Kids learning Spanish can practice vocabulary and agreement with this photo collage based on the colors of the American flag. The common objects in the pictures are red, white and blue. Here are a few ideas for using the photos with Spanish language learners: – Read the descriptions. Try to find the photographs in the collage. (PDF below) – Categorize the objects by color. Find and name the red things, the blue things and the [...]
¿Quién robó pan? is a traditional game played in many Spanish-speaking countries. It is a chant in the form of a dialog. Kids often play this game on a bus or when a group is waiting. I use this game with Spanish language learners even if the group is fairly small. I like it because it has the rhythm of a natural dialog and uses common structures that are easily transferred to other situations. It [...]
Help your child learn Spanish by talking about this picture of a man painting a picture. The questions that follow, like 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 the picture as you talk about them. Use gestures, facial expressions and actions to help your child understand [...]
The Noyo Spanish Vocab app for iPad is a supplemental vocabulary builder for beginning Spanish learners. It is available from iTunes and you can read more about the application on the Noyo website. There is also a version with no English text for children in immersion programs. Noyo Spanish Vocab consists of detailed scenes grouped by themes: los viajes, la comida, los deportes, la ciudad, la casa, los animales, las estaciones, la escuela. In the [...]
Printable Spanish activities can keep children reading, writing and thinking in Spanish during the summer. It is common in Spain for teachers to compile work for their students to do over vacation. The activities can sometimes be a little dry and boring, depending on the teacher, but they can also be a valuable way to maintain contact with the language. Below are several sites with cuadernos de actividades at different levels that you can print [...]
One of my favorite websites is Made by Joel. Joel Henriques is an artist and designer in Portland and he shares art and handmade education projects for children on his site. He has many beautiful free printables that are excellent for language activities. Below you will find links to the paper cities, but take time to explore the whole site. It is full of wonderful art activities for kids and adults. For my classes, I [...]
Summer is here and kids will be spending lots of time in the water. In Spanish it is very common to say ¡Al agua pato! or ¡Al agua patos¡ (Into the water duck/ducks) to encourage children to get into the water. This is a phrase you can use at swimming lessons, the beach, the pool or bath time. The phrase is so common that it is a brand of children’s swimwear and is used as [...]
Stories from BookBox are a wonderful resource for building reading and listening skills in Spanish. BookBox creates animated books with Same Language Subtitling (SLS) to support reading and literacy development around the world. They have a great website with dozens of stories that can be viewed in different languages at no cost. The not-for-profit enterprise PlanetRead is the parent organization of BookBox. Through PlanetRead, BookBox gifts one hour of reading to a beginning reader for [...]
Can you guess this word? Listen to this short Spanish audio description of a word that we often associate with summer and vacation. This is one of a series of videos called Adivina la palabra de hoy (Guess Today’s Word). The Spanish audio in these short videos is excellent. The series is produced by a private non-profit from Spain that promotes the teaching of Spanish, the Fundación de la Lengua Española. In this video, two [...]
There are lots of versions of The Itsy Bitsy Spider in Spanish. The lyrics are fairly close to the English, although in some versions the spider is spinning her web or climbing a wall when the rain comes. La araña pequeñita, La itzi bitzi araña, Winsy, winsy araña and Wichi, wichi araña are just a few of the names this song or finger play has in Spanish. I include the lyrics to three common versions [...]
I love this card for Día del Padre! Several of my private students are going to be giving this tarjeta to Dad this Father’s Day. The printable card has a pirinola that you can cut out to play Toma todo with Dad. A pirinola is a top with instructions on each side. Toma todo is a traditional game that my kids played all the time in Mexico. In some countries the top is called a [...]
OnlineFreeSpanish has added a set of activities for Día del Padre. Follow the link below to reach these interactive games. The vocabulary in these games tends to be associated with Dads, but it is also just practical, common Spanish that will serve any language learner well. The set of lessons includes five different interactive games and printable cards in Spanish for Father’s Day. The first game is titled simply Father’s Day and has lots of [...]