These printable cards in Spanish are from Interpeques. The questions are about the natural world and the answers include images that help clarify the vocabulary. There are two sets of naturaleza question-answer cards and they can be used for a variety of games. They can be glued back to back so that the question and answer are on one card, or you can keep them separate so that children can do activities matching the correct answer to the question. This information is specifically about the naturaleza cards, but there are other categories of question-answer cards that can be used in similar ways.
The images on these cards help children understand new words from context and also reinforce familiar vocabulary. In addition, they allow children to draw conclusions from key words when they do not understand every word. This is an important language learning skill that lets children deduce meaning from context.
For example, one of the questions is ¿Cómo se llama el hijo de la yegua y del caballo? In the set of answer cards, one of the cards has a picture of a colt and the word potro. Even if a child only understands the word caballo, or the words hijo and caballo, she will chose the picture of the baby horse. This activity serves to cement the common words hijo and caballo and the question ¿cómo se llama?. It also gives a child confidence in guessing meaning from context and visual clues. The words yegua (mare) and potro (colt) are vocabulary that children may acquire after repeated exposure, but they are not really important. Most commonly, children will remember that they are associated with horses when they hear the words again. Much more important are the language skills being developed as a child listens to the question and associates common vocabulary with a related image.
Looking at the vocabulary on the answer cards, teachers and parents may have the initial impression that these questions are more difficult than they actually are. The answers can almost always be deduced based on common vocabulary in the question and the picture. Encourage children to think of the question as a puzzle and make connections to find the answer.
Click the link to go to the menu for the printable game cards in Spanish. Under Juegos de cartas recortables, the right hand column has links for naturaleza. The first set is 1-2-a (answers) and 1-2-b (questions). Print the question cards and the answers. You can glue the sets of cards together to make back-to-back cards, or print them separately to do matching games.
Here are a few activities you can try. For these activities, do not glue the cards together.
1. Place a few of the answer cards face up. Say a key word and decide together which card the word could be associated with. Some words, like animal or flor, can relate to several cards. Brainstorm other Spanish words that could be associated with each picture.
2. Place several answer cards face up. One player mentally chooses a card and gives a hint by saying one Spanish word that is associated with the card. The other player tries to guess which card she is thinking of. If she doesn’t guess correctly, the first player gives another hint.
3. Choose two answer cards and place them face up. Read the question that goes with one of the cards. When your child matches the question to the answer, replace that answer card and read a new question.
4. Choose three question cards and the matching answer cards. Place the answer cards face up so that you can see them all. Place the question cards face down. Draw a question and match it to correct answer. Set those cards aside and add another pair of cards. Mix the question cards and draw again.
5. Play memory by matching the questions to the answers. You may want to use five or six pairs rather than all of the cards at once.
6. With your child’s help, use the structure of the questions to make your own question and answer cards. Use words that your child knows as the answers. For example, ¿Qué animal salvaje es muy grande y de color gris? or ¿Qué animal sale del huevo puesto por una gallina?. On the answer cards, put the word elefante and draw an elephant and the word pollito with the picture of a chick.
This common vocabulary is used in the naturaleza questions.
Naturaleza 1-2-b (1-2-a – answers, 1-2-b – questions)
el animal – animal
el árbol – tree
el ave – bird
bajo – under
el caballo – horse
corre – runs
el desierto – desert
la flor – flower
frío – cold
el fuego – fire
el hijo – son
el huevo – egg
el invierno – winter
la mariposa – butterfly
mayo – May
la montaña – mountain
la rana – frog
rápido – fast
el rey – kind
el río – river
la tierra – earth, ground
Naturaleza 2-2-b (2-2-a – answers; 2-2-b – questions)
el agua – water
alto – tall
el animal – animal
el árbol – tree
el caballo – horse
la cabeza – head
el desierto – desert
la montaña – mountain
las moscas – flies
las nubes – clouds
el tiempo – weather
la Tierra – the Earth
el viento – wind
