How to Use Flaticon Icons for Free in the Classroom

As a teacher, finding ways to make lessons visually engaging is essential for capturing students’ attention and enhancing their learning experience. Whether you’re working on a math lesson, a presentation in Google Slides, or a handout in Google Docs, Flaticon offers a versatile, user-friendly solution for sprucing up your educational content.

Step into my series as I unveil an array of cutting-edge educational technology tools suitable for the classroom. This collection features tools that bring you a mix of the classics you love and some cool hidden gems – because we all know the best tools aren’t always the ones in the spotlight.

What Is Flaticon?

Flaticon, a product of the Freepik Company, is the largest database of free customizable icons on the internet. It provides users with access to a variety of free icons, as well as additional benefits for premium subscribers. Flaticon offers icons in various formats, including PNG, SVG, and EPS, making them adaptable to different platforms and software. With icon packs on virtually every subject, you’ll always find something to match your lesson needs.

Privacy and Content

Flaticon icons come from multiple sources. Some are part of Freepik’s own content, while others are from third-party collaborators. This collaboration enriches the diversity and creativity of the available icons. The platform is committed to user data protection, as outlined in its privacy policy.

Why Use Flaticon in the Classroom?

1. Engagement and Visual Learning: Icons make your materials more engaging and easier for students to follow. By incorporating Flaticon’s visually stimulating icons into your lessons, such as when creating a math lesson, you can break down complex concepts with the help of images that illustrate the topic, making it more accessible and relatable.
2. Customization: Flaticon allows you to customize each icon by adjusting the icon’s size, color, and format. This means you can seamlessly integrate the icons into your materials, matching the look and feel of your classroom resources. Teachers using tools like Google Slides or Google Docs will appreciate the simplicity of dragging and dropping these customizable icons into presentations, worksheets, or digital handouts.
3. Icon Fonts: If you’re designing a classroom website or interactive digital resources, Flaticon also offers icon fonts, allowing you to add icons directly into your text. This can create a more dynamic and modern aesthetic for any digital classroom environment.

How to Use Flaticon in the Classroom

1. Creating Engaging Presentations in Google Slides

Google Slides is widely used in classrooms, and integrating Flaticon icons can enhance the design and comprehension of your slides. Here’s how to use Flaticon in Google Slides:

• Search and download icons: Start by visiting Flaticon’s website or using its mobile app to search for icons that fit your lesson theme. For example, if you’re preparing a lesson on geometry, search for math-related icons or lineal color icons for different shapes.
• Customizing the icons: Once downloaded, you can adjust the icon’s size or even recolor it to fit your presentation’s design. For a polished look, choose from the icon’s various formats that best fit your slides.
• Integrate into Google Slides: Insert the icons by simply uploading or copying them into your Google Slides presentation. They can be placed next to text, on images, or in diagrams to visually explain concepts to students.

2. Using Flaticon in Google Docs for Handouts

Flaticon’s free icons are perfect for creating handouts that capture attention and aid in understanding. Here’s how:

• Instant access: Log in to your user account on Flaticon and gain instant access to a variety of educational icons, either free or available through a premium subscription.
• Add icons to Google Docs: Download the desired icons and place them within your Google Docs document to break up text, illustrate instructions, or highlight important points.
• Customization: Adjust the icon’s format and color to suit your handout, ensuring that they are both informative and visually cohesive.

3. Developing Creative Student Projects

Give students the opportunity to express themselves by using Flaticon for their own digital projects. Whether they’re creating a presentation or designing a report, they can easily find icons related to their subject matter. Icons can help students better communicate their ideas, making their projects more creative and visually compelling.

4. Supporting Small Businesses and Collaborators’ Content

Teachers often support small businesses and other educators in their lesson creation. With Flaticon, the collaborators’ content provides access to a wider variety of creative designs from independent artists and small creators. This further enriches the icon selection, giving you and your students even more possibilities for design.

Flaticon’s Premium Subscription Benefits

While Flaticon offers a plethora of free icons, a premium subscription unlocks even more advanced features for users. These benefits include:

• More downloads: Premium subscribers get an increased number of downloads per day, allowing you to access even more icons for different lessons and activities.
• Exclusive icon packs: In addition to free content, premium users have access to exclusive, professionally designed icon packs that are not available to free users.
• Ad-free experience: Avoid distractions with an ad-free interface when searching for the perfect icons.
• Support for small businesses: By subscribing to Flaticon’s premium plan, you contribute to supporting small businesses and independent designers.

Flaticon Mobile App

Flaticon’s mobile app is user-friendly and offers the same extensive library of icons as the desktop version, ensuring that you won’t miss out on any features while working on mobile devices. Teachers can quickly search for icons, customize them by changing colors or adjusting sizes, and seamlessly integrate them into classroom projects or presentations.

Whether you’re in between classes, attending a conference, or working remotely, the mobile app allows for flexibility in lesson planning and design. Plus, with offline access available for downloaded icons, you can continue working even without an internet connection.

Use Cases for Teachers

1. Icon-Enhanced Assignments

Using icons can help clarify instructions for younger students who may struggle with reading complex text. For example, using arrows or shapes to guide them through assignments makes it easier for them to follow along.

2. Gamified Learning

Icons can help teachers gamify learning, offering visual badges or symbols to represent achievements or levels in an activity. This can be particularly effective for creating interactive lessons that encourage participation.

3. Visual Aids for Special Needs Students

For students with learning disabilities or those who respond better to visual learning, Flaticon offers icons that can serve as helpful visual cues in your materials. The clear, customizable icons can help make lessons more inclusive.

4. Collaborative Projects

Icons are a great way to encourage student collaboration in group projects. When working in Google Slides or Google Docs, students can use Flaticon icons to assign tasks visually, label sections of a project, or illustrate their collective work. This not only adds creativity but also helps students communicate more effectively, especially in visual-heavy subjects like art or social studies. Teachers can assign specific icon packs for group projects, allowing students to explore themes relevant to their research while collaborating in a fun and engaging way.

5. Digital Storytelling

Icons can also play a significant role in enhancing digital storytelling projects. Students can use Flaticon to represent characters, objects, or settings in their narratives. By incorporating icons into their stories, students can develop richer, more engaging digital narratives that cater to both visual and written storytelling. This helps them improve their ability to express ideas creatively and think critically about how visuals support their text.

6. Homework Help and Study Guides

Incorporating icons into study guides or homework instructions can make reviewing and understanding content easier for students. By using customizable icons, teachers can create clear, visual guides for different subjects, such as science diagrams or historical timelines, making homework more interactive and digestible.

The Power of Visuals in Learning

Icons can also break the monotony of text-heavy materials, keeping students more engaged and focused throughout the lesson. By visually representing key ideas, icons help students create mental associations, which can improve memory retention and make recalling information easier during assessments. 

Furthermore, the ability to customize and adapt icons to fit any lesson plan or theme allows teachers to tailor the visuals specifically to their student’s learning needs and preferences, enhancing overall classroom effectiveness.

Conclusion

Flaticon is a valuable resource for any teacher looking to elevate their classroom materials with rich, engaging visuals. From the free icons to the added benefits for premium subscribers, Flaticon offers an expansive range of customizable content that can meet the needs of any classroom. Whether you’re creating a Google Slides presentation or a Google Docs handout, the icon packs from Flaticon offer endless possibilities for helping students learn more effectively and creatively.