Listen to this short Spanish audio description of a very common object. Can you guess what it is? This is one of a series of videos called Adivina la palabra de hoy (Guess Today’s Word). The Spanish audio in these short videos is excellent. The series is produced by the Fundación de la Lengua Española, a private non-profit from Spain that promotes the teaching of Spanish. In this video, two girls describe a common word [...]
Online Free Spanish has added more syllable activities. This set uses the letter m plus the vowels: ma, me, mi, mo, mu. These activities are perfect for beginning Spanish readers and are also a good way to expose kids to new words. You can read more about why these activities work so well for children learning Spanish and find suggestions for additional activities using the printed pages here: Spanish syllable activities. These syllable activities have [...]
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 [...]
Children explore a city in this online game from the Venezuelan government. There are audio explanations of parts of the city and the text appears on the screen as children hear the words. The audio is very clear. The explanations are short, basic and use general words. Kids will be able to guess a lot of the vocabulary from context. This game is excellent listening practice. Children will not understand every word of the explanations, [...]
This online Spanish game with native-speaker audio is a good way for children to practice vocabulary and listening comprehension while they are sorting, grouping and matching. Listening to native-speaker Spanish is also important for pronunciation. The set of activities is called Un poquito de orden and there are three temas (topics), each with several activities. Click on the link below to reach the online Spanish game. The site sometimes takes a little while to load. [...]
Este dedito compró un huevito (this little finger, or toe, bought an egg) is a Spanish rhyme that you say as you play with a child’s fingers or toes. It is a traditional rhyme and one of the most common games to play with little children. It is perfect for preschoolers and older kids too because it has lots of rhythm and great verbs. Older kids can do it as a finger play. This rhyme [...]
I use this Spanish song for kids with preschoolers and beginning language learners. I suggested it on Spanish Playground about a year and a half ago, but I wanted to share a couple of variations and a great video from a preschool in Spain. La luna y el sol teaches basic concepts about the sun and the moon: the moon is small and the sun is bigger; the moon comes out at night and the [...]
Spanish in a Basket was such a treat to get in the mail! It is a lovely wicker picnic basket filled with bright, beautiful toys to help introduce children to Spanish. When I opened the basket, I found colorful wooden fruits and vegetables, hand-knit finger puppets, soft animal friends, and a bright table-setting. There were also 4 CDs and a DVD with 20 audio Spanish lessons for kids ages 3 to 8. Beth Manners, creator [...]
Bingo in Spanish is a good way to review vocabulary with kids of any age and it is good listening practice, too. There are lots of printable bingo games online, but this version with pictures of common words is great for children learning Spanish. The game is made available by the Asociación Mundial de Educadores Infantiles. There are only eight pictures on each card and you play until the whole card is covered. The cards [...]
I was excited to see Juanita Ulloa’s name in my inbox recently. She wrote suggesting that Spanish Playground readers might be interested in her songs for children learning Spanish. Juanita Ulloa is one of the nation’s leading bilingual performers and songwriters. You can read more about her wonderful music on the Juanita Ulloa website. Juanita’s latest CD of music for children, ¡Canta mi son!, has won a National Association of Parenting Products Gold award and [...]
This is a collection of videos to use in the classroom, and many of them are short and appropriate for children learning Spanish. The government of Chile makes these videos available on the education portal Educarchile. You can download the videos to use with children learning Spanish. You can also watch them on the site, but they sometimes load slowly. Downloading them is easy and then they play really well. You can find the Spanish [...]
Los pajaritos is one of my favorite Spanish songs for children. It combines common animals, the places they live and the way they move into a pretty song that is perfect for kids learning Spanish. Children can move like the animals or use their hands to show how the animals move. You can also add different animals to make the song as long as you like. This is a traditional song, so there are several [...]