So I found some other flash cards at Walmart that have a picture on one side and the word on the other. I also saw the flash cards at Target that just have words. Anybody have thoughts on which is better and why?
I think that all depends on what you’re trying to teach your child with the flash cards; i.e. reading, encyclopedic knowledge, math, etc.
I took back an extra swim pool Ayden got for his birthday last month and bought all the flash cards from Target for $1.00. I figured I will use them as he gets older too. So depending on what we are working on will depend on what ones I use. The topics included all the states, presidents, dinosaurs, animals, numbers, opposites etc. I figured I could also alter them or use the information on them to develop other learning material. Right now he is so anxious to learn anything I show him so the skies the limit! 
Assuming that the only difference between the sets is that one has pictures on one side plus word on the other and the other has only word, then I would definitely choose the one with word and picture.
The reason is that you could use it in more ways. This is how you can use them, and it’s similar to how the Little Reader printouts have been designed:
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Slower, multisensory style - show word, flip to the back to show picture, talk about it, etc., flip back to the word for one final repeat before moving on to next card.
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Word flash style - just flash the words one after another
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Picture flash style - after that, flip it around and flash just the pictures one after another.
KL, you do not recommend flashing (quickly 1 sec each) words followed by pictures (or pictures followed by words). Is there any special reason for that? Why do not you list it in the possibilities of using the flashcards as well as other options?
I do both…one reinforces the other.
Babies can never be saturated in enough words and pictures, i reckon. No point in knowing the word “cow”, though, if you don’t know what a cow looks like. With common words, you’d see the items in real life, but many flashcards teach uncommon words, like the Steve parish set I have which teaches Australian animals. How often is my baby going to see a jabiru, platypus or numbat in real life, let alone underwater creatures? So I reckon dont just focus on words, as they need to see the visual representation of the meaning of the word. In fact, other than on educational DVDs, bubby probably doesnt see that many cows or sheep, as she always seems to be asleep when we drive past any in the car!!
No, no, I do not ‘NOT’ recommend it, I just didn’t mention it!
With the flashcards that akgard mentioned, it would be hard to flash the word + picture for each word one after another because you need to flip each card around.
BUT, if you were using PPT or Little Reader, or you had flash cards with words and pictures on separate cards arranged one after another, then YES, you can also flash them word+picture one after another, as another form.
remember, variety is always great!
so I guess the message here is if there is a picture to go with the word it doesn’t hurt to show it also and if there isn’t a picture that’s okay too. Thanks for the help.