I have a great time playing toma todo, or pirinola, with children learning Spanish. The phrases are simple and practical, and kids love spinning the top. My kids grew up playing at home and in Mexico, where the six-sided top is a pirinola. In some countries it is a perinola. We get wooden tops in Mexico, but they are available in many Latino markets in the USA too. You can also make your own out [...]
This online activity was designed for native Spanish speakers, but works well with Spanish language learners too. The concept is simple – the player is given a set of pictures. In the space below the pictures, she writes the first letter of each image in order to build words and discover a phrase. If the player cannot identify a picture, she can see a hint (the word) by passing the mouse over the picture. There [...]
These are my favorite bilingual picture books to read to kids. Margaret speaks English and Margarita speaks Spanish and reading aloud the story works! The story line depends on both characters and both languages. It is an ingenious idea and the author, Lynn Reese, managed the concept beautifully to create these two lovely books. The first book Margaret and Margarita / Margarita y Margaret tells the story of how the two girls meet in the [...]
The deadline for this contest has been extended until May 15th! Encourage schools to enter! My Bilingual School Library Contest is the idea of Ana Flores and Roxana Soto at SpanglishBaby. This is a fabulous contest! Please keep reading and then spread the word. This contest will award a school library $500 worth of bilingual and Spanish language books. It is a wonderful prize and schools should definitely participate on that basis alone. However, please [...]
These printable cards in Spanish are from Interpeques. The questions are about the natural world and the answers include images that help clarify the vocabulary. There are two sets of naturaleza question-answer cards and they can be used for a variety of games. They can be glued back to back so that the question and answer are on one card, or you can keep them separate so that children can do activities matching the correct [...]
Hand clapping games are a good way to engage children actively with the Spanish language. Por aquí pasó un caballo is a traditional hand clapping game that begins with a simple rhyme and ends with counting to 16. Estaba la Catalina is a song and hand clapping game that tells the story of a woman who is waiting for her husband to come home from war. Putting the emphasis on the correct syllable is essential [...]
Hand clapping games are great Spanish language activities for children. These two games are each based on just one word, so they are simple to learn. One is Chocolate and the other is Mariposa (butterfly). They are both excellent for practicing correct Spanish pronunciation. The games break the word into syllables and put it together again. Both rhymes reinforce the short, clear vowel sounds of Spanish. The words to Chocolate are: Choco, choco, la, la [...]
My kids played lots of different hand clapping games in Spanish and English. There are many juegos de manos (also called juegos de palmas, or juegos de palmadas) in Spanish, and they have fun songs and actions. Also, in Spanish it is common to play these games in groups, not just in pairs. It takes a little practice, but kids love it. Hand clapping games are great for learning Spanish because they combine movement, rhythm [...]
PBS has launched the web-original series Noah comprende to introduce children to Spanish and also to the process of language learning. Using animated video with embedded games, the series teaches basic Spanish vocabulary and creates a context where children hear Spanish and can begin to understand what is being said. The premise of the series is that Noah is visiting his grandmother in a community where no one speaks English. He is trying to learn [...]
This is a very short, fun Spanish-language video from Discovery Kids about keeping water clean. It’s perfect for El día de la tierra, Earth Day. The audio is at a natural rate for native Spanish speakers, so it is great exposure for Spanish language learners. They will not understand every word, but that is fine. They will understand what is happening from the pictures. It is important for kids to get comfortable with not understanding [...]
Earth Day, El día de la Tierra, is April 22, and children will be hearing and thinking about how to care for the planet. When you do activities related to El día de la Tierra in Spanish, their awareness of the topic in English will help them understand and learn the same concepts in Spanish. This 12-page activity book on conserving resources is from the EPA. It is designed for Spanish-speaking children, but works really [...]
Bilingual Fun Spanish For Children Vol. 1 I was excited to get this DVD in the mail from The Bilingual Fun Company. What great work Jennifer Manriquez and her husband Mark are doing teaching Spanish to children! This DVD, Volume 1 of Spanish for Children, is a wonderful place to start for parents and educators who want to expose children to the language. The DVD is designed as an introduction to Spanish for young children [...]