I am always on the look out for pictures to use to teach Spanish to children. Ideally, the pictures are scenes of common situations with several people. They need to have enough detail to provide a context for what we say and to help kids practice common Spanish vocabulary and different structures. It is great if they can be printed, copied and colored. I use pictures like these for lots of activities, from games to [...]
What is your ringtone? You might want to try something different when you hear this one. This idea is from the new blog Children and Parents Having Fun in Spanish Together. It is an example of how you can have your child record a ringtone in Spanish and English. I think it is really cute, and it also is a clever way to let a child use her bilingual skills. This is a brand new [...]
This set of 14 pages to color teaches values like generosity, cooperation and friendship to children who are native speakers of Spanish. Each one has a sentence in Spanish describing a concept and a drawing to illustrate it. They are great for Spanish language learners because they use common abstract nouns, related vocabulary, and have a drawing to help support the language. They are also great for hanging on the refrigerator or in a classroom [...]
1. There are 51 million Latinos in the US today, and I want my children to be able to talk to any of them. 2. I want my kids to get the job interview that someone else doesn’t. 3. I want them to understand and appreciate other cultures and their own. 4. I want them to have another perspective on history. 5. I want them to test out of the language requirement in college. 6. [...]
In this video, two children are describing a common word in Spanish. The video is just one minute long, but they give lots of clues so that you can guess the word. At the end of the video, the Spanish word appears on the screen. This is one of a series of videos called Adivina la palabra de hoy (Guess Today’s Word). The series is produced by the Fundación de la Lengua Española, a private [...]
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. Also, adding a visual cue for the words can make the puzzle a much more valuable language learning activity. This set of word search puzzles is designed for native Spanish speakers and each has six common Spanish words from basic categories. [...]
Talking about pictures is a great way to speak Spanish with children. The activities in Learn Spanish with Pictures 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. When your child understands the key words, ask questions from Choose the answer (2) and Pointing and counting (3). Ask [...]
I am a big fan of mini-books, so I was happy to see that OnlineFreeSpanish.com has added a selection of bilingual mini-books to their website. I was even happier when I saw that these books include online Spanish audio! Printable mini-books let kids make the language their own. They can color the pictures, read the books to their family and friends, and even cut out the pictures if they want to. If they use a [...]
These are my favorite bilingual picture books to read to kids. Margaret speaks English and Margarita speaks Spanish and reading aloud the story works! The story line depends on both characters and both languages. It is an ingenious idea and the author, Lynn Reese, managed the concept beautifully to create these two lovely books. The first book Margaret and Margarita / Margarita y Margaret tells the story of how the two girls meet in the [...]
Picture books in Spanish are one of the best language learning tools you can use with children. Even as kids get older, if you can convince them to listen or to read together, they will learn an amazing amount of Spanish. I love the Spanish-English bilingual book Un gato y un perro/A Cat and a Dog by Claire Masurel. Although it is hard to define what exactly makes a picture book fun, in this case, [...]
This is a free book of fun and practical activities for teaching Spanish to children. ¡Aprendo jugando! Actividades de Español para niños y niñas de 6 a 9 años (I Learn by Playing! Spanish Activities for Boys and Girls from 6 to 9) is available to download in PDF format so that you can make copies of the activities and games. Teachers in Spain, with the support of the Spanish government, created the materials to [...]
Language and culture are inseparable. The Catholic church has a strong presence in Spanish-speaking countries, and many traditions center around religious holidays. Through Christmas traditions and songs, children learning Spanish learn language, history, and the values and views that influence Spanish-speaking societies. If your family enjoys Christmas music, carols are an excellent way of exposing children to Spanish. Noche de paz is the carol known as Silent Night in English. The original carol is in [...]