Jennifer raised her three children speaking Spanish and English. She holds a Master’s degree in Spanish Literature and has been teaching Spanish for over twenty years. She shares resources for teaching Spanish to children on her website Spanish Playground.
http://www.spanishplayground.net/
Twitter: SpanishPlaygrd
When they were little, my children made comecocos with all kinds of messages and fortunes inside and played the game with their amiguitos. This traditional toy is made of folded paper and is also called a sacapiojos. In English, it is called a cootie catcher, a chatterbox or a fortune teller. You can make a comecocos for Spanish learners of any level. It is an excellent language activity because kids speak, hear and read Spanish as they play. If youRead More ...
Finding Spanish language picture books was a huge challenge when my chiquitos were chiquitos. The books I could find were often bad translations, and they were carísimos! I bought books in Mexico, but it was impossible to bring back enough. So, I translated stories as I read and searched endlessly for more. This frustrating situation led me to explore picture books without words and I quickly came to appreciate the power of reading wordless picture books in Spanish. Even ifRead More ...
Grocery shopping with los chiquitos is not always easy, but the store is an excellent place to speak Spanish with children. They are close to you, often right at eye-level if they are small enough to ride in the cart. Also, the language tends to be focused, la comida, and kids can see and touch the things you talk about. This paper plate shopping list is a great way to take advantage of the setting and the time you spendRead More ...
Y ahora pon el gatito en el techo de la casita. A ver, ¿son igualitos? ¡Sí! ¡Perfecto! Bueno, it does not always work out that perfectly, but Igualitos is fun, and we always speak lots of Spanish! Igualitos (Just the Same) is my name for this cooperative game. It is what language teachers call a barrier game; players have the same materials and exchange information without seeing what the others are doing. Playing Igualitos, you work together to make theRead More ...
This sticky paper collage is facilísimo and provides an opportunity to speak lots of Spanish with your kids, regardless of their level. Best of all, ¡a los niños les encanta! To make the collage you need a piece of cardboard or poster board, contact paper, pictures cut from magazines and any other lightweight material your child would like to put in her collage. Tape the contact paper to the cardboard with the removable backing facing up. Peel off the backingRead More ...
Cuéntame un cuento. Tell me a story. If your niños are like mine, this is something you hear all the time! With the help of this storytelling necklace, children can take a turn telling a story to you. Pictures from a familiar story, beads and cord to string them on are all you need to do this activity. With the necklace, your child will be able to tell a story to herself and to family and friends. As they retellRead More ...
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