CC Image courtesy of Jeremy Tarling

1. Describir la foto – Describe the photo
Hay dos personas en esta foto. Una mamá y su hija juegan en la nieve. Están en la acera. Hay nieve en la acera, en la calle y en los carros. La mamá tiene una bola de nieve en la mano. Se la va a tirar a su hija. La niña también tiene una bola de nieve en la mano. Las dos llevan abrigos y botas. El abrigo de la mamá es negro y sus botas son de muchos colores. El abrigo de la niña es rojo y sus botas también son rojas. La niña se está riendo. Ella se está divirtiendo.

[There are two people in this picture. A mom and her daughter are playing in the snow. They are on the sidewalk. There is snow on the sidewalk, on the street and on the cars. The mom has a snowball in her hand. She is going to throw it at her daughter. The little girl also has a snowball in her hand. Both of them are wearing coats and boots. The mom’s coat is black and her boots are many different colors. The little girl’s coat is red and her boots are red too. The little girl is laughing. She is having fun.]

2. Seleccionar la respuesta – Choose the answer
¿La mamá juega con su hijo o con su hija?
¿La mamá y su hija están en la acera o en la calle?
¿La mamá tiene una bola de nieve o dos bolas de nieve?
¿La niña tiene un abrigo negro o un abrigo rojo? ¿Sus botas son negras o rojas?

3. Señalar con el dedo – Pointing and counting
¿Cuántas personas hay en la foto?
¿Dónde está la mamá?
¿Dónde está la niña?
¿Dónde está la bola de nieve que tiene la mamá?
¿Dónde están las botas de la niña?
¿Dónde está la calle?
¿Cuántos carros hay en la foto?

4. Sí o no – Yes or No
¿Hay tres personas en la foto?
¿Hay nieve en la calle?
¿La mamá va a tirar la bola de nieve?
¿La niña tiene una bola de nieve?
¿Las botas de la mamá son rojas?
¿El abrigo de la mamá es negro?
¿La niña se está divirtiendo?

5. Decir un poco más – Say a little more (respuestas/answers)
¿Cuántas personas hay en la foto? (Hay dos. / There are two.)
¿Dónde están las personas? (Están en la acera. / They are on the sidewalk.)
¿Dónde están los carros? (Están en la calle. / They are in the street.)
¿Qué tiene la niña en la mano? (Tiene una bola de nieve. / She has a snowball.)
¿Quién va a tirar una bola de nieve? (La mamá va a tirar una bola de nieve. / The mom is going to throw a snowball.)
¿De qué color es el abrigo de la niña? (El abrigo de la niña es rojo. / The little girl’s coat is red.)
¿Quién se está riendo? (La niña se está riendo. / The little girl is laughing.)

6. ¿Y tú? –  What about you? (verb forms for answers)
¿Hay nieve donde vives? (Hay…)
¿Te gusta jugar en la nieve? (Me gusta… No me gusta…)
¿Tienes botas? ¿De qué color son? (Tengo… Son…)
¿Tienes un abrigo? ¿De qué color es? (Tengo… Es…)
¿Te diviertes jugando afuera? ¿Tiras bolas de nieve? ¿Corres? (Si, me divierto…No, no me divierto…Tiro…Corro…)
¿Con quién juegas? ¿Con tu mamá? ¿Con tu papá? ¿Con tus hermanos? ¿Con tus amigos? (Juego…)

7. Vocabulario – Vocabulary
hay – there are, there is
personas – people
la foto – photograph
una mamá – a mom
su hija – her daughter
juegan – are playing
la nieve – the snow
están – are
la acera – sidewalk
la calle – the street
los carros – the cars
tiene – has
una bola de nieve – a snowball
la mano – hand
Se la va a tirar a su hija. – She is going to throw it at her daughter.
la niña – the little girl
también – also
las dos – both of them
llevan – are wearing
botas – boots
abrigos – coats
negro – black
muchos – many
colores – colors
rojo – red
se está riendo – is laughing
Ella se está divirtiendo. – She is having fun.

You may also be interested in this activity – Kids learn Spanish with pictures – Happy Pigs

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 traditional, or who wrote them.

Spanish poems – Winter

All of these poems are short and can be used with Spanish language learners. The simplest poem is just four lines. It does not rhyme in English, but has assonant rhyme in Spanish.

La nieve cae. / Snow is falling.
El frío llegó. / The cold arrived.
Gorro y bufanda / Hat and scarf
me pongo yo. / I put on.

