I write about lots of traditional playground games, hand-clapping games and jump rope rhymes that children play in Spanish. Recently Summer Nanny featured one of my articles in list of 20 blogs with playground games. A few of the games mentioned in the list lend themselves particularly well to language learning and I wanted to share five of them here. Check out Summer Nanny for more outside activities – everything from classic games to ways [...]
These questions in Spanish are useful for all kinds of activities, including board games, classroom games or just asking each other for fun. Children learn many of these words and structures in elementary school. They also are familiar with the content. Of course, what kids understand will depend on their level and age. You can always reword the questions to make them easier for your students or children to understand. Una preguntita is a continually [...]
These two online games are from Educapeques. They are designed to teach basic concepts and prepositions to native Spanish speakers and are also excellent online games for teaching Spanish vocabulary and agreement to language learners. Children see a set of four simple drawings and hear clear audio instructions telling them to click on one of the images. The objects in the drawings are familiar, so the instructions kids hear will have words like mesa, vasos, [...]
I use picture cards for all kinds of games and activities. This PDF has the following sets for 12 animals: 12 small picture cards – 4 per page 12 small picture cards with text – 4 per page 12 word cards – 4 per page 12 large picture cards with text – 2 per page 12 full-page coloring sheets Syllable squares for 12 words You can use them as a set, or you can print [...]
These Spanish questions are based on vocabulary children learn early in their exposure to the language. The questions include words for numbers, seasons, colors, animals and food. I use questions like these for all kinds of games and activities, including board games. Una preguntita is a growing collection of questions that encourage kids to draw on information they know to understand Spanish. Although some words in the questions will be new, kids use their prior [...]
This set of Spanish questions is based on some of the first vocabulary that children learn. The questions include words for numbers, body parts, colors, animals and food. I use questions like these for all kinds of activities, including board games and classroom games. Una preguntita is a continually growing collection of questions that encourage kids to draw on information they know to understand Spanish. Although some words in the questions will be new, kids [...]
Easter is just a few days away and many of us will be spending time with friends and family. These gatherings can be a good time for kids to practice simple Spanish conversation, or if your family speaks Spanish at home, to spend time listening and speaking the language with relatives. Also, those plastic eggs are just so handy, I could not resist putting a little Spanish in them! These Spanish conversation questions are at [...]
Below you will find a word search with Spanish Easter vocabulary. The words go in all directions, including backwards. The solution is included in the PDF. Lots of kids really like word searches, or sopa de letras, in Spanish. As a supplemental activity, these puzzles can focus attention on a specific category of Spanish words that a child is learning. They are also useful for reinforcing the letter sounds and the sounds in specific words. [...]
Preschoolers love imaginative play, so we do lots of it in my classes. One game that is always a big hit is when we pretend that our pets are hurt and need una curita, a band-aid. We practice Spanish body parts with this activity and I also teach the traditional saying Sana, sana colita de rana, si no sanas hoy, sanarás mañana. All you need to play are felt band-aids and a stuffed animal for [...]
Una preguntita is a continually growing collection of questions that encourage kids to draw on information they know to understand Spanish. These questions are perfect for all kinds of games and activities. Although some words in the questions will be new, kids use their prior knowledge as context to understand and answer. You can find a more complete explanation of using knowledge as context here and a set of questions for very beginners here. Be [...]
In this printable Spanish board game, kids move around the board by clapping and counting the number of syllables in a word. There are pictures accompanying the words on the cards, so kids learn new vocabulary too. Most of the vocabulary is related to spring. In Spanish, syllables define how to read, spell and accentuate words. Because syllables are so important, they are the basis for learning to read. In English, children learn to “sound [...]
Discovery Kids has created a Spanish color game called El juego de los colores. The game has wonderful, clear audio and is a perfect way for Spanish language learners to practice color vocabulary and also absorb native-speaker pronunciation. In addition to color words and verbs, players hear the words pintura, pincel and mezclar used repeatedly. The game consists of mixing two colors to form a new color and using that color to paint a picture. [...]