These Valentine’s Day games are versions of memory (or concentration) and they are great activities for kids to speak Spanish. Kids who are reading can practice common verbs and younger Spanish learners can practice numbers and counting. Spanish game: Memory to practice pronoun-verb combinations These cards for playing memory (or other games) are based on the phrases on candy conversation hearts. I made them for kids who are reading in Spanish to reinforce the common [...]
This is wonderful Spanish song to teach or review colors. The song is called Todas las cosas tienen su color and it is by Siempre así y los Caños. The beginning of the song relates colors to objects, reinforcing the color word and the words for the different items. The second part of the song is a list of things, but the song does not mention their color. This list lends itself to lots of [...]
Jokes are a fun way to speak Spanish to children. There are Spanish jokes at all language levels, and kids love it when they can understand the word play that makes a simple joke work. You can find specific suggestions for telling jokes to kids with ten easy Spanish jokes in this post: First jokes for children learning Spanish. There are also jokes in this post: More jokes for children learning Spanish. In general, you [...]
I am participating in http://latinaish.com/’s Spanish Friday, so this post is in Spanish. An English translation follows. This week’s Spanish Friday post is written by a guest blogger. Claudia is from Colombia and is the founder of OnlineFreeSpanish. Since 2008 her site has offered a wide variety of free activities for learning Spanish. Thank you, Claudia, for contributing to Spanish Playground! Sorprendida! Así quedé hoy cuando escuché a mi amigo Herman hablar en el almuerzo. [...]
These two games with Spanish audio teach children pronunciation, animal vocabulary and letter sounds. They are from the site Leo lo que veo (I read what I see). The games were designed for native Spanish speakers, but work well with children learning Spanish. These games can be played by children of any age and any level. Both games are structured as board games. Players roll a dice and move around the board. Each space has [...]
Caballito blanco (Little White Horse) is one of the first songs my children learned in Spanish. We happen to have a white horse, so my kids loved it. Children all over the Spanish-speaking world sing this traditional song. I have also seen Caballito blanco identified as a jump rope rhyme, but my family learned the song and that is how I have used it in teaching Spanish to children. There are several versions of Caballito [...]
These printable Spanish cards for Valentine’s day are a fun activity for children learning the language. 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. To celebrate Día [...]
Talking about pictures is a great way to speak Spanish with children. Use this photo of a little girl and her mom playing in the snow to help children learn Spanish. The questions that follow, like the questions in all the Learn Spanish with Pictures activities, are ordered to help children master the vocabulary and gain confidence with the language. Start with Describe the photo (1), and be sure to point to the objects in [...]
This slideshare presentation has nine short Spanish poems about winter. They were compiled by a teacher in Alicante, Spain. One of the poems is a traditional song that I wrote about here: Spanish song – Winter. Unfortunately, I do not know the authors or sources of the other poems. You will find a Spanish transcript below the slide presentation. If you recognize any of the other poems, I would love to know if they are [...]
Grande y pequeño is a Spanish ebook for parents and teachers to read with young language learners. The repetition helps children absorb the sound and structure of the language. The text exactly describes the photos and teaches common nouns, the adjectives grande (big) and pequeño (small) and the verb hay (there is/there are). Scroll down for a parent/teacher guide and a translation. Just click for full screen and audio. The free PDF is available to [...]
This short Spanish story is available as a free download from El biblio de los chicos. It is a 24-line dialog by Melina Pogorelsky and has an illustration by Analía Godoy. This is a excellent example of authentic language that can be used successfully with Spanish language learners. The story is a dialog, but the two characters are not identified at the beginning. One is bragging about how strong, fast and organized she is. The [...]
Kids love treasure hunts, the games where each clue leads to another clue and eventually to treasure. They also have fun with scavenger hunts, where they have a list of things to find. The term Búsqueda del tesoro is used for both activities in Spanish and they can be excellent language activities for kids learning Spanish. I attached a few of my hunts at the end of the post, but you can easily make your [...]