The others are a little longer, but all of them have common winter vocabulary. These poems are an excellent length to read with young Spanish learners. Kids love the rhythm and rhyme, and you could easily add actions, illustrate the poems together, or sing them to a simple tune.  ¡Que se disfruten del invierno!

¿Uno? ¿Dos? ¿Tal vez tres? is a Spanish ebook for parents and teachers to read with young language learners. The repetition and rhyme help children absorb the sound of the language and the text encourages children to count the animals, engaging them with the language. Scroll down for a parent/teacher guide and a translation. Just click for full screen and audio. The free PDF is available to download from issuu.

A Guide for Parents and Teachers

¿Uno? ¿Dos? ¿Tal vez tres?
- Uses vibrant photographs to make the meaning of Spanish words clear.
- Helps children actively engage with Spanish to process the language at a deeper level.

As you read
- Point to the pictures.
- Count the animals in Spanish with your child, pointing to each one.
- If you are using the audio, pause (click on the speaker in issuu) to let your child count.
- Use phrases like these:

Hay unos caballos. ¿Cuántos ves? / There are some horses. How many do you see?

Veo muchos caballos. /  I see a lot of horses.

Vamos a contarlos. / Let’s count them.

Unos, dos, tres, cuatro, cinco, seis – Veo seis caballos. / One, two, three, four, five, six – I see six horses.

Language notes
- The words ¿cuántos? and ¿cuántas? mean “how many.”  They are adjectives and agree with the noun that follows.

¿Cuántos perros ves? / How many dogs do you see?

¿Cuántas tortugas ves? / How many turtles do you see?

- The book uses the verb form ves. It is the verb ver (to see) in the tú form meaning ”Do you see?”  To answer, use the verb form veo (I see).

Veo tres vacas. / I see three cows.

Veo diez patos. / I see ten ducks.

Translation
¿Uno? ¿Dos? ¿Tal vez tres? / One, two, maybe three?

¿Uno? ¿Dos? ¿Tal vez tres? / One, two, maybe three?
Dime cuántos gatos ves. / Tell me how many cats you see.

¿Uno? ¿Dos? ¿Tal vez tres? / One, two, maybe three?
Dime cuántos osos ves. / Tell me how many bears you see.

¿Uno? ¿Dos? ¿Tal vez tres? / One, two, maybe three?
Dime cuántas vacas ves. / Tell me how many cows you see.

¿Cuatro? ¿Cinco? ¿Tal vez seis? / Four, five, maybe six?
Dime cuántos cerdos ves. / Tell me how many pigs you see.

¿Cuatro? ¿Cinco? ¿Tal vez seis? / Four, five, maybe six?
Dime cuántas tortugas ves. / Tell me how many turtles you see.

¿Cuatro? ¿Cinco? ¿Tal vez seis? / Four, five, maybe six?
Dime cuántos caballos ves. / Tell me how many horses you see.

¿Siete? ¿Ocho? ¿Nueve? ¿Diez? / Seven, eight, nine, ten?
Dime cuántos perros ves. / Tell me how many dogs you see.

¿Siete? ¿Ocho? ¿Nueve? ¿Diez? / Seven, eight, nine, ten?
Dime cuántos elefantes ves. / Tell me how many elephants you see.

¿Siete? ¿Ocho? ¿Nueve? ¿Diez? / Seven, eight, nine, ten?
Dime cuántos pájaros ves. / Tell me how many birds you see.

¿Siete? ¿Ocho? ¿Nueve? ¿Diez? / Seven, eight, nine, ten?
Dime cuántos patos ves. / Tell me how many ducks you see.

Contaste animales / You counted animals
de uno a diez. / from one to ten.
Aquí están todos –  / Here they all are -
cuéntalos otra vez. / count them again.

Spanish Together has a wonderful free video about a snowman that is perfect for using with beginning Spanish learners this time of year. Un muñeco de nieve begins by asking ¿Qué es? and then adds the parts to the snowman one by one using tiene (he has): tiene dos ojos, tiene una nariz, tiene una boca, etc. When the snowman is complete with buttons, hat, and scarf, kids get the answer ¡es un muñeco de nieve! (It’s a snowman!).

In addition to the video on YouTube, the audio is available to download from the Spanish Together CD We love Spanish on cdbaby or itunes. This CD has lots of fun music that teaches children Spanish, and Un muñeco de nieve makes a great listening activity for beginning learners. You can use it in combination with the video to provide lots of repetition and exposure to native-speaker Spanish.

