One of my favorite activities with children learning Spanish is to act out short dramatic poems. Here are two Spanish Thanksgiving poems we recite and act out in November.
You can also find poems about other themes on our poetry resource page Spanish Poems for Kids.
I made up these Spanish Thanksgiving poems to include the key vocabulary we are learning and added actions to reinforce the meaning of the words. You can write simple poems like this about any content.
The first of the Spanish Thanksgiving poems is about a turkey. It has actions and we all say recite it and act it out together. The second of the Spanish Thanksgiving poems is for two voices. In other words, it’s a little conversation.
Preschoolers love dramatic play, so I make the props we use with these Spanish Thanksgiving poems available for free play. I love seeing them incorporating what they have learned into their creative play! Early Childhood News has information and tips for dramatic play if you’d like to read more.
You can find another fall poem in Spanish to act out here: Spanish Poem About Fall: Dramatic Play and Printable
Check out more resources for celebrating Thanksgiving with Spanish learners.
Spanish Thanksgiving Poems: Soy un pavo
My students love to act out animals. As they act out this poem, they walk, eat and talk like a turkey.
We make a turkey tail prop by gluing construction paper feathers to a wedge of paper plate. The kids hold the tail behind them for the entire poem and rustle their feathers (move them) when they say Tengo una cola.
You can download a printable of this Spanish Thanksgiving poem:
Soy un pavo – Thanksgiving Poem in Spanish.
Soy un pavo (with actions)
Soy un pavo. (both hands behind back holding tail)
Tengo una cola. (move the tail like rustling feathers)
Camino así. (walk like a turkey 3-4 steps – lift feet high, bob head)
Soy un pavo.
Tengo una cola. (move the tail like rustling feathers)
Camino así (walk like a turkey 3-4 steps – lift feet high, bob head)
Y como así. (lower head and pretend to eat).
Soy un pavo.
Tengo una cola. (move the tail like rustling feathers)
Camino así. (walk like a turkey 3-4 steps – lift feet high, bob head)
Y como así. (lower head and pretend to eat).
Y hablo así: gluglú, gluglú. (move around randomly and gobble at each other)
Spanish Thanksgiving Poems: La cena
This poem is a conversation, so we do it in pairs, and all the Speaker 1 students speak together and all the Speaker 2 students speak together. The two groups alternate the first 8 lines. The last two lines everyone says together.
The setting of this poem is Thanksgiving dinner, and Speaker 1 passes food to Speaker 2. So, you will want kids sitting or standing beside each other. We use picture cards for the food, but if you have enough play food, that would be really fun.
You can easily change the food items in this poem. I use these words because I teach them, but there are endless possibilities.
For the two syllable words papas and pavo, you could use anything that has the same stress pattern like pasta, sopa, fruta, agua, leche, huevos, queso etc. ¿Y verduras? can be replaced by y and a 3-syllable word (¿Y manzanas?) or a single 4-syllable word (¿Ensalada?).
Get a printable version of the Thanksgiving poem in Spanish and the picture cards: La cena – Spanish Thanksgiving Poem and Picture Cards.
La cena
(1) ¿Quieres papas? (offers potatoes)
(2) Sí, gracias. (takes potatoes)
(1) ¿Quieres pavo? (offers turkey)
(2) ¡Qué rico! (takes turkey)
(1) ¿Y verduras? (offers vegetables)
(2) ¡Me gustan! (takes vegetables)
(1) ¿Pan? (offers bread)
(2) Un poquito. (takes bread)
(together)
Amigos, familia y buena comida.
Damos las gracias por este día.
Spanish Thankgiving Video
Of course, Thanksgiving isn’t only about turkey and food. It is about being thankful for what we have. This short Thanksgiving video is an excellent way to introduce the concept of dar gracias to kids learning Spanish.
Little poems like these are terrific language activities, and I enjoy them as much as my students. Dramatic play is fun! Let us know if you try these Spanish Thanksgiving poems or if you have favorite activities to celebrate Thanksgiving in Spanish class.
