Spanish Lessons: Friday Five for Kids

This set of activities is part of a new series I am calling the Friday Five. I will suggest five Spanish activities for kids that take almost no preparation. They can be used to supplement Spanish lessons or as stand alone activities at home. The activities are very focused and that makes them easy to do with Spanish learners. They do not depend on teaching new vocabulary, so they can be incorporated into many Spanish lessons.

These ideas for Spanish lessons use language that is supported by actions or pictures so you can jump right in and do them together. They also can be simplified to use with beginners, or you can expand and personalize them for kids with more Spanish.

Easy Spanish Lessons for Kids

1. Read this online book and print the minibook version. It is called Mi mamá y yo, and it is perfect for Mother’s Day. Listen to the online book and talk about the pictures. Then print for kids to color and read (there is an option to print in black and white). The other minibooks from OnlineFreeSpanish make great Spanish lessons for kids, too.

2. Use this adorable set of thumbprint drawings to talk about animals. Make your own thumbprint drawings to create Spanish lessons for animals and body parts. These are the animals for the first page of the PDF:

el conejo – rabbit
la araña – spider
el pez – fish
el cerdo – pig
el pollito – chick
la abeja – bee
elefante – elephant
el gato – cat
el escarabajo – beetle

3. Watch this 3-minute video, La ropa. It focuses on words for clothes and the verb form lleva. Print these picture cards for the vocabulary and match them or with older kids play memory. Kids can color the cards too.

4. Arm wrestle! This classic game is called vencidas or fuercitas in Mexico, and it is a fun way to speak a little Spanish. SexeDate Try using these phrases:

¿Nos echamos unas vencidas? – Do you want to arm wrestle?
Con la derecha – with the right (hand)
Con la izquierda – with the left (hand)
Con la otra mano – with the other hand
A la una, a las dos, a las tres – One, two, three (the count to start the match)
Una, dos, tres
Mantén el codo en la mesa. – Keep your elbow on the table.
Te gané. – I won.
Me ganaste. – You won.
Eres fuerte. – You’re strong.
Soy fuerte. – I’m strong.
¡Otra vez! – Again! / Let’s play again
You may be interested in the rest of the new Friday Five series:
5 Fast Spanish Activities for Kids
Spanish Activities: 5 Easy Ideas for Kids

Photo Credit: Dricker94 via Compfight cc