This new activity from OnlineFreeSpanish introduces children to the concept of the gender of nouns in Spanish. There is a short, clear explanation, and then kids practice with the definite article. All of the words are illustrated with pictures, so this Spanish online activity is also good exposure to new vocabulary in a context where kids will know what it means. I think that many of us find it hard to know how much emphasis [...]
These online activities are an excellent way for children to practice the colors, numbers, shapes and letters because all of the activities have excellent Spanish audio. Everything is pronounced clearly by native speakers. These online Spanish games are intuitive and fast to load and play. There are no ads and the screens are very clean with no distractions. You will find the link to the main Menu at the end of this post. The main [...]
These online Spanish games to teach letters are from the Ministerio de Educación of Spain. They are part of a set of activities for children that include games about numbers, the body and the natural world. The letter games are useful for Spanish language learners because they have native speaker audio, so kids learn the letter names and sounds. The activities use the letters in words and include a picture of the word, so children [...]
This is a game I play with kids to practice the verbs ver, querer and tener in the first person and also review a bunch of vocabulary. I like it because I say almost nothing and the kids are using Spanish that makes perfect sense and exactly describes what they are doing. Overview of the Spanish game to practice verbs and vocabulary: – Students are divided into teams of about 5. – A set of [...]
This free online game is the perfect first game for children starting to learn Spanish. Kids do not have to know any Spanish to play, and the Spanish audio makes it a wonderful introduction to the language. Playing Las llaves del tesoro (Keys to the Treasure) children hear introductions, colors and other common vocabulary in a context that makes the language completely clear. They absorb the sounds of Spanish and soon understand the basic phrases [...]
The new Whistlefritz DVD is now available! La Fiesta de Fritzi is on the Whistlefritz website with their other great Spanish CDs and Spanish DVDs for kids. With this new DVD, kids will learn toys, colors and lots of everyday vocabulary as they get ready for Fritz’s birthday party. I’ll be writing about La Fiesta de Fritzi soon, but Whistlefritz has been kind enough to offer Spanish Playground readers a 25% discount now. Just use the [...]
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, [...]
These printable Spanish memory cards and lotería game are from El jardín online, a site from Argentina. There is a set for professions and another set for farm animals. These cards are in black and white. Kids can color them, which is a great Spanish language activity, and then use them to play memory or other card games. Also, both sets of cards are in Word format, so that you can change the vocabulary if [...]
This is a set of Thanksgiving materials and activities in Spanish from the wonderful website Nourish Interactive. The free printable materials include coloring pages, word games, bookmarks, lunchbox notes, dinner place cards and a organization sheet to help with Thanksgiving planning. All of these activities teach Spanish food vocabulary and Thanksgiving vocabulary if you talk about them with kids learning Spanish. The following activities have simple text and work particularly well with Spanish language learners. [...]
Speak Spanish with children by talking about this picture of a woman building a garden shed. The questions that follow, like all the Learn Spanish with Pictures activities, are ordered to help children master the vocabulary and gain confidence with the language. First, describe the photo (1). Be sure to point to the objects in the picture as you talk about them. Use gestures, facial expressions and actions to help your child understand what the [...]
The Bilingual Baby DVD is a wonderful collection of images to support a voice-over narration of basic Spanish words and phrases. There is no story, but this DVD is surprisingly engaging and entertaining. The live action video of people and animals has wonderful colors and the pacing is just right. It holds a child’s attention and yet it is never too busy or overwhelming.
Debajo de un botón (Under A Button) is a traditional Spanish song for children. Children love this song because it is tells a little story, and it is short and fun. It has great rhythm, as it repeats the last syllable of the last word of each line. It is one of the most common children’s songs in Spanish. Although there are a couple of different versions of Debajo de un botón, there is less [...]