Just watching the video and listening kids are learning Spanish. If  you want to give engage your child more actively with the language, try the following steps. You do not have to do them all at once. A little at a time is great!  If your child gets tired or is distracted, do more on another day. Just begin by watching the video together each time. The entire video/audio is 30 seconds long.

1. View the video together just listening and watching. Spanish video – Un muñeco de nieve

2. Draw a picture of a snowman with your child. You should each draw one. Use the sentences from the video (like Tiene dos ojos.) and point at the picture you are drawing. Point to your child’s picture too, and use the sentences from the video. It does not matter in what order you draw the snowmen, but include all the parts in the video (dos ojos, una nariz, una boca, dos manos, tres botones, una bufanda, un sombrero). Your child does not have to repeat the words, she is learning by listening.

3. Watch the video again. Point to the parts of the snowman that you drew when you hear them and see them. Pause the video to give your child time to point.

4. Download the audio for Un muñeco de nieve from iTunes or cdbaby. Listen to the audio once through together.

5. Listen again and as you hear each word point to that part on the snowman you made. Pause the audio to give your child time to point.

6. Use construction paper (or other materials) to assemble a snowman as you listen to the audio again. Listen to the first step and then pause it as you put on the eyes. Start the audio over and listen to ¿Qué es? Tiene dos ojos, tiene una nariz. Pause the video again. Each time, start the audio over from the beginning so that your child hears what she has done and can listen for what comes next.

7. Reinforce the sentences from the video in other situations. Use them by:
- building a real snowman.
- pointing to pictures of snowmen in picture books and ornaments and decorations.
- pointing to pictures of people dressed for winter in books and catalogs.
- talking about people you see outside (pointing is not polite)

8. With almost all these steps, you can also point to your child and use the verb tienes (you have): Tienes dos ojos. Tienes una nariz. Do this starting with step 2, when you are drawing the snowmen together.

Learning Spanish takes lots of repetition of natural language in contexts that reinforce the meaning of the words. This video and audio are exactly the kind of materials that you can use to help kids learn. You can find another snowman activity here: Learn Spanish with Pictures – A snowman.

This extensive set of free printable materials has lots of wonderful activities for Spanish language learners. It is offered by Udicom on the educational portal Educarm of the Department of Education in Murcia, Spain.

These printable PDFs are designed for native Spanish speakers with a focus on language in context. The set includes a variety of activities that can be used with Spanish language learners at different levels. These materials are divided into 11 units. Each unit is divided into 6 sections with many different activities. Each unit also includes sets of activities for several letters.

The first section in each unit, Bloque 1, begins with a vocabulary list and picture cards with the image, the word in print and the word in cursive. These are followed by vocabulary exercises like crossing out the picture that does not belong, cutting and pasting into categories and ordering a series of pictures.

All the sections in a unit have exercises for beginning readers like matching the picture to the word, categorizing, completing the word, ordering syllables, and puzzles like crosswords and wordsearches. In addition, there is practice with basic grammar points like gender and articles (el or la) and forming plurals. There are also activities with basic concepts like shapes, colors, and size.

The exercises are from Spain, so some of the words, nouns in particular, differ from what is used in Latin America. However, the vast majority of the vocabulary is standard. There is a lot of material in these units and much of it will be useful to teachers and parents working with Spanish language learners.

These materials are offered free of charge for educational purposes. You can accept the terms of use here and you will be taken to the index of Printable Spanish Activities.

You can go directly to the index to look over the activities, but do go back and accept the terms of use (to not modify the work and leave the copyright intact) if you find materials  you can use.

These are the 11 units:

1. El colegio y mi aula.  - School and my classroom
2. El cuerpo y los sentidos. – The body and the senses
3. Los alimentos. – Food
4. Las prendas de vestir. – Clothing
5. La casa. – The house
6. La calle. – The street
7. Los oficios. – Jobs
8. Los animales. – Animals
9. Las plantas. – Plants
10. Los medios de transporte. – Transportation
11. Los medios de comunicación. – Communication

CC Image courtesy of Heather Sunderland

1. Describir la foto – Describe the photo
El muñeco de nieve es blanco y alto. Tiene un sombrero negro, dos ojos negros y una nariz anaranjada. El muñeco de nieve tiene una bufanda roja y cuatro botones negros. Tiene una boca sonriente, pero no es fácil verla. Detrás del muñeco de nieve, hay un árbol con luces.

