The Winter Olympics is coming up and ESL Library has a ready-made flashcard set to help you teach and review related vocabulary with your language learners. Our Winter Olympics Flashcard set features all of the sports from this year's Olympic Games. You will also find flashcards for medal ceremonies. Check out our entire Sports & Athletes section, where you will find vocabulary images for equipment, clothing, athletes, actions, and the Summer Olympics!

Vocabulary Review Ideas

Here are some ideas for using our Winter Olympics flashcards in the classroom. Add your own ideas in the comments below!

Drawing

Print out a few sets of the Winter Olympics flashcards. Put students in groups or pairs and have them take turns drawing and guessing the images on the cards. Make this activity more fun and competitive by having students draw with their eyes closed! Or make it active by having students race to the board to draw. There is also a fun guessing activity ("Go for Gold") in our Winter Olympics lesson.

Cold Seat - Brrr

Put your class in two groups. Place two captains in chairs facing away from the board. Paste a large-sized flashcard (Did you know you could choose the size when you print the cards out?) on the board. The rest of the class has to get their team captain to guess the word by talking about it. You can decide whether or not gestures are allowed. The first captain to guess correctly gets out of "the cold seat" and gets a point. A new captain is chosen. For fun, play this game outside with students all bundled up!

Spelling Bee

Pull out a card and have students try to spell the word. Each time students spell the word correctly, they get a point. Make it active by requiring students to stand up and do jumping jacks while they spell!

Pronunciation Bee

Just like a spelling bee, but students have to pronounce the words properly as you hold up a card.

Experts

Gather all of the sports cards from the Winter Olympics set. Have students choose a card out of a box. During the Olympics, ask your students to become experts or reporters on the sport they chose. They can share news related to their sport and tell the class who wins gold, silver, and bronze. The expert can also share any rules related to this sport. This activity can also be done in pairs. Choose a time each day during the Winter Olympics to have students report on their sport.

Yes, Coach!

Use the Olympics and Sports Actions cards to play charades. Have students take turns coming to the front or center of the space to choose cards and model the action (be the "coach"). The other students have to copy the movement of the coach with the card AND try to guess the action word. Whoever guesses first gets to be the next "coach."

Olympic Memories

Use all of the flashcards from both the Summer and Winter Olympic sets. Hold up one card. Invite students to share any memory they have about the sport or a related athlete. Encourage them to start with the phrase: "I remember when..." or "That reminds me of ..."

Shout the Verb

Use the Sports Equipment set. The student who picks the card must complete the question: What can you do with a…? The other students shout actions. (See Sports Actions set here.)

• hockey puck (shoot it)
• helmet (wear it)
• target (hit it)

Predictions

Use the cards to practice making predictions about the Olympics. Which country will get the most gold, silver, and bronze medals? Which country will win the relay? Who will carry the Olympic flag? Simply pull out a random card from the set and ask your students to make a prediction about it. Or get your students to practice asking the questions.

Preferences

Use the cards to practice stating preferences. Which sports do your students prefer playing? Which sports do they prefer watching? Why do they prefer one sport over another? Pull out two flashcards at a time and have students practice stating which one they prefer and why. You could add the Summer Olympics flashcards in for this game.

Olympic Village

Tape a sport/athlete card to the forehead or back of each student. Have students walk around the Olympic Village trying to guess who they are. They have to ask each other questions, such as "Do I compete on a hill?" or "Do I race indoors?" The first to guess correctly gets gold, the second gets silver, the third gets bronze. Use boxes or baskets to make podiums for the winners to stand on as they watch the rest of the class play.

Related

• Superlative Adjectives
• Winter Olympics (Word Bank)
• Winter Olympics (Holidays & Events)
• Winter Olympic Flashcards
• Olympics: Singular or Plural?