: the bear is sleeping - the girl is sleeping - Lala is sleeping - the bunny is sleeping - the pussy is sleeping - the dog is sleeping. You can make such pictures - cards yourself, photographing your child’s toys and pets and printing your photos. This series of cards also contributes to the child’s development of elementary generalization (note: not memorizing what the adult said, but the child’s independent generalization of the main features).
How we introduce flashcards to young children
We give little children pictures to look at with an adult, and then put them away on the shelf. We teach you to treat pictures carefully—don’t tear them, don’t crush them, don’t walk on them.
A baby of the second year of life can look at the cards with you from 2 to 10 minutes. At the same time, we name the object depicted on the card, its characteristics, parts, and actions with this object. We involve the child in active actions with cards: where, find, bring, take, give to mom, hide, find, show, point with your finger.
With a baby in his third year of life, you can already use thematic sets of cards for review. We choose topics for games and discussion with the child that are close to the child’s life experience: fruits, vegetables, dishes, furniture, toys, shoes, hats, clothes, transport.
How to play games with cards according to the age stages of a child’s development:
— From 1 year to 1 year 3 months. At this stage, cards are used on which the object is located in a static position (does not move). A game with 1-2 pictures is suitable for a child. The goal of this game is for the child to recognize the objects depicted on the cards: “Where is the cat? Show me”, “Where is the cockerel? Find the cockerel. Where is the dog? Find the dog”, “Give me the cockerel. Give me the dog." When the child begins to easily complete a task with two pictures, you can gradually increase their number to six to eight pictures in one game by the age of one and a half years.
- From 1 year 3 months to 1 year 6 months - the baby can already look at 3-4 cards during one game. The cards should show two similar objects and one contrasting one. For example: a truck, a car and a cat. Or a red cat, a white cat and a dog. The child’s task is to recognize the objects in the pictures.
— From 1 year 6 months to 1 year 9 months. At this age, we use games with cards that depict actions (a bear, a bunny, a doll eating, sleeping, playing, washing, dancing, and others). We ask questions: “Who is this? What is he doing? Where does Lala doll sleep?” (in response to our question, the child needs to find out of three pictures the one named by the adult - the picture that shows a sleeping doll).
First, the adult comments on what is drawn in the picture and names who is doing what. When the picture is presented for the second time, you can ask the baby: “What is the girl doing? What does pussy do?
At this age stage, we use cards not only to recognize the subject, but also to develop generalization:
a) pictures with actions to develop generalization. For example: a girl drinks (at the table from a cup of tea), a bear drinks (the bear drinks differently - he holds a keg in his paws), a pussy drinks (from a bowl), a bird drinks (water from a puddle). They all drink differently, but it is one action - “drinking”.
b) subject pictures for the development of generalization. These are pictures of the same object made of different materials and different sizes (photo of a doll, drawing of a doll, wooden doll, rubber doll, plastic doll, dolls in different outfits, large doll and small doll). All the dolls on the cards are different, but they are called in one word - “doll”. And the child needs to generalize the essential features of such an object as a “doll”, in contrast to other things familiar to him, in order to recognize the doll in the picture, regardless of its color, size or clothing.
This is a much higher level of development of a child’s thinking than simply asking the child to remember a card that an adult repeatedly shows and names to him.
— From 1 year 9 months to 2 years. Along with subject pictures on cards, from this age you can also look at subject pictures with your baby - cards (children feeding birds in winter, children playing in the yard, a cat with kittens, and others). Call: Who is this? What is he doing? What is he holding in his hands? And invite the child to listen to a short story based on this picture of 3-5 simple sentences, which you will tell him about it.
Options for games with cards for young children
Game 1. Where? Making a pair: a real object and its image on a card
For the game we will need: real objects and cards with their images (for example, a “ball” card and a real ball, a “doll” card and a real doll).
How to play the game: We show the child a real object and call it: “This is a ball”, let the child touch and examine it. And we remove the object (for example, put it in an opaque box with a lid). We ask in a mysterious voice: “Where is the ball?” The baby is looking. We take out not an object from the box, but a picture with a ball: “Here is the ball! It's a ball! We suddenly hide the picture behind our back again and ask: “Where is the ball?” We pause so that the baby has time to respond to our question. Again we take out the picture and the object and put them next to each other: “Here is the ball (real). And it's a ball! (shown in the picture).”
In the next repetitions of the game, we immediately give the child pictures and ask him to bring a paired object to each picture, finding the object in the room. For example, we give the child a “ball” card. And we ask: “Where is the other ball?” The kid looks for a ball in the room, brings it and puts it next to the picture.
The game takes no more than 2 minutes at a time. If the child has an interest in the game, then you can continue it for about 5 minutes. We end the game when the child has an interest in continuing it, and not when he is already tired.
The game should be fun, like a game of hide and seek with pictures and objects, and not as an educational activity on memorizing cards.
Game 2. Don't mix it up
Initial level of the task. First, we play this game with cards that depict objects that contrast with each other, for example: a cup, a doll and a pussy (three objects).
At the beginning of the game, we introduce the baby to each picture separately. Then we put all three pictures in a row and ask them to show: “Where is the pussy? Show your pussy. Where is the Lala doll? Show me Lala! and make sure that he distinguishes pictures well from each other.
We vary different pictures in this game. Variation options:
Option 1. To two well-known pictures we add a third - new one.
Option 2. We use different images of the same object. For example, in the first game we use a card - a photo of a cat, next time we will take another card - a drawn cat, in the third game we will have a picture of a toy rubber cat, in the fourth - a picture of a cat sculpted from plasticine. It's all a cat, although it is very different! And the baby needs to highlight the main characteristics of this animal and its difference from other animals and other toys. to recognize the cat in the picture. And not just remember the card and what mom calls it.
Option 3. More complex task level. When the baby learns to distinguish contrasting pictures, we teach the child to distinguish similar pictures. An example of a series of pictures for recognition: Where is the kitty (a cat, a dog and a goat are represented). Or where is the chicken co-co-co? (goose, hen and chick are represented).
Game 3. Different pictures.
The task of the game. This is also a game not only for the development of speech, but also for the development of generalization in children.
For the game you will need colored cards and coloring pictures paired with them. For example, a photo of a duck on a card and a picture of the same size depicting a coloring book - a duck. We make the same pairs for other toys: a colored ball on a card - a colored ball. The doll on the card is the doll in the coloring book. And so on.
How to play with cards: First, we’ll show a color picture and tell you about this animal (it’s good if you read the text by E. Charushin or K. Ushinsky with bright figurative words to your child).
For example, we show a picture with a cockerel and say the text (based on the text by K.D. Ushinsky): “This is Petya - Cockerel.” That's what it is! Petya the cockerel is walking around the yard: he has a red comb on his head and a red beard under his nose (shown in the picture). Petya’s nose is a chisel, Petya’s tail is a wheel, there are patterns on his tail, spurs on his legs (shown in the picture). What a cockerel Petya is! The cockerel screams ku-ka-re-kuuuu!”
After this, we show the child a coloring picture and ask: “Who is this?”
Having introduced the child to coloring books, we give him the task of finding a colored card for each picture - coloring book: “Where is the other cockerel? Put the card here. Like this. Here's a cockerel. How does he scream? Crow!"
When the baby gets a little older, it will be possible to make similar pairs of cards: mothers and babies (baby animals), big - small, one - many.
Game 4. Who (what) is missing.
You will need cards with one- and two-syllable words: fox, braid, spinning top, clock, woman, grandfather, mother, cloud, goose, ball, Lala (doll), kitty, goat, poppy, house, bow, cat, horse, dog, juice, forest, ball, smoke. For older children, you can take cards with more complex content: kiwi, beans, ponies, poppies, mint, ice, moose, hairdryer, compartment (closet), flax, flour, jelly and others like that.
How to play:
First, for this game we take 3-4 pictures, then we increase their number to 5-6 cards.
Place 6 cards in front of the child. Name each of them: “Where is the goat? Find the goat. Here's a goat! Let's say together: ko-za! "
Then the baby turns away, and we hide one card. The kid turns and guesses who (what) is not there: “There is no woman” (or answers with one word “woman”, if it is still difficult for him to say a simple two-word sentence).
Game 5. Bring a picture
An adult and a child look at three cards and name them. On the table in the same room there is another similar set of pictures. The adult asks the child to bring the same picture from the table: “Where is the other horse? Bring me a picture." The kid finds a horse among other pictures on the table and brings it. Here's a horse!
First, we lay out three pictures for the baby to choose from on the table, from which he needs to choose a given card. Then you can change the picture (for example, lay out another image of a horse on the table - a horse of a different size, color, a drawn image instead of a photograph).
Game 6. Game with cards “Dashes”
You will find a detailed description of this game in the article on speech development in one-year-old children here: “Games for 1-year-old children.”
Game 7. Find and give
Place cards in the box that your baby is already familiar with and whose names he has already memorized well. In the evening, when the whole family is gathered, ask him to find a card in the box: “Where is the fox?” When your baby finds the picture, ask him to give it to his dad or grandparents: “Here is a fox! Give it to your grandfather (dad, mom, grandma).” The game develops speech understanding in a small child.
Similarly, you can play with toys, giving the cards you find to them: “Here is honey! Give it to the bear (give it to Lala, give it to the bunny).”
Requirements for cards for preschool children
- a realistic, clearly recognizable image (or a large photograph of an object), in which all the details are clearly visible,
- an image angle that is understandable to the child,
- thick cardboard, bright, clear picture printing,
- absence of unnecessary distracting details in the picture.
There are many card manufacturers, but in terms of quality (this is my subjective opinion, of course), I really like the “Little Genius” cards because:
1) they are made on excellent quality cardboard and will last a long time,
2) this series of cards has excellent image quality.
At the end of this article I showed examples of them on various topics.
Also very good quality cards called “Smart Cards”.
As handouts for a group of children, mini-cards on various topics are convenient, which are published by the Sfera publishing house and are called “handout cards.”
Examples of flashcard sets for downloading are given at the end of this article.
Section 5. Games with cards for children: development of attention, perception, memory
Game with cards "Chest"
You will need for the game: an opaque box with a lid or a chest (for example, a beautiful cardboard chest from a New Year's candy set).
How to play: show your child 6-10 cards from one thematic set. For example, bird cards. Examine and manure each bird, discuss how they differ from each other and how they are similar. Try to remember what is written on the cards.
Then the child closes his eyes, and you hide three cards in the chest. The child opens his eyes and guesses what kind of cards are in the chest.
In the next game we are changing some of the cards for the game - adding new ones.
If the child guesses easily, then you can hide five cards in the chest.
Game with cards “One, two, three - look carefully”
You will need several paired sets of cards to play. It is necessary that they contain the same objects, but depicted differently. For example, the first set of cards is a photo of pets. The paired second set of cards are drawn images of pets.
How to play. The adult quickly shows a card from his set and says very quickly: “One - two - three - look carefully!” He immediately removes the card. Children need to quickly find a similar picture on the table among the cards laid out in a paired set and name it. The winner is the one who finds it faster among all the pictures laid out on the table.
Game with cards "Concepts"
You will need different themed sets of cards. Place four object pictures in front of your child. Three of them are a homogeneous group and refer to the same concept. The fourth one is redundant. The child needs to find an extra card and remove it, and also explain how to name the remaining pictures in one word and why they can be combined into one group (transport, trees, bushes, migratory birds and other concepts).
Task examples:
- Apple, pear, plum, plate.
— Cup, spoon, fork, glasses.
— Rose, cornflower, chamomile, birch.
Card game "Card Classification"
Place cards from 3-6 sets in front of the child, mixing them with each other.
The task is to look at all the pictures and sort them into groups. Name each group with a word (these are professions, these are vegetables, these are poultry, these are animals of Africa, etc.). After the child combines all the cards into groups, you need to ask him to explain why he put all these pictures in one group and what they have in common.
You can include provocative pictures in the set of pictures for the game - which cannot be classified into any group or combined with other pictures.
Game with cards “What has changed”
Place a row of cards in front of your child. Name them and look at them with your baby. Then let the baby turn away, and you make changes to this row, for example, you can add a picture, or vice versa, remove the picture, swap the pictures in places. When everything is ready, the baby opens his eyes and tries to guess what has changed. Then the adult and child change roles.
Game with cards “Guess the parts”
Place a series of cards in front of your child, for example, cards on the theme “Nomadic Birds”. Look carefully at all the birds - how they are similar, how they differ, how you can recognize them, why they are called “nomadic”. Then the baby turns away, and the adult at this time takes one card and covers it with a thick white sheet of cardboard so that only part of the image is visible. The kid needs to guess what kind of card it is. The remaining cards are closed and not visible.
If it is difficult for a child to guess, then you can slightly open the image so that part of the body, beak, wing or other striking feature of this bird is visible.
The game can be played with any thematic set of cards.
Game with cards for memory development “Help Dunno”
Place 6-7 pairs of pictures related in meaning in front of the child. For example, a fisherman - nets, soap - a washcloth, a hare - a carrot, Santa Claus - a snowflake, and so on. The pictures need to be mixed.
Tell your child that Dunno at school was asked to memorize these items, but he cannot and does not know how to complete this task. The child needs to arrange all the cards in pairs according to their meaning and remember the pairs. Then we cover the cards with a sheet of thick paper or a thick scarf, and the baby tries to name the pairs that he remembers. If he names a pair, then he gets it. We count how many pictures he managed to win from us in this game.
If a child easily remembers 6 pairs of objects, then you can increase the number of pictures in the game.
Game with cards “Invisible hat”
You will need a thick sheet of paper with an invisible hat drawn on it. We put the cards on the table, cover them with a sheet of paper - our “invisible hat”. We lift the sheet with the invisible cap and count to three while showing the cards to the child. Then the invisible cap goes down and the pictures become invisible. The child needs to memorize the cards in three seconds. When the invisible hat covers the cards again, the baby names them.
Game "Restore Order"
You will need 10 cards, place them randomly on the table or floor. Invite your child to remember their location (in 15 - 20 seconds). Then the baby turns away, and the adult swaps the pictures. The child needs to arrange the pictures, restoring order.
Section 1. Games with cards for children: developing imagination
Game "Sorcerer"
This is a game for children from five years old, in the simplest version you can play with children from four years old. The game develops children's imagination, which is very important not only in itself, but also for the development of creative games of preschoolers (plot - role-playing and directing).
The author of the game is E.E. Kravtsova, famous child psychologist.
Preparing for the game: mix cards on different topics in one box. You can also put children's cubes with letters, and pictures from lotto or dominoes on different topics. Close the box. These are our “treasures” that we will take from this box with our eyes closed during the game.
Progress of the game:
First level of the game.
Step 1. Consider with your children a picture of a sorcerer (or a toy - a sorcerer). As a sorcerer toy, you can use the most ordinary plastic water bottle, if you glue the details of the face to it and wrap it in a “magic cloak” - a piece of fabric.
Tell your child a fairy tale about this sorcerer: “Once upon a time there lived a sorcerer in a cave. She knew how to enchant different things: she would enchant them and take them to her cave. But the sorcerer could only enchant those pictures that did not have a pair. If the pictures became pairs, then the sorcerer could not take them.”
Step 2. After this, give the child a box in his hands and ask him to take two cards (two pictures) out of it with his eyes closed. We need to combine these two pictures with one story.
For example, if the picture “snowman” and “basket” appear, then you can imagine that the snowman put gifts in the basket and went to wish his friends a Happy Birthday or Happy New Year. First, come up with such a story yourself based on the pictures that the child pulled out of the box. Then invite your child to come up with his own story based on the new two pictures.
Some children find this game easy, others find it difficult. If it’s difficult for a child to come up with ideas, come up with them first. Offer your child the option: “Where do you think the snowman with the basket went - to the store or to the forest? No? And where to? What did he put in the basket? What would you put in?”
Second level of the game. You can move on to the second level of the game if your child very easily connects two objects (two cards) in one story. Invite your child to take three pictures out of the box first, then four or five pictures. And connect them into one story. If it’s difficult for your child to come up with a story on his own, write it together!
Third level of the game. We need to build a whole chain of 15-20 pictures randomly selected from our box and write a story based on it.
How to play with cards:
We take cards from the box one by one with our eyes closed and compose a common story. For example, you start as an adult. You take a card and come up with the beginning of a story from it: “Once upon a time... And he was very... Once upon a time...”. At this point you interrupt your story and pass the turn to the child. The child takes out the second card and comes up with a continuation. Then it’s your turn again - take the third card and continue our story. And so on up to 15-20 cards. We lay out the cards in a row one after another from left to right. At the end of the stage, the child himself can combine the pictures into a common plot.
Game options:
This game can be played with 2-3 children at the same time, writing a common story. Or you can compete: who has the longest story: a team of mom and dad or a team of children of different ages? The winner of the game is the one who was able to combine the largest number of pictures. .