[The snowman is white and tall. He has a black hat, two black eyes and an orange nose. The snowman has a red scarf and four black buttons. He has a smiling mouth, but it’s not easy to see it. Behind the snowman, there is a tree with lights.]

2. Seleccionar la respuesta – Choose the answer
¿El muñeco de nieve es bajo o es alto?
¿Tiene un sombrero negro o un sombrero rojo?
¿Tiene cuatro botones o tiene cinco botones?

3. Señalar con el dedo – Pointing and counting
¿Dónde está el sombrero del muñeco de nieve?
¿Dónde están los ojos?
¿Dónde está la boca sonriente del muñeco de nieve? ¡No es fácil verla!
¿Cuántos botones tiene?
¿Dónde está la bufanda?
¿Dónde está el árbol con luces?

4. Sí o no – Yes or No
¿El muñeco de nieve es alto?
¿El muñeco de nieve tiene cuatro ojos?
¿Tiene una bufanda negra?
¿El árbol está detrás del muñeco de nieve?

5. Decir un poco más – Say a little more (respuestas/answers)
¿De qué color es el muñeco de nieve? (Es blanco. / He is white.)
¿De qué color son los ojos? (Son negros. / They are black.)
¿Qué prendas de vestir tiene el muñeco de nieve? (Tiene un sombrero y una bufanda. / He has a hat and a scarf.)
¿Qué hay en el árbol? (Hay luces / There are lights.)

6. ¿Y tú? –  What about you?
¿Hay nieve donde vives?
¿Te gusta hacer un muñeco de nieve?
¿Tienes una bufanda? ¿De qué color es?
Los ojos del muñeco de nieve son negros. ¿De qué color son tus ojos?

7. Vocabulario – Vocabulary
el muñeco de nieve – snowman
blanco – white
alto – tall
tiene – has
el sombrero – hat
negro – black
ojos – eyes
la nariz – nose
anaranjada – orange
la bufanda – scraf
roja – red
los botones – buttons
la boca – mouth
sonriente – smiling
pero – but
fácil – easy
ver – to see
detrás de – behind
hay – there is
el árbol – tree
las luces – lights

Let’s Learn to Speak Spanish: Conversational Workbook and CD is a set of worksheets and activities by Susana Murphy, published by the non-profit One World Foundation. Susana sent me a copy of this book because she realized it would be helpful to many Spanish Playground readers. These activities are an excellent supplement to an elementary Spanish program. The book is also a great choice for parents who want to reinforce a school program or introduce their child to Spanish at home. The exercises cover the most common introductory topics and the pages can be photocopied. It takes tons of material to give kids enough exposure to these basics. This workbook gives teachers and parents an easy way to reinforce what kids are learning.

Most of these Spanish activities are based on translation and there is a glossary in the back of the book. This format makes the book is a good choice for parents who do not have much knowledge of Spanish but want to introduce school-age children to Spanish at home. The workbook comes with an audio CD of native speakers from Costa Rica, Colombia and the Dominican Republic. With this support, parents and kids can hear the correct pronunciation and practice the sounds of Spanish. These are written activities, but I really like how consistently this book reminds kids to use the spoken language. They need lots encouragement to speak Spanish!

Let’s Learn to Speak Spanish includes activities on topics like the alphabet, greetings, numbers, the days of the week, the months of the year, and the weather. There are also worksheets for units like colors, food, animals, clothing, body parts and places. The grammar practice is basic and appropriate for many elementary programs and even middle school programs. In addition to the singular forms of regular -ar verbs in the present, the book has exercises on ir, tener, querer and gustar.

For each of the topics covered, there are several different Spanish activities. You will find word searches, scrambled words, and pictures to color. Kids will choose which word does not belong, match words to pictures, copy Spanish sentences and complete sentences by filling in the blank. The book includes flash cards of common phrases and vocabulary and also mini-books to practice the verbs quiero, voy and tengo. All of the worksheets provide sufficient practice, but are not so long that they become boring.  Also, I love the choice of vocabulary in this book. It is truly representative of a standard Spanish that will be understood worldwide.

Many of these topics include a section called ¿Sabes? on one of the worksheets. These sections are a wonderful collection of cultural and linguistic information. The explanations are short with clear examples and include all kinds of fun, useful and very accurate information.

