I recently published a set of cut and paste activities with -ar verbs. Several readers asked for -er and -ir verbs too, so I’m sharing more Spanish verb practice for kids. Below you will find a cut-and-paste activity to practice Spanish -er/-ir verbs. You can find the Spanish verb conjugation practice for -ar verbs here.
I base my classes on communicative instruction because it is the best way to teach and learn a language. Spanish Playground also focuses on creating meaningful interaction. However, I realize kids need activities that help them see language patterns. Native speakers practice verb conjugation, and children learning the language can benefit from it too.
Hands-On Spanish Verb Practice for Kids
The activities on these printable pages use coloring, cutting and gluing for Spanish verb practice for kids. Hands-on activities like these help students process the learning more completely than just saying or writing the verb forms. Of course, you will want to combine the activities with active Spanish games to reinforce the meaning of the verbs and with activities that use the verbs in context. For example, these healthy eating charts are an excellent way to practice comer and the Spanish days of the week. For higher level students, try this Spanish Valentine’s Day game that involves matching pronoun-verb combinations.
When I use this kind of Spanish verb practice for kids, they color the subject pronouns tab and the corresponding verb forms the same color. The colors are not indicated on the sheets because you may want to skip this step or want to use different subject pronouns or nouns. There are extra pronouns, nouns and blank tabs on a separate sheet.
Next, students cut out the pronouns, place the pronoun over the correct verb form, and glue the left edge of the rectangle down. Be sure to tell students to only glue the end of the rectangle. The idea is to make a tab that they can lift to read the verb form below.
More Spanish Verb Practice
Once students have completed the cut-and-paste Spanish verb practice, you can use the verb sheets as support for speaking activities. As a large group or in pairs, kids can answer questions with the verbs, lifting the tab to check the form if they are not sure.
The verb sheets can also be used as support for a writing task or as a way for students to quiz each other in pairs. The important thing is to include context so the language is meaningful.
Conjugation Practice with -ER and -IR Verbs
This Spanish verb practice for kids focuses on regular -er and -ir verbs.
The verbs on the activity pages are comer, correr, leer, beber, escribir, vivir, recibir and abrir. If you are also teaching the verb tener, you may want to use this video in the Spanish Words Kids Love series to reinforce the third person singular.
Download Spanish Verb Practice for Kids
You can download the PDF of the Spanish verb practice for kids here or by clicking the images.
Try to incorporate the verb practice into communicative activities as much as possible. The pictures support the meaning of the verbs, but be sure to include actions and other visuals. Spanish verb practice does not have to be boring. If it is communicative, hands-on and personal, it is also fun!
