Kids in Wisconsin are building lots of snowmen this week, so we are talking about them in class too. This is an activity where kids practice listening in Spanish to find the snowman that is being described. I do it with clothespins, but they can also mark them off with a pencil. My kids like this collection of muñecos de nieve and of course they love the clothespins! Using clothespins, you can describe a snowman [...]
Simple exercises like matching a word to a picture, ordering syllables to make a word, or ordering words to make a sentence are easy ways to provide important repetition of vocabulary. All of these activities, however, should be done in a way that provides a context for the words. This can be as simple as talking about the words and using them in a sentence, describing a word and having children guess which it is, [...]
Carlos Medrano, a graphic artist from Mexicali, Mexico made these Thanksgiving coloring pages in Spanish and we are giving one away here on Spanish Playground. There is also a discount code for the rest of the set (5 designs with different vocabulary for only $1.50 with the code) at the end of the post. These pictures are the perfect way to remind children, and the rest of us, of the many things for which we [...]
This is the story of Thanksgiving in Spanish in very simple words. Kids help tell the story by “reading” key words looking at the pictures embedded in the text. There is a key with the word that each picture represents at the end. Children already know a lot about Thanksgiving, and they use that information to understand the Spanish. If the vocabulary is new for your child, read the story putting in the words yourself [...]
I made this game recently to play with several of my private students who are learning to read, but it would work with any age or level learning vowel sounds or as pronunciation practice. It is a basic domino game where players match vowels to vowels and vowels to pictures that start with the sound. I use card stock for this printable Spanish game, but you can laminate your dominoes if you want them to [...]
Tagxedo is an online tool for making word clouds in different shapes. It is a wonderful way to play with vocabulary related to a theme. There are animals, trees, flowers, and other common shapes. There are also shapes related to different holidays (a pumpkin, a bat and a witch, for example). You can experiment with design options like color, font, and text orientation, but all of the word clouds look good. This is the Tagxedo [...]
These two sets of printable Spanish cards have pictures of words that rhyme. There are thirty pairs, sixty words in all. The cards can be used in lots of different ways. I made them without text for a group of preschoolers and added text for a mixed age group. You can download and print both sets using the links below. Rhyming is an important pre-literacy skill and an ability that should be developed in children [...]
While I am here in Mexico, I bought more of these pinzas to use in my classes and I realized that I should share of my clothespin activities. I use wooden clothespins too, but I like these because of they are smaller (for little hands), washable, brightly colored and I get 30 for 10 pesos (about 75 cents). Clothespin activities are a fun way to practice listening and speaking skills in Spanish. The idea is [...]
One of my favorite websites is Made by Joel. Joel Henriques is an artist and designer in Portland and he shares art and handmade education projects for children on his site. He has many beautiful free printables that are excellent for language activities. Below you will find links to the paper cities, but take time to explore the whole site. It is full of wonderful art activities for kids and adults. For my classes, I [...]
These printable coloring sheets with words in Spanish reinforce vocabulary for parts of the house and common household objects. The four pictures are from Childtopia. Three of the sheets have a list of Spanish words for objects that children find and color in the picture. One of the sheets has a list of words and also spaces to label the objects in the picture. The words are not used in sentences, so you will want [...]
Writing notes in Spanish is a simple way to give kids a little extra language and tell them that you love them. I found that once my kids could read, notes were an easy and personal way to include more written language in a busy day. They do not have to be anything complicated. Over time the exposure to written Spanish adds up. Also, I loved writing to my kids! We are a note-writing family. [...]
This website is great for talking about food in Spanish, especially if you are taking your children with you to the grocery store, or doing a food unit in Spanish. It from a Mexican supermarket, Alsuper, and lets families make and print a grocery list. The foods are divided into categories, which helps with the grocery shopping and also with learning vocabulary. You can select certain foods and print that list, or you can print [...]