Decked Out: Flashcard Printing for Learning & Fun

As you design Flashcards for online printing, we recommend beginning with choosing the right paper stock and paper weight. Whether you’re creating alphabet flashcards or a deck of vocabulary words, the feel of each one can make a big impression.

From coated and uncoated stocks to recycled, metallic and linen, Smartpress offers a huge variety of stocks to create the look and feel you want. As for paper weights, we make it easy to experiment with both text and cover stocks, too.

Our recommendation? Make your own flashcards with a cover stock so they have a substantial feel and are easy for students to handle. Then add rounded corners for a truly professional finish. (Hint: Unsure about which stock and weight to choose? Experience our wide selection with a FREE Paper Sample Book.)

Graphic designer and illustrator Natalie Anderson (@nat___ illustrations) put these paper pointers to good use with letter flashcards she created for her son and his kindergarten class. Using 100# cover coated matte – white stock, Anderson’s cards feature playful illustrations of letters and corresponding animals.

“Helping my son learn his letters, the sounds and how to read got me inspired,” Anderson said. “So I started an alphabet. My son helped me pick the animals, too. I had so many comments from friends and strangers, so I had them printed for all the kids in his class.”

Anderson’s cards turned into a memory game, and now, a potential business. “People loved them [and] I was encouraged to keep going and sell them,” she said. “The quality of the printed pieces was awesome – I even created a poster I gave away with the game.”

While flashcard printing is ideal for letters and spelling, it’s also perfect for learning entire languages. And with all that card flipping and shuffling, you’ll want a protective coating or laminate that stands up to daily use.

At Smartpress, our online printing services include UV coating and laminate options. From high shine to subtle matte and the velvety, tactile Soft Touch laminate, our finishes not only guard against moisture and general wear, but also create the look you want.

For her preschool and kindergarten Korean language flashcards, Stellarsol Design’s Callie Kim chose double-sided lamination with our 3 mil gloss specifically so kids could trace the letters on the cards.

“I was impressed with the quality,” Kim said. “I printed them with another printer [and] the laminate was very thin and easily scratched – 30% of the flashcards ended up in waste. With Smartpress, [the] laminate and stock made the final pieces sturdy and vibrant. My customers are raving about how well-made they are.”

And while Kim’s cards flaunt an impressive finish, their design and artwork do much of the heavy-lifting, with engaging, cute illustrations.

“Most Korean bilingual flashcards on the market are for adults, not young kids. [Mine have] Korean-English translation and fun animal characters [that] help little ones learn the basic Korean alphabet naturally.”

One of our favorite things about custom flashcards is that they can feature any number of cards in any size with any theme. For Nicole Weller, an LPGA/PGA teaching professional, that theme included golf.

Weller first created a golf activity book for kids and “from the book was born the matching flashcards game,” she said. “I still like offering education through tactile activities over digital ones.”

After initially making her personalized flashcards by hand, Weller took advantage of the simple Smartpress setup. Her Match Play Golf Cards feature illustrations of golf equipment, terms and a whole host of full-color characters on one side with an abstract golf design in black ink on the other.

“The cards came out beautifully – I couldn’t have imagined them any better,” Weller said. “They’re perfect for early youth golf programming and I very much enjoy the ease of ordering and getting the product delivered. It’s a streamlined process!”

Whether you’re printing flashcards for school or Sunday school, keeping them together and organized can be a challenge. Do you slip a rubber band around each deck? Cross your fingers a card doesn’t get lost? If you’re teaching youngsters, that seems unlikely…

At Smartpress, you can print your own flashcards and compile them easily with drill hole options and corner stapling. Here’s what we recommend:

• Add a single drill hole in one corner and loop a metal ring through it.
• Try two holes and create a handle by tying a yarn or ribbon to each hole.
• Go with three holes to easily slip your cards into binders.
• If you have cover weight flashcards, a maximum of 40 can be stapled.
• If you have text weight flashcards, a maximum of 80 can be stapled.

Bonnie Marlowe, founder and CEO of Teachers in the Word, went with a 1/4″ single drill hole in the left-hand corner of her alphabet scripture flashcards. With a bright, captivating palette, charming illustrations and a corresponding verse, Marlowe’s cards were a hit in her kindergarten classroom.

“I use them to teach my students memory verses, along with letter recognition,” she said. “We have parents, grandparents and teachers that use these cards to help kids learn more scripture. They are great for on the go, conversations around the dinner table and focused family devotions.”

With positive customer feedback about her scripture cards’ durability and interactive nature, Marlowe’s sure to partner with Smartpress again.

“I’m confident I’m giving my customers a quality product,” she said. “Smartpress has been fabulous, customer service is always a quick chat or email away and they’re very easy to work with.”

Design Tip: Want to create different versions of your cards by subject or season, with other languages or scripture themes? Use our Versions feature to create multiple sets of cards with various artwork and designs in one order. Just be sure your flashcards are the same size, stock and finish.