Children like making a gift to give to their mothers for El Día de la Madre, but whether you are in class or at home, it is hard to find time for projects. These printable bracelets can be used in different ways, and they make a cute, easy gift in Spanish. The words la pulsera and el brazalete are both used for bracelet in Spanish. There are four designs that can be printed on plain [...]
Mother’s Day is El Día de la Madre or El Día de las Madres in Spanish. In the U.S. this year we will celebrate on May 12th. This printable Spanish subway art is a good coloring project for language learners. You can find more information about how Mother’s Day is celebrated in Spanish-speaking countries and other printables for El Día de la Madre in these posts. Subway art, a pretty collection of words related to [...]
I use picture cards for all kinds of games and activities. This PDF has the following sets for 12 animals: 12 small picture cards – 4 per page 12 small picture cards with text – 4 per page 12 word cards – 4 per page 12 large picture cards with text – 2 per page 12 full-page coloring sheets Syllable squares for 12 words You can use them as a set, or you can print [...]
This printable activity consists of a short Spanish reading, photos and questions. The topic is el Día del Peatón, an excellent subject for Earth Day or any day. El Día de la Tierra, Earth Day, is April 22nd this year. The city of Cochabamba, Bolivia has observed el Día del Peatón, or Pedestrian Day, for 13 years. Three times a year the city is closed to all motor vehicles and people take to the streets [...]
I think this is a wonderful Spanish song for kids to sing as Mother’s Day approaches. It is called Yo solito Mamá (By myself, Mama) and is by Rossana Conte of Torreon, Mexico. The song has lots of simple verb forms. It also has vocabulary that children hear right away as they start to learn Spanish. The song is about wanting to be independent, a feeling that all children can identify with. Unfortunately, the song [...]
Easter is just a few days away and many of us will be spending time with friends and family. These gatherings can be a good time for kids to practice simple Spanish conversation, or if your family speaks Spanish at home, to spend time listening and speaking the language with relatives. Also, those plastic eggs are just so handy, I could not resist putting a little Spanish in them! These Spanish conversation questions are at [...]
In this printable Spanish board game, kids move around the board by clapping and counting the number of syllables in a word. There are pictures accompanying the words on the cards, so kids learn new vocabulary too. Most of the vocabulary is related to spring. In Spanish, syllables define how to read, spell and accentuate words. Because syllables are so important, they are the basis for learning to read. In English, children learn to “sound [...]
¡Hola, Crayola! ¡Adios, carita de arroz! There are lots of Spanish rhymes like this, and kids like learning them because they are fun to say. They are some of the first spontaneous interactions in Spanish that I hear between students. Many of these Spanish rhymes are used to greet someone and are based on the word hola. Children say them with enthusiasm and affection. Other rhyming phrases are based on common expressions like bien dicho [...]
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 [...]
My children played this game in Spanish all the time with their friends in Mexico. They call it Basta, but it has lots of names: Tutti frutti, ¡Mercadito!, Stop, Lápiz quieto, Animales con E, Alto el fuego, Ensalada rusa. It is a category game in Spanish – the original, non-commercial version of Scattergories. To play this traditional children’s game in Spanish, everyone makes a game board with categories. Common categories include nombre, cosa, animal, fruta [...]
I wrote this rhyme to read with children learning Spanish. Kids help tell the story by providing phrases based on the pictures in the text. The story is really a simple Spanish poem for kids and the rhythm and rhyme help children predict the words. I wrote the counting rhyme Un paseo por el parque to use with my preschool students. Each of the pictures represents a number and an object – un árbol, dos [...]
It is going fast, but there is still a lot of summer left to enjoy. Here is a list of activities to do during the remaining days of vacation and on into the fall. Kids can read the suggestions in Spanish, check off the activities they have done this summer and choose new ones to try. This Spanish list of activities is part of creating a print-rich environment for children learning the language. You will [...]