I loved watching Enzo’s face as he watched Super Mickey Mouse and his friends, Wonder Minnie, Super Power Pup, Super Good , Dynamo Duck and Upsy Daisy,  fighting the villains (Megamort and Power-Pants Pete) who want to shrink everything. This movie was action packed, and Enzo’s eyes would open wide and he watched Mickey and the Gang fight the bad guys. “Mira mama!” “Oh no! Dónde está Mickey?”  (Look mama! Oh no! Where is Mickey?)

As with any Mickey Mouse Clubhouse adventure, Mickey and his friends work together and solve the problem, with a lot of surprises that will surely delight your little one… Enzo loved watching Mickey and his friends as superheroes with special powers.

If your child is obsessed with Mickey, as mine is, this is a great addition to your DVD collection.  This DVD provides an opportunity to learn new vocabulary about action packed, superhero business but also about important themes like teamwork and friendship.

In addition to the movie, this DVD also features three Clubhouse episodes, and they all have Spanish language tracks, which Spanglish mamas and babies will love!

The Giveaway!

We’re giving away one copy of Mickey Mouse Clubhouse: Mickey’s Super Adventure to one lucky winner. All you have to do is leave us a comment letting us know which Mickey Mouse Clubhouse character is your niños favorite. Then, enter the Rafflecopter below.

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I’ve been watching some of my favorite childhood movies lately–with and without my children–and have come to the sad realization that some of them have not withstood the test of time.  Mary Poppins, happily, is not one of them.  I popped it in the DVD player and felt some surprise that I had not already introduced my children to the movie.

I’d never watched the movie in Spanish before, though I remember my friends and I trying to say “supercalifragilísticoespialidoso” as fast as we could when I was little.  My boys and I watched it in Spanish and though I kept wanting to sing along in English, I was surprised at how much I liked the Spanish version of the songs and appreciated the creative lyrics, like “Al compás” for “Step in Time.”

I loved experiencing the Blu-Ray version on my huge TV–I definitely never watched it that way as a child.  That was a huge treat, as was watching my children finally get to experience “una de las películas favoritas de Mamá cuando era niña”.

The Giveaway!

We’re giving away one copy of Disney’s Mary Poppins 50th Anniversary Edition DVD to one lucky winner. All you have to do is leave us a comment telling us your favorite Marry Poppins song to sing along to. Then, enter the Rafflecopter below.

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Disclosure: As a participant in the Walmart Moms Program, I’ve received product samples and compensation for my time and efforts in creating this post. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Although Las Posadas is not something I celebrated as a child, I believe the beautiful tradition is something worth exploring with my kids.

In a way, it’s similar to the Puerto Rico tradition known as parrandas, where a group of people go from house to house singing and playing musical instruments mostly for entertainment purposes. In the case of Las Posadas, the idea is that the group of people actually represents how Mary and Joseph went around Bethlehem looking for lodging.

Las Posadas starts nine days before Christmas to represent Mary’s nine months of pregnancy and there’s a couple of ways in which farolitos or luminarias are used during this time. The leader of the procession is supposed to carry one to guide the rest of the group from house to house. But, they are also used to light up the entrance to each home visited during the procession.

Although my kids and I to haven’t had the opportunity to participate in Las Posadas just yet, I do love the idea of creating these farolitos to light up the entrance to our home during the holiday season. This simple, yet beautiful craft will make your house stand out!

All you need are a bunch of brown paper lunch bags, scrapbooking scissors, electric votive candles and stickers or anything else you may want to use to decorate your farolitos–all of which you can find at your local Walmart.

I asked my daughter to use the scrapbooking scissors to cut the lunch bags in half so they wouldn’t be super tall. I then folded the top part in half and attempted to cut out a star. We then used some glitter foam stickers to decorate the bags and put the electric votive candles inside.

I am part of the Windows Champions Program. As a Windows Champion on behalf of SpanglishBaby, I am loaned a laptop, and, on occasion, Microsoft products such as software to assist me in developing content for my blog posts. All opinions are my own.

Do you send out Christmas cards? This season is so busy that if you haven’t gotten around to it yet, you’re running out of time to get them to the post office and sent so that they arrive before the holiday. If you’re sending a card from the U.S. to anywhere in Latin America, you’re probably already too late. (Honestly, I don’t even attempt it anymore. I sent handmade cards to family in El Salvador around 2008 and they still haven’t arrived! Who knows what happened to them.)

One solution to consider is sending your holiday greeting online. The Hallmark “Go Cards” app is a free download from the Windows 8 app store, and they even have a few cards in Spanish.

Once you download the app, simply open it and choose “Winter Holidays.” Select a card, personalize it, and send! All the cards are $3.49, about the average cost of a printed card, but these are customizable so that you can write your message in whichever language your recipient might prefer and include a photo of the niños, too!

¡Feliz Navidad!

Our friends at Lanugo have put together this Christmas coloring book for us to share with all of you. The Lanugo Christmas coloring book celebrates our cultural traditions during this time of year. Inside you’ll find los tres Reyes Magos, a page dedicated to el villancico “El Burrito Sabanero,” and much more!

Click here for the printable version of the Lanugo Christmas coloring book. 

