If you're a parent with a little learner in your house, you've probably been hearing a lot of buzz about Boom Cards. Whether you've been asked to use them at home by your child's teacher, you'd like to use them in homeschooling, or even if you're just looking for educational games, we're covering it all here! Come along to learn all about Boom Cards and how to use them at home! I've created this Boom Cards for Parents guide just for you!
What Are Boom Cards Anyway?
Boom Cards are educational digital activities that your kids can play using the Boom Learning website or app. Many teachers use them in the classroom but they are great for some education screen time at home too.
Boom cards are very similar to an educational app you would find in the app store. BUT. . . these are created by teachers (not app developers) with activities to help your kids work on the skills they are learning at school.
The great thing about Boom Cards is that they are very engaging and fun for kids. With sound, interactive features, and immediate feedback on their answers, your kids will feel more like they're playing games than learning!
How Do Boom Cards Work?
They are so easy! The first step is to load a set of Boom Cards into your account. You can also click on the Fast Play link to get started.
Once the deck of Boom Cards is open kids are ready to start playing. They can read the instructions or click on the sound icon to have the instructions read to them. That allows kids of all ages to complete the activity without any adult help. Then kids will work through each slide completing the activity.
After each card, it is “graded”, and the child receives feedback so they know if their answer was correct or incorrect. This immediate feedback is a key part of the learning process and allows kids to quickly identify and correct their mistakes. If the answer is correct, the next card opens, and the child will complete the next task. If it's incorrect, the child is notified and allowed another opportunity to try again.
Where Do I Get Boom Cards?
Boom decks are available for purchase on the Boom Learning website and the TPT Marketplace. A quick search on either platform will help you find a variety of fun learning activities for your kids. You can choose activities that connect to what they are learning at school, use them as part of homeschooling, or just choose activities for skills or topics your kids like.
Benefits of Boom Cards
Aside from being fun and engaging for kids, they're also quick and easy to use. Since they're digital, there's nothing to print or cut – absolutely no mess. This means no more papers getting lost between school and home and less prep for homeschoolers! Simply select a deck, and you're good to go. They are a great way to turn screen time into learning time. And. . . since all you need is a device with wifi kids can play almost anywhere! Perfect for home, long waits, or even airplane rides.
They are simple to use at home, promote independence, and can go with you anywhere! As a mom myself, I especially love these for long car rides for my own kids. I love knowing that we can bring along our tablets for quick and easy learning activities while we're traveling. It's super simple to “pack” them, and my kids love them, so that's a big win in my book!
If your child is using Boom Cards for homework from school, their teacher can see their progress. If you're a homeschooling family, you can let Boom do the grading for you!
Accessing Boom Cards
You can access and play these digital task cards on boomlearning.com using most devices. You'll need to ensure you have access to a working browser and a connection to the internet. Popular browsers that work well include Firefox, Edge, Safari, and Chrome.
Devices that work well include Chromebooks, laptops, or desktop computers, as well as tablets such as iPads, Android tablets, and Kindle Fire tablets. You can download the free app once you connect your device to the internet.
This app is available from the Apple App Store, Google Play Store, and Amazon Kindle Fire Store if you'd rather go that route than use a web browser.
If you're a parent who wants to set up an account to try these out, there is a free option that will help you start.
Free accounts do not track progress, but they are a great way to test out the platform and see if it's a tool that would work well for your family. They even have a quick-start guide for parents to help answer any additional tech-related questions you might have.
Getting Started with Assigned Activities
If your child has been assigned a Boom activity to do at home, they can access their deck in a few ways. Your student's teacher might use one of the following methods to assign activities:
- Fast Play Pins
- Fast Play Link
- Assigning within a Boom Learning Classroom
- Hyperplay Link
Fast Play pins are the easiest solution for anyone who wants to use Boom Cards with a free account. If you're a homeschooling family who wants to learn how to create fast play pins, be sure to check out the video below for a quick tutorial.
Teachers and parents use all four options while using Boom Cards. There are benefits and drawbacks to each. Some options (fast play pins and fast play links) only record student progress if the child signs in. Other options require an account but will record student progress so parents and teachers can see a report after completing each activity.
If you're a homeschooling family or a parent who wants to utilize the learning games available through Boom Learning, be sure to check out this post about ways to assign cards to your children.
What Skills to Target with Boom Cards
There are Boom Cards decks for everything under the sun across many grade levels. As a primary teacher, I always use them in my classroom to practice the skills we are learning. They're especially valuable when working on topics that require lots of repetitive practice to master, like letter and number recognition, spelling, math facts, sight words, and grammar rules.
For example, Boom Cards are one of my favorite ways to help kids learn new sight words. I use many decks to add interest and variety to an otherwise mundane task. Kids will work on sight words through reading, tracing, building, and finding sight words. Since each activity is so different, students are excited to “play,” which makes mastering new words fun and easy.
If you're a homeschooling family, Boom Cards also come in handy when you're teaching a new topic. For example, they create an instant visual for you when you're teaching your child new spelling words or grammar rules.
This will allow you to model the new topic for your kiddo and then pass off the device for them to try on their own. This is a great way to streamline your teaching process. If you struggle with illustrating certain concepts in your lessons, Boom Cards might just save the day!
If you're looking for more ideas on how to use these as a homeschooling family, check out this post to see how I use them in my classroom. While the post is written with a traditional classroom in mind, many ideas can easily be adapted for home learning.
Grab a Free Deck and Get Started!
Are you excited to give them a try?! If you're ready to try these out at home, enter your information below to receive a FREE deck of sight word Boom Cards you can use with your child. Once you receive your deck, set up a free account, and you're good to go!
Once you start with these, you'll be just as hooked as I am! Be sure to check out all the fun decks I have in my TPT Shop. I designed these tried and true activities for maximum engagement and fun!
Still have questions? Didn't find all your answers in this Boom Cards for Parents guide? Hop on over to my Boom Cards FAQ post for even more details on how to start! Happy Learning!
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