Spanish Online Game – La máquina de los sentidos

This online game in Spanish teaches children about the five senses. La máquina de los sentidos is a game from Discovery Kids. It is designed to teach native Spanish speakers about taste, smell, sight, hearing and touch.

It is an excellent game for Spanish language learners because
– it has limited, focused vocabulary that is supported by images.
– it is based on two question structures that are repeated over and over.
– it has excellent audio, so that children are hearing natural Spanish and absorbing the sounds of the language.

Link to Spanish Online Game – La máquina de los sentidos

La máquina de los sentidos from Discovery Kids

Description of Spanish Online Game – La máquina de los sentidos

To begin the game, a player clicks on Inicio.  La máquina de los sentidos will appear and at each nivel (level) ask first one question and then a related question.

The first question will always be in this structure: ¿Cuál de estos objetos…(tiene olor/es dulce/es luminoso/es salado/es suave)?
Players will hear the question and also see it written.
To answer, players choose from pictures of three objects. When a player scrolls over these pictures, the written word appears.
When a player clicks on the correct object, the item drops through the machine and she is asked another question.

The second question is always the same: ¿Qué sentido utilizas para descubrirlo?
To answer, players choose from vista, gusto, olfato, oído, and tacto. Each word is accompanied by an image. Spanish language learners will understand this vocabulary by looking at the picture.
When a player answers correctly, the game summarizes the concept by showing the sense and the adjective that was in the original question. This is important for Spanish language learners because it provides repetition of the key vocabulary. The two words (sense and adjective) are also supported by images. For example:
luminoso – vista (with pictures of a light bulb for luminoso and an eye to represent vista)
salado – gusto (with pictures of the French fries for salado and a mouth to represent gusto)
suave – tacto (with pictures of a stuffed toy for suave and a hand to represent tacto)

In three cases the adjective in the summary is expressed as a verb phrase in the question. I noted the forms in the vocabulary list below.

Vocabulary for the Spanish Online Game – La máquina de los sentidos

Los cinco sentidos – The five senses
el gusto – taste
el olfato – smell
el oído – hearing
el tacto – touch
la vista – sight

Los adjetivos – The adjectives
ácido – sour
apestoso – stinky (The question asks ¿Cuál de estos objetos tiene mal olor?/ Which of these objects stinks?).
brillante – shiny
bullicioso – noisy (The question asks ¿Cuál de estos objetos hace bulla?/ Which of these objects makes a racket?)
caliente – hot
colorido – colorful
dulce – sweet
duro – hard
frío – cold
hace ruido – makes a loud noise
inodoro – odorless
luminoso – bright
musical – musical
oloroso – smelly
perfumado – scented
picante – spicy
ruidoso – loud (The question asks ¿Cuál de estos objetos hace ruido?/ Which of these objects is loud?).
salado – salty
silencioso – silent
suave – soft
transparente – transparent

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