The video below by Fiestikids is a great review of the Spanish numbers 1-20. It teaches kids how to express multiplication in Spanish by showing the multiplication table for the number 2. In fact, this short video models the two most common ways of sayings these mathematical expressions. Even if your kids are not doing multiplication yet, it is a good way to learn or review these numbers. The video also has excellent native-speaker audio. [...]
I am so excited to be able to share this book with Spanish Playground readers. Sofía en una aventura por la selva (Sophia’s Jungle Adventure) is published by Kids Yoga Stories. The book integrates yoga for children into a story in Spanish and creates an amazing language-learning experience. Yoga poses were inspired by the natural world. Kids Yoga Stories weaves those poses into a picture book. Children do the poses, imitating [...]
Talk about this photograph of teenagers playing soccer in the rain to speak Spanish with your child. 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 [...]
These free Spanish coloring pages from Song School Spanish include lots of basic vocabulary. The pictures are big, clear and labeled in Spanish. There are pictures for many common nouns related to topics like food, animals, weather and the parts of the body. There are also sheets for numbers and colors. In addition to common nouns, there are Spanish coloring sheets for the question words, emotions and most common verbs forms, like tengo, tienes, quiero [...]
These online activities are an excellent way for children to practice the colors, numbers, shapes and letters because all of the activities have excellent Spanish audio. Everything is pronounced clearly by native speakers. These online Spanish games are intuitive and fast to load and play. There are no ads and the screens are very clean with no distractions. You will find the link to the main Menu at the end of this post. The main [...]
I recently asked readers to share the title of a book they enjoyed reading with their children or classes. These are the books that were mentioned. Froggy se viste and Buenas noches, luna were favorites with a number of people. The books by Bill Martin and Eric Carle and the “Oso” Barefoot Books also came up several times. Most of the books are translations. I am sure this is largely due to what is available [...]
For the last few months I have had the pleasure of getting to know the Sonrisas Spanish School Preschool and Elementary Curriculum. This beautifully designed, standards-based elementary Spanish curriculum is recognized by language teachers as an effective, engaging program. For over 16 years it has been used throughout the country in schools, after-school programs and for home schooling. The Spanish curriculum is designed for preschool through third grade, but certainly could be used as the [...]
Josefina la gallina is a Spanish song for kids by Elizabeth Carmona of Chile. She creates entertaining and educational programs for Atiempopreescolar, a division of the studio ATiempo dedicated to preschool programing. Her program Juguemos en el campo was awared first place in the contest Juegos musicales para la primera infancia organized by Chile Crece Contigo, Consejo de la Música and Unicef. Josefina la gallina is a very active song. It is an excellent way [...]
If you are looking into elementary school curricula, you should know that Spanish for You! has added additional lesson plans to their materials. Spanish for You! is a curriculum for grades 3-8 that can be used for self-study, home school, in classrooms or in after-school programs. It was created by a Spanish teacher as an affordable, easy-to-use program that engages children with the language and also teaches grammar basics. Check out the Spanish for You! [...]
This is a Spanish Valentine game based on completing a two line rhyme with a silly word. I do it with picture cards, to be sure that students know what the rhymes means when they complete it. A link to the PDF of the cards is at the end of this post. There are three short rhymes to complete in different ways, but you can use just one or two. These are the rhymes: Porque [...]
Colores is a Spanish song for children written and sung by Patty Shukla. The song gets kids up and moving as they practice their colors in Spanish. Patty Shukla writes and sings fun, educational songs for children. Although most of her music is in English, she has also recorded a CD of Spanish songs for kids called Canta y Baila con Patty. You can find out more about her music on the Patty Shukla website [...]
Sticky notes have to be one of the handiest inventions ever. In addition to keeping us organized, they are wonderful for language activities to teach kids Spanish. You can rearrange sticky notes, so they are perfect for matching activities. You can put them on a wall, so everything is bigger and kids can stand up and move. You can put them anywhere, so language can be applied to the physical world (I couldn’t resist the [...]