This activity involves listening to instructions that describe a location and then clicking on the object in that location. Native Spanish speakers play the game to practice the concepts of left, right, center, upper and lower. For Spanish language learners who have already mastered these concepts, it is excellent vocabulary practice. Native speaker pronunciation and the natural rate of speech also make this activity good listening practice. Click on this link to practice listening to [...]
Word problems that practice basic math skills use important Spanish verbs to express the problem that children need to solve. Problems to practice addition and subtraction use the verbs tener (to have), faltar (to be missing), quedar (to be left), and sobrar (to be left over) to ask for information. Of course, simple arithmetic problems are also a good way to review numbers in Spanish. This set of problems is meant for native Spanish speakers, [...]
For all of my classes, I have a set of short, entertaining activities to fall back on at times when I am especially busy, when students are working hard with new material or if I just want to change the pace and dynamic of a class. I think of them as “fun and fast” games. These activities take no preparation and the goal is simply to re-enter material and have fun with the language. I [...]
Teachers and parents teaching Spanish to their children should build Spanish into daily routines as much as possible. Repetition is essential to language learning, and if teachers and parents incorporate a song or a poem into daily activities, they are much more likely to be consistent and repeat the Spanish enough that children can process it and learn the words and structures at a deep level. This little song Te quiero (I love you) is [...]
It is going to be a little quieter on Spanish Playground for the next few weeks. As quite a few of you know, I am having double jaw surgery tomorrow. I don’t expect it to be much fun, but I am thrilled that my 25-year-old daughter is coming home from Lima, Peru to take care of me for three weeks! It occurs to me that teaching Spanish to children and recovering from jaw surgery are [...]
My kids learned a lot of Spanish through popular music. When they were small, we listened to music in Spanish in the car. They were patient with my musical taste most of the time, and as they got older, they started recommending artists and songs in Spanish that they liked. Now, they are my best source for new music in Spanish and English. In addition to exposing children to language, music reflects and communicates culture [...]
Valentine’s day in Spanish is Día del amor y la amistad (The day of love and friendship), Día de San Valentín or Día de los enamorados. Most Spanish-speaking countries celebrate on Feb. 14th, although in Colombia they celebrate on the third Saturday of September. Many countries also celebrate El día del amigo in June or July. Children love Día del amor y la amistad because it is chance to recognize how important their friends are [...]
Stories without words are useful tools for teaching Spanish to children. These wordless picture books engage children actively with the events on the page. Children interpret the drawings and follow the narrative by identifying characters, emotions, actions, and consequences. Simple phrases and questions in Spanish make the most of this connection and of the context created by the illustrations. In addition, teachers and parents can use Spanish at an appropriate level so that reading is [...]