Time- Flashcard Memory Games

Times flashcard memory games

Instructions for teachers

This game can be played with any set of the right number of flashcards, but those below are designed to go with (fairly) realistic personal questions like “What do you do at… (o’clock)?”, “What time do you…?” and “Do you… at… (o’clock)?”

Choose or make cards with the vocabulary that you want to revise or introduce. If students might have problems reading the words or not know what the words mean, add images or replace with picture flashcards. When you copy, make sure the words/ pictures can’t be seen through the back by using thick paper, playing the game on a dark surface, etc. Cut up one set per class, or one set per group of two to four students if you want to do it in groups.

Drill the times that you want to practise as you lay the cards face up on the table. Times you can practise this way as you go from card to card include:

• “One o’clock”, “Two o’clock”, etc
• “One o’clock”, “One thirty”, “Two o’clock”, “Two thirty”, etc
• “One o’clock”, “Quarter past one”, “Half past one”, “Quarter to two”, “Two o’clock”, etc
• “One o’clock”, “One oh five”, “One ten”, “One fifteen”, etc

For “o’clock” and five-minute intervals, I put the cards in a circle to represent a clock. With the others it is best to put them in a straight line. I tend to put them in random order, meaning “I go to bed at two o’clock” is fine (and actually more amusing). However, you could get students to arrange the cards in a more sensible order to make them think more carefully about the meaning of the words and to help make the memory game easier. 

Drill the vocab on the cards once as you point at each. Then drill the times and the vocab on the cards together as you turn the cards over so that they are face down on the table, perhaps as a sentence like “I go to bed at seven o’clock”. Students then test each other on their memory of which card is where with the questions at the top of each page (“What do you do at seven thirty?” etc). Then turn the card face up to check. If the answer is correct, keep the card face up and that student asks the next person a question about another card. If the answer is wrong, turn the card face down again. Continue until the cards are all face up.

After you have one or two games like this, you can then play starting from times other than one o’clock by placing one of the time cards before the first card in the line, e.g. “Quarter past three” if you want to practise “Half past three”, “Quarter to four”, etc.

Students could then make similar cards with other vocab to play the same game with.

The game can also be played with any other set of flashcards, e.g. 12 kinds of vegetables, actions, or feelings. With some it might still be useful practice for students to ask slightly odd questions like “Do you eat chocolate at two o’clock?”. Alternatively, just have simple exchanges such as “One o’clock” “Happy” and “Jump” “Ten past one”.

Morning actions practice

Suggested questions

“What do you do at…?”

“What time do you…?”

“Do you… at…?”

 

Cards to cut up

wake up

get up

get dressed

have a shower

wash my/ your face

eat breakfast

brush my/ your teeth

brush my/ your hair

make the bed

wash the dishes

pack my/ your bag

clear the table

 

Evening actions practice

Suggested questions

“What do you do at…?”

“What time do you…?”

“Do you… at…?”

 

Cards to cut up

unpack my/ your bag

do my/ your homework

have a bath

brush my/ your teeth

get undressed

go to bed

go to sleep

read a book

eat dinner

do the dishes

watch television

talk to my/ your family

 

Activities vocabulary

Suggested questions

“What do you (usually) do at…?”                           “When do you…?”/ “What time do                       “Do people… in…?”

“What’s the most popular activity in…?”              “When is …ing most popular?”               “Is …ing popular in…?”

 

Cards to cut up

wake up

get up

brush my/ your teeth

wash my/ your face

have a shower

have a bath

go to bed

go to sleep

have breakfast

have lunch

have dinner

brush my/ your hair

 

Places around town practice

Suggested questions

“Where do you go at…?”            

“When do you go to…?”/ “What time do you…?”

“Do you go to… at…?”

 

Cards to cut up

school

my/ your house

cram school

the station

the bus stop

soccer club

bed

the playground

the park

the living room

the dining room

my/ your bedroom

 

School subjects vocabulary practice 

Suggested questions

“What time do you study…?”

“What do you study at…?”

“Do you… at…?”

 

Cards to cut up

maths

English

science

PE

geography

art

social studies

Japanese

French

music

cooking

IT

 

Weather vocabulary practice

Suggested questions

“How was the weather at…?”

“When was it…?”

“Was it… at…?”

 

Cards to cut up

rainy

cloudy

sunny

hot

cold

windy

snowy

freezing

boiling

humid

foggy

misty

 

Starting times cards

Use just the cards on the left if students will be able to understand them.

Ten o’clock	10:00
Half past two	2:30
Quarter past three	3:15
Ten past four	4:10
Ten to five	4:50
Five to six	5:55
Six minutes past seven	7:06