Stress Free Kids publishes audio and picture books that help children reduce stress and lower anxiety. These stories are available in Spanish and are fabulous language-learning tools. The stories teach relaxation techniques, but their structure and objective also create an excellent Spanish learning experience. As children listen to these stories, they relax, but they are never passive. Children participate, both physically and by actively using their imaginations. The CD Sueños del océano índigo has four [...]
This giveaway is now closed. Congratulations to the winners, entries 11 and 18, Melissa and Katie. Winners were chosen using random.org. Thank you to everyone who entered and shared how they teach culture. It is fun and inspiring to read about what others are doing with their children and classes. We all learn from each other. ¡Muchas gracias! Award-winning author Carole Roman has written a lovely picture book to introduce young children to the country [...]
Award-winning author Carole Roman has written a lovely picture book to introduce young children to the country and culture of Mexico. If You Were mM and Lived in… Mexico: A Child’s Introduction to Cultures Around the World is intended for ages pre-K through eight. It combines carefully selected information with images crafted to be typical, but never stereotypical. The book is available from Amazon and on the author’s website. In my experience, it is hard [...]

These Spanish online stories were created by a group of teachers in Montville, Connecticut. Each story is followed by a set of vocabulary and comprehension activities. There are three simple stories that kids can read online: Pepa y su cesta, El viejo y su paraguas and El pájaro y el pan. They all have illustrations to help students understand what they are reading. On each page, several words in the text are in red and [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
This giveaway is closed. Congratulations to the winner Jodi Monroy! Thanks to everyone for entering, for the great book list (I’ll compile it) and for saying nice things about Spanish Playground. No saben cuanto les agradezco el apoyo! Pocoyó is an animated television series in Spanish. There are also Spanish books for kids based on the show and I am happy to be able to give two of them to one of my readers. The [...]

With Christmas coming, I know that lots of us are looking for gifts for Spanish language learners. Parents of my preschool students often ask me to recommend Spanish books to read to their children at home. I always mention this series of board books published by Macmillan Infantil y Juvenil. All of them are available to purchase on Amazon. These are a few reasons I recommend these books to parents and preschool [...]

Spanish books are the perfect gift for children learning the language! Sonrisas Spanish School is having a picture book sale just in time for Christmas. Sonrisas has an online book store with carefully selected Spanish stories to read with language learners. From December 1st-15th, all books in the store are 15% off. To take advantage of this great offer, visit the Sonrisas Book Store and use the discount code “booksale” in the shopping cart. Happy [...]

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 [...]

I am really excited to share this set of six little story books for Spanish language learners. The set is called Childhood Adventures and includes six Spanish stories and an audio CD with native-speaker narration. These are exactly the kind of materials that teachers and parents need: easy to use in any setting and very effective. There is an English translation at the back of each book. The vocabulary and structures in these stories are [...]
Congratulations to Ashlee Resch and Maritza, the winners of this giveaway! I have two sets of Spanish activity books and picture books to give away to my readers. Each set contains two activity books (64 pages each) and five picture books. These are the materials in each giveaway: Cuaderno de vacaciones from Ingeniería Educativa – The giveaway includes two of these activity books (Preescolar 3 and Primaria 1). You can read the publisher’s description [...]