There is no doubt that this book will save teachers time and provide students with an opportunity to practice the basics. I think that Let’s Learn to Speak Spanish is also a great model of the kinds of Spanish activities that teachers can make. For parents who want to introduce kids to Spanish at home or reinforce a school program, there are a variety of activities that will keep kids entertained while giving them some of the essential practice that it takes to learn Spanish.

Disclosure: The company sent me a copy of the book to write this article. All of the ideas and opinions are my own.

I have been having a great time with the Whistlefritz CD, Cha, Cha, Cha -Spanish Learning Songs. This award-winning collection of songs for children has a combination of original works and traditional music in Spanish. Visit the website to learn more about the Whistlefritz Spanish CDs and Spanish DVDs for kids.

The CD Cha, Cha, Cha is designed for children learning Spanish, but this is music that native speakers will enjoy just as much. The original songs teach basic concepts like the vowels, the days of the week, the months, and the seasons. Jorge Anaya’s arrangements of the traditional songs are so well done that they feel “right” to native speakers. This is excellent music for learning Spanish, but it is also just excellent music.

The original songs will teach Spanish vocabulary, verbs, and pronunciation to children learning Spanish. These songs are carefully designed language-learning tools. Many can be combined with actions, and they all create a context that gives the language meaning. I will mention a few of my favorites to give you an idea of how carefully crafted this music is.

Las estaciones (The Seasons) is about the weather in each season and the clothes children put on to go out to play. The weather vocabulary reinforces the meaning of the clothes words and vice versa. The language – season, weather, clothes – comes together to make a logical whole so that kids understand and remember it. This song can easily be combined with actions – one of the best ways for kids to learn Spanish. Like lots of the songs on this CD, it is very visual. It would be a great song for kids to illustrate. I also love the message of this song – that you can always be outside. No matter the weather, you dress for it and go out to play. Living in Wisconsin, this is the attitude you have to have!

Me gusta viajar (I like to travel) is a song that lends itself to really fun actions and also to being illustrated. It teaches lots of vocabulary, but so logically that kids will learn it without realizing it. The song begins Me gusta viajar….por cielo, por tierra o…por el mar (I like to travel… through the sky, over the land or… by sea). The verses that follow are about how we travel in those places, and carefully incorporate the vehicles carro, tren, bote de vela and avión (car, train, boat, plane), the opposites abajo – arriba and rápido – lento (above – below and fast – slow) and words we use with geography like cerro, puente, ciudad, campo, and bahía (hill, bridge, city, countryside and bay). There is plenty of repetition and an overall symmetry that makes the song very easy to learn.

Los días de la semana teaches the days of the week and a lot more Spanish. As vocabulary, the days of the week are very abstract. The words only have meaning in association with something concrete (you can get a sense of this if you try to describe the essence of Monday and distinguish it from Tuesday). The song Los días de la semana provides that association by pairing the days of the week with different actions and body parts. Lunes, levanto los dos brazos. Martes, yo salto en un pie. (Monday, I lift my two arms. Tuesday, I jump on one foot). This is a cumulative song, so each time you add a day and action, you go back and sing the other days too. It is active, fun and a wonderful way to learn Spanish.

Los días de la semana is a great example of a children’s song that could, and should, be used at other levels. Middle school and high school classes would learn the days of the week in no time, and also learn body parts and verbs in a natural, entertaining way.

This CD also has an well-chosen selection of traditional songs. These are some of the best known children’s songs throughout the Spanish-speaking world. They include Que llueva, La cucaracha, Los elefantes and El barco chiquito. They are songs that children learning Spanish will love and also a part of the cultural knowledge that is so important in learning a language.

Use these links for more information about Whistlefritz  and to hear clips of the wonderful Spanish songs on Cha, Cha, Cha.

Magic Spanish for Kids is an award-winning audio CD about a magical trip to Mexico. Two friends, Bobby and María, take this journey with a series of conversations and songs designed to introduce children to basic Spanish. This CD by Beth Manners’ Fun French and Spanish is designed for children ages 2-6, but would also be appropriate for older children beginning to learn Spanish.

In this story, María does not speak much English and Bobby does not speak much Spanish, so they translate what they hear, checking to see if they have understood. With this premise, the English is repeated in Spanish and the Spanish is repeated in English as a natural part of the story. There are also seven Spanish songs on this CD. These lively, singable songs are in Spanish and woven into the narrative of the story. The lyrics are included in the CD liner.

The trip to Mexico provides a loose setting for the narrative, but it is not trying to create enough context to make the language clear. That is done through translation, and children listening will always understand what is happening. Children learning Spanish need to be exposed to as much native-speaker Spanish as possible and a variety of materials can be a huge help to parents and teachers. The Spanish on this CD is clear and is a great way for beginners to listen to the language in an inviting and accessible setting.

There is lots of vocabulary on this CD. Magic Spanish for Kids introduces children to common Spanish words like colors, clothes, toys, body parts and the present tense of several verbs. Kids will not remember all of this vocabulary, but these words are going to be repeated in other situations. This CD gives them a good introduction to the sounds of this basic vocabulary. The story also introduces children to the concept of verb conjugation. Kids hear verbs change as Bobby and María talk about what different people will take on the trip (llevar), what they will give (dar) to someone or what they have (tener).

Magic Spanish for Kids also encourages children to say some of the most common Spanish words and phrases aloud with the characters. These words are carefully chosen and very manageable. Bobby and María ask kids to say simple practical Spanish phrases like hola, vamos a México, por favor, gracias, a casa. Although this CD is mostly a listening experience, pronouncing these words keeps children engaged and focused on what they are hearing. Kids naturally repeat other Spanish words and phrases they hear. Parents listening with kids should encourage them and model saying the Spanish vocabulary aloud.

The magical trip to Mexico naturally introduces children to some basics of Mexican culture. They hear about el mar caribe, beaches, Uxmal, pyramids, and the Mayas. Spanish language is the primary focus of this CD, but these geographic and historical elements promote an early awareness of the richness of Mexican culture.

You can listen to sound samples from this Spanish CD for kids on the Beth Manner’s Fun French and Spanish website. You can also read more about their other great products on the site and in this post about Spanish in a Basket.

The Brainy Company makes a variety of products for introducing children to Spanish. Last week they sent me the Bilingual Baby DVD, the Brainy Baby Spanish/English:Simple Words and Phrases Book and the Brainy Baby Spanish/English:Simple Words and Phrases Flashcards. These items are available individually or as the Brainy Baby Spanish & English Bundle Collection.

Bilingual Baby DVD
The Bilingual Baby DVD is a wonderful collection of images to support a voice-over narration of basic Spanish words and phrases. There is no story, but this DVD is surprisingly engaging and entertaining. The live-action video of people and animals has wonderful colors and the pacing is just right. It holds a child’s attention and yet it is never too busy or overwhelming.

The DVD is intended for children ages 1-5 and introduces basic words and phrases. For example, the video teaches niño, niña, manzana, cama, libro, comer, dormir and leer. Children hear individual words pronounced and then combined into sentences. The video shows fun images of exactly what they are hearing. The DVD also introduces the numbers one through ten, the question ¿Cuántos hay? (How many are there?), colors and the question ¿De qué color es? (What color is..?). The structure of the video provides for lots of repetition of language with a great variety of images.

The native-speaker narration on this DVD is excellent. One woman does all of the voice-over and she has a warm, expressive voice. The inflection is just what you would use talking to children.

The video shows the Spanish text on the screen, but I do not think children get anything out of seeing the words. I understand that parents may want to know how the words are spelled, but children in this age group who are being introduced to Spanish as a second language are not learning to read in Spanish. They are learning by watching and listening.

At the beginning, the DVD explains that the English words are only on the screen for a moment in order not to distract the kids. The Spanish text could also be distracting for some children at first, but they will quickly ignore it. The pictures are too engaging for them to pay much attention to text in any language.

The DVD is about 40 minutes long. Children certainly do not have to sit through the entire DVD at one time. There is lots of repetition and recycling of language, so you can stop and start at any point. This is a video that children will continue to learn from as they watch it again and again.

Brainy Baby Spanish & English Simple Words and Phrases Book
This is a sturdy board book intended for children ages 1-5. The book is big, a great size for kids, and it has really wonderful photographs. The pictures illustrate common Spanish words and phrases including greetings, body parts, colors and numbers. The vocabulary in the book corresponds to a large extent to the vocabulary in the Bilingual Baby DVD.

To make the most of this book, move the language beyond the pages. With the parts of the body this is easy. After you point to the pictures in the book and say the words, point to your own eyes and nose, or your child’s, and say the Spanish words. With the numbers, count fingers and toes in Spanish. The verbs in the book are in the infinitive (comer – to eat, dormir – to sleep). An easy way to move beyond the book is to say Vamos a comer (Let’s eat) or Vamos a dormir (Let’s sleep) and then act out the action together.

