Opposites flashcards
Here is a big collection of opposites flashcards for children and older students that can be used in all sorts of language learning activities. All you need to do is print them out, and cut out the 4 flashcards on each sheet. If you want them to last a long time, you can laminate them or even just cover them with clear sticky tape.
The flashcards mostly contain adjectives but there are also some verbs, nouns, and prepositions. See below for some ideas on how to use the cards with your classes.
The opposite words here include – tall and short, high and low, old and young, hot and cold, good and bad, light and dark, in and out, open and closed, soft and hard, light and heavy, quiet and noisy, strong and weak, on and off, thick and thin, rich and poor, healthy and sick, up and down, left and right, wet and dry, sweet and sour, easy and difficult, brave and afraid, give and get, kind and cruel, same and different, careful and careless, push and pull, win and lose, throw and catch, land and take off, full and empty, asleep and awake, enemy and friend, opaque and clear, shallow and deep, day and night.
Ideas for using the opposites flashcards
Besides your own favourite flashcard activities, here are a few more ideas that you may find useful!
- Matching race – Cut out several sets of the flashcards and shuffle each set. With students in small teams or pairs make it a race to see which team can correctly match all the opposites first.
- Opposite slap the board – First, stick 5 or more cards on the board with magnets. Then ask 2 students to come to the front of the class. After the count of 3 either hold up a card or say a word and the students must race to touch/slap the corresponding opposite.
- Make a sentence/question – Show a student one of the cards and ask them to make a sentence or question using the opposite word.
- Reading line – Make a line of the opposites flashcards on the floor, 1 card a small step apart. Students must say the opposite of the word on the floor each step they take forward. You can have 2 students, one on each side of the line and make it a race.
- Opposites charades – Ask one student to the front of the class and show them one of the flashcards. Their task is to act the word while the rest of the class tries to guess it and name its opposite.
Related resources
If you are looking for more flashcards, have a look at the printable animal alphabet cards and the beautiful insects flashcards.