A vowel rhyme for children learning Spanish

Tomorrow I am flying to Peru visit my daughter for a couple of weeks.  She is 24 and works for an NGO in Lima. While I’m there I plan to spend time looking at books, games, and educational materials. Also, just watching children play I find rhymes and games that I can adapt to use with children learning Spanish here.

Traveling is a good reminder of why the rest of world masters English in a way that Americans do not master other languages.  In addition to being motivated to learn, children in much of Latin American hear and see a tremendous amount of English everyday. Television, music, movies, toys, and tourists all bring English into their lives – exactly the language rich environment that teachers here strive to create for children learning Spanish.

With Peru in mind, here is a simple vowel rhyme. It works well with a few children or a bigger group. In a circle I start the rhyme with the child next to me, pointing around the circle as I say each syllable. The last child answers the question, ¿Cómo te llamas tú? and then starts the rhyme again. This is also a good choosing rhyme to begin a game.

A, E, I , O, U                            A, E, I , O, U

Árbolito de Perú                     Little tree from Perú

Yo me llamo ……                     My name is ………..

¿Cómo te llamas tú?              What is your name?

Remember that the vowels in Spanish always sound the same. You can hear and practice them here: letters in Spanish.