This is a short book with relatively few Spanish words, so I was disappointed to find several misprints in the Spanish. For example, after introducing the words perro (dog) and gato (cat), the book asks “Do you have a dog or a cat?” The Spanish in the book is ¿Tiene un perro o un gato? The verb should be tienes. Tiene can mean “do you have,” but it is not the verb form used with children in most of the Spanish-speaking world. Later in the book the less formal form is used in the phrase te quiero, so tiene without the s is probably a misprint. If you get this book, read the question ¿Tienes un perro o un gato? Also, the word for the number ten, diez, is misspelled. The book spells it with an “s” instead of a “z.”

This is a book that you will read aloud to your child, so the errors will not affect its usefulness. It is just disappointing that more care is not taken in proofreading Spanish language materials for children.

Brainy Baby Spanish & English Simple Words and Phrases Flashcards
I do not use flashcards with children of any age who are learning Spanish. but I think these cards can be useful as activity cards. As activity cards, they serve as a reference or a label as you play with your child using Spanish words.

These cards are big and sturdy, meant to be handled by little fingers. You can use them to do lots of different activities with your child. Here are a few simple ideas:

1. Match objects to the cards. Play with three or four words at a time. Assemble objects shown in the cards and match them up. Say the words on the cards as you put the card with the object.
2. Move around the house placing the cards next to objects. La puerta, el reloj, los zapatos, un huevo (the door, the clock, the shoes, an egg) – label objects where they are and then collect the cards again. Say the Spanish words as you play.
3. Put three or four color cards out on the floor. Collect things of that color around the card. Repeat the Spanish color word as you collect and point to the objects.
4. Put three or four number cards out. Bring objects to make the picture on the card (2 cookies, 3 blocks) or the same number of different objects.
5. Take the cards in the car.  Choose one color to look for. When you find three things, choose another card.
6. The color cards are hand prints. Make your own hand prints in the different colors. Say the color words as you make the pictures.

Again, I was disappointed to find several misprints and vocabulary errors.
- The number diez is misspelled, as it is in the book. It is spelled with an s on the card.
- The number dos is also misspelled. The card shows the pronunciation guide (dohs) as the Spanish spelling.
- The words for basketball and baseball on the cards are not the words for the balls. The cards show a basketball and a baseball. They are labeled with the words baloncesto and béisbol. These words can only be used to refer to the sports. On the other side of the card there is a related word, anaranjado (orange) for basketball and círculo (circle) for baseball. Given these descriptive words, and the fact that all the cards refer to objects, it is unlikely that the cards were intended to refer to the sports and not the balls in the picture. The most common words are balón and pelota.

As with the book, these cards can be useful in spite of the errors. It is just too bad that the same attention to detail that went into the Bilingual Baby DVD was not given to the book and flashcards.

Talking to The Brainy Company
I always send companies a draft of a review before I publish it. When I sent The Brainy Company the draft of this post, I wrote a very nice email (really!) saying that I hoped the representative would forward the review to someone who could see that the errors were corrected if they ever updated the products. I pointed out that the review was positive and said that I thought they would want to know about the mistakes. This situation comes up fairly often, and companies usually appreciate the feedback and free proofread. Last week someone offered me a job.

The representative at The Brainy Company told me that they had consulted with several professionals when they made the products, that there are differences in dialect and usage and that they were never going to make 100% of people happy.

Needless to say, I do not agree. I think that you can make 100% of people happy by spelling diez with a z, and dos without an h.

Getting beyond the misprints, obviously there are differences in dialect and usage, but as professionals we have an obligation to teach a standard, useful vocabulary. I believe that companies selling educational products to teach children Spanish have the same obligation. I am the first to recognize that although I have never heard or seen baloncesto used to refer to the ball, and cannot find it used that way anywhere, someone somewhere may say it. Does it follow that the word be used on cards for children beginning to learn Spanish as a second language? I am not usually one to turn to the Real Academia Española for backup, but if they do not think baloncesto refers to the ball, I would vote for a more standard word choice.

Do you have thoughts on the quality of Spanish language products for kids? How can parents who do not speak much Spanish make good choices when buying language products for their kids? Would you buy a children’s book in English with misprints? I would love to hear your thoughts!