You might remember Pango, the adorable blue raccoon, from our previous review of Pango Imaginary Car. Developer Studio Pango has just released a cute seasonal app which is, best of all, multilingual. Pango Christmas 2013 is a fun way to keep kids excited about the upcoming holiday.

In this app, Pango is getting ready for Christmas with his animal friends. They are setting up the wreath, building a snowman, and staying warm by the fire while they participate in other traditional preparations.

Each interactive page has some fun surprises and funny new characters. It’s highly entertaining for preschoolers and offers an opportunity for Spanish reading practice for the slightly older kids.

Note: Just change your device language to Spanish (or any of the other 7 languages compatible with Pango apps) and the app language will change.

Find Pango Christmas 2013 in iTunes, Google Play, and Amazon App Store

Available for iPhone, iPad, and Android

Recommended for ages 3 and up

Price: $2.99 – $3.66

Check out more from Studio Pango on their website.

As a mother of two and a Kindergarten teacher, I often wonder about the imagination of children and if it is being fostered enough. We live in the era of electronics and I’m not sure our children are being given the opportunity to use their imagination the way we were when we were young. With television, video games, and educational apps, our kids don’t have to construct castles, monsters, or mountains in their minds as it’s right there on a screen in front of them. For this reason, it’s important for children to read! Books do what no other object can do – books can take you to that far away place and allow you to view worlds from your lens, the eye of a reader.

El Viaje de Magélica is an example of an exemplary read with a plot full of opportunity for the imagination to fly. Without giving too much away, this beautiful tale allows little girls and boys to fly away and imagine Magélica and all that they would want her to be in their minds. She is a character that comes with so much magic and inspiration, it’s truly special. This book can be read by little boys and girls who dare to allow their imagination to run wild with adventure. Magélica is a little girl who has no answers about where she came from but accepts the challenge of discovery, adventure, and imagination all through being grateful for it all.

The message behind this tale is that we all have the choice to allow a touch of magic into our lives. In order for us to believe, we have to allow our imagination to take flight and discover all that life has to offer. It amazes me when children read a story that really touches their core and allows their imagination to capture a moment in a book like this with so much imagery and power. Children broaden their minds by reading and truly believe in the words they read in quality books like this. This books allows you, the reader, to discover so much and to really look deep inside yourself, love yourself, and accept yourself for all that you are and all that you might become. Once you believe, you hold the key to your own happiness.

The Giveaway!

We’re giving away one copy of El Viaje de Magélica to one lucky winner. All you have to do is leave us a comment telling us who you’d like to share this book with. Then, enter the Rafflecopter below.

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BOOK DESCRIPTION/REVIEW

How does cereal with orange juice or a pretzel covered cake sound?

Marisol McDonald and the Clash Bash (Marisol McDonald y la fiesta sin igual in Spanish) is the story about a unique little girl named Marisol McDonald, her unusual birthday, and her doting love for Abuelita. When Marisol’s birthday approaches, she wants nothing more than to have abuelita by her side. Unfortunately, Marisol’s grandma is all the way in Peru and bringing her to the United States can prove to be challenging. Yet nothing can stop Marisol, her occurrences, and her determination for making her 8^th birthday party the best one yet. Will Marisol decide the theme of her birthday on time? Will Abuelita make it? I cannot give that away, but you will for sure fall in love with the girl and her ‘Chullo’ (Peruvian hat).

Did I mention that this book is filled with amazing vocabulary in BOTH English and Spanish? And finally, in times when teaching children that being unique is O.K., this book could not have exemplified the subject better than it did. Being one-off a kind is really awesome!

BOOK DETAILS

Title: Marisol McDonald and the Clash Bash (Marisol McDonald y la fiesta sin igual)

Author: Monica Brown

Spanish Translation: Adriana Domínguez

Illustrator: Sara Palacios

Language: English and Spanish

Publisher/Year: Children’s Book Press, an imprint of Lee & Low Books Inc. (New York,      2013)

Ages: 4+

ISBN: 978-0892392735

Hardcover: 32 pages

Price: $15.19

Where to Buy: amazon.com 

The Giveaway!

We’re giving away one copy of Marisol McDonald and the Clash Bash to one lucky winner. All you have to do is leave a comment telling us yours our your niños favorite birthday memory. Then, enter the Rafflecopter below.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Disclosure: As a participant in the Walmart Moms Program, I’ve received product samples and compensation for my time and efforts in creating this post. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

My 7-year-old daughter, Vanessa, loves it when I tell her we’re going to do a craft together. Although I’m never sure if I’m doing things right, just quality spending time with her and my younger son trying to make something beautiful and unique with our own hands is enough to make me love it too!

Since we’ll be spending Nochebuena at my sister’s house this year and she’s asked all of us to bring an ornament for her Christmas tree, we decided that we would make them, making sure we somehow incorporated the Spanish language. After trying to come up with something totally different, I remembered I had once seen an ornament made with the wooden tiles of Scrabble, one of my favorite board games.

Believe or not, I have a really old one that I’ve kept for many years even though it’s missing many of the letters. I know I could’ve just ordered the ones missing, but I never got around to it and since we wanted to make some original ornaments, I figured the time had come to put the tiles to good use.

So we decided to make ornaments with words in Spanