Free Printable Phonics Flash Cards (Double Sided Design for Easy Printing!)

Get free printable phonics alphabet cards to teach beginning sounds and encourage early reading skills!

Today I’m sharing the phonics cards I created for my preschooler over the weekend. Each card has an animal, food, or item, on one side and the matching uppercase and lowercase letter it begins with on the other. I highly recommend printing two sets of these cards so you can play a variety of phonics and sound-matching games with your child!

Keep reading to learn:

The benefits of using phonics flash cards for early reading
Creative games to play with these cards
Fun ways to teach beginning sounds and blending
How to print and laminate your phonics cards for long-term use

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links and I could earn a commission if you make a purchase using them. This comes at no additional cost to you and all opinions expressed are my own.

Using Phonics Alphabet Flash Cards Effectively

Once children are able to recognize and name letters, the next step is to learn the sounds each makes.

These phonics flash cards can help build early reading skills so children will:

Hear and see the connection between letters and sounds
Build stronger memory recall by associating sounds with fun animals and objects
Learn through play instead of drills
Be able to practice independently (i.e. through matching cards), with a parent, or in a group setting

Instead of just expecting them to memorize the way a letter looks and the sound it makes though, the letters are not on the side of the card with the picture.

I created these phonics cards for kids to practice connecting the sounds they hear to the names of different things.

So, when your child views the picture card, you can encourage them to say the name of the thing first, then the sound they heard, followed by the first letter name.

For example, with a zebra card, my daughter will say: “zebra, z, z, zed”.

Try to play with your cards daily and make it a fun experience for your child – we’ve added our alphabet flash cards and phonics flash cards to our daily homeschool morning basket routine so my youngest gets lots of practice with letter sounds and recognizing letters in both upper and lower case forms.

Games & Creative Ways to Use Phonics Alphabet Cards

Real learning happens when kids are having fun! Here are some of our favorite ways to use these phonics cards at home:

Sound Match (Two Decks) – Lay out a full set of animal cards. Hand your child the letter side from another deck and ask them to find the matching animal. For example, show the letter “z” and your child finds the zebra. You could also print out a single set and match each card to magnetic letters instead.
Beginning Sound Sort – Mix the cards together and have your child sort them into piles by beginning sound in alphabetical order
Letter Sound Hunt – Show your child a card and ask them to find something in the house that starts with the same sound (i.e. show your child the horse sound and find something that starts with “h”). I really like this treasure chest activity for helping children learn upper and lowercase letter pairs but the toys are also really fun to use for letter sound hunts. The toy colors are very bright and make it easy for the child to find them so you can focus more on learning than on searching for objects.
Blending Sounds – Place two or three cards together at a time to practice blending letter sounds into simple words (like “c-a-t”)
Phonics Bingo – Call out a letter sound and have your card find the matching picture card or if they haven’t mastered letters to their sounds yet, use the letter side of the card
Mystery Sound Bag – Place a few animal cards in a bag. Pull one out and have your child guess the sound before flipping to reveal the letter

Get More Ideas for Your Homeschool and/or Classroom:

How to Laminate Phonics Cards

To help your cards survive sticky fingers and lots of play, I recommend laminating them.

I’ve used this laminator for over three years now and absolutely love the results – I actually look for things to laminate because I love it so much, haha! We’ve printed everything from flash cards to activities, and even full homeschool curriculum books (like The Good and the Beautiful, from Preschool to Grade 3!) at home.

After trying both name brand laminating sheets and the less expensive ones, we’ve gone with these ones since they’re less expensive and we honestly can’t tell the difference.

I strongly recommended choosing the thicker 5 mil size for laminating flash cards over the 3 mil since it does hold up better in the long run, especially with daily handling by children.

phonics picture flashcards with alphabet side

Phonics Flash Cards Laminating Instructions

To laminate your flashcards, follow these simple steps:

Turn on your laminator to heat it up – be sure to choose the correct setting for your laminating sheet thickness.
Cut out individual cards before placing them into your laminating sheets. These can be placed like this in order to optimize your space and get 10 cards per sheet.
Once you’re ready, gently feed your laminating sheet through your laminator – you can let go about half way to let it go through itself while you cut more cards out. Just be careful to pay attention and remove it once it’s finished.
Run the laminating sheet through the laminator a second time for a stronger seal
Once it’s cooled down enough, cut out your phonics cards from the laminating sheet – I use simple kitchen scissors to cut out mine but a paper cutter would make cuts smoother.
Keep them together with an elastic band or in a ziplock bag.

Your cards will come out looking like this after laminating them.

Download Free Phonics Flashcards

To get your phonics flash cards, click the image or text below and an automatic download will start.

You’ll notice the pictures appear normal and the letters look upside down – this is to allow for simple double sided printing.

For two sided printing, be sure to select this option on your printer! If you’re using Adobe, I recommend deselecting and then reselecting double sided printing because I’ve found it a little temperamental – for whatever reason, it sometimes prints single sided for me despite the fact that double sided was the default setting.

phonics flashcards a to h — Double Sided Printable Phonics Flash Cards Set

Tips for Teaching Phonics with Flash Cards

Keep sessions short – 5 to 10 minutes is perfect for young children
Focus on just a few sounds at a time – you can run through the alphabet and show your child each sound, but don’t try to have him or her memorize it all at once. Instead choose one or two sounds to highlight for your learning session.
Pair sounds with songs, books, toys, and games (you can check out our favourite preschool and kindergarten alphabet activities here).
Follow your child’s pace – children learn at different paces, even from their siblings. So be patient with your child if something isn’t sticking. Consider trying a new word or activity for sounds that feel trickier for your child (my kids both love this phonics board game!).
Celebrate small wins – even baby steps are still progress. So whether you’ve learn one or a few letter sounds in one day, be sure to show enthusiasm for the learning your child has done.

More Free Printable Alphabet Activities for Kids

Check out these other posts for more free homeschooling tips and free educational resources for your preschool and other elementary aged students:

Final Thoughts on Early Literacy & Home Education

The preschool years are such a fun time to be a parent and educator!

I truly believe that these years were what solidified my decision to become a homeschool mom – teaching and watching my children absorb new ideas and apply their newfound knowledge has been such an amazing experience.

And teaching them how to read has been the most precious gift I could ever give them and in turn, experience for myself.

Watching their eyes light up as their letters turn into words, and then words into stories and songs, has filled our days with such joy.

It’s a gift that’s reminded me of why I chose this path in the first place and my hope is that you’ll find the same rewarding experience along your own.

I hope that these phonics flash cards become a simple but meaningful tool to help you along your educational journey.

Happy homeschooling, friend!

– Nikki

About the author

Nikki

I'm a homeschool mom of two, wife, self-taught musician, and entrepreneur. I help moms and dads learn how to incorporate music into their home education plans while balancing daily lessons and building an online business. My goal is to help families spend more time learning, exploring, and creating together!