I am going to be in Peru for the next few weeks and will not be posting as often on Spanish Playground. This seems like a good time to share some tips for finding for authentic language materials online. These suggestions are for Google searches, but you can apply them to other search engines as well. I know that many of you have more strategies for finding what you need – be sure to sure [...]
Cantoalegre is an amazing resource. This fabulous organization from Colombia offers free downloads of their Spanish songs for kids. They explain their generosity saying Porque la música es de todos, te traemos canciones para descargar gratis. Because music belongs to everyone, we bring you songs to download free. Cantoalegre is a non-profit cultural organization in Colombia dedicated to the creation, study and performance of children’s music. The group performs, produces CDs, and has founded numerous [...]
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, [...]
April is National Poetry Month. Poems are a wonderful way for children to hear and speak Spanish and enjoy the rhythm and sounds of the language. Spanish language learners can read and listen to poems and with support they can also write their own. Here are a few ways to share poetry in Spanish with children during National Poetry Month. 17 Ideas for Sharing Spanish Poems with Kids 1. Watch videos of animated poems or [...]
Many of you are familiar with MisCositas.com and the wonderful collection of resources available on the website. In addition to thematic units, videos and other resources, the site offers a set of illustrated Spanish words and phrases that are commonly used in the classroom. These printable words and phrases can be colored and hung in the room or adapted to different activities. This set of Passwords Perfectos, as they are called on MisCositas.com, includes common [...]
In the game La Rueda del Saber, the Wheel of Knowledge, players answer questions in different categories. This online version from Spain is for elementary school students and has categories like lenguaje, matemáticas, conocimiento del medio and cultura general. There are three levels and many of the questions in level 1 have vocabulary that Spanish language learners will know. The questions also have lots of cognates, so kids will understand key words even though they [...]
This new activity from OnlineFreeSpanish introduces children to the concept of the gender of nouns in Spanish. There is a short, clear explanation, and then kids practice with the definite article. All of the words are illustrated with pictures, so this Spanish online activity is also good exposure to new vocabulary in a context where kids will know what it means. I think that many of us find it hard to know how much emphasis [...]
Semillitas is a Spanish language cable television channel for preschoolers from SomosTV. In Wisconsin, it is available through Charter Communications, but it is carried by other companies in different parts of the country. The Spanish videos for kids on Semillitas are designed specifically for the Latino community of the United States and Puerto Rico and dedicated to “la educación, estimulación y divertimento de niños en edad temprana a la vez de asistir a sus padres [...]
Andaluna and Samir are characters in animated Spanish videos for kids produced by the government of Andalucía to teach children about their rights, tolerance and diversity. The music videos, called microespacios, are based on the TV series Andaluna y Samir and use catchy songs to share their message. The videos, songs and lyrics are distributed free by the government of Andalucía and the European Union. For convenience, I refer to the videos in this post, [...]
OnlineFreeSpanish has a set of activities to introduce kids to Christmas vocabulary in Spanish. The words are supported with images, and the different activities use the same vocabulary so kids get lots of repetition. There is also native speaker audio for lots of the games. These games and activities do not attempt to use the words in context, so you will want to be sure to reinforce them in full sentences and situations where [...]
Spanish for You! is an elementary Spanish curriculum. If you are considering a curriculum, this is a good time to take a look at Spanish for You! because they are having a holiday sale. Everything is 25% off – just use the discount code “holidaysale.” You can read more about the curriculum in this post: Spanish Curriculum for Classroom or Home School. Use this link to visit the Spanish for You! site and take advantage [...]
Sonrisas Spanish School publishes a preschool and elementary Spanish curriculum. The founders, Brooks and Blue Lindner, also have a blog full of ideas, inspiration and support for anyone teaching Spanish to children. Whether you are an experienced teacher, new to the profession, or a parent with a child learning Spanish, this is a wonderful resource. Use this link to reach the Sonrisas Spanish School Blog. These are a few of the reasons you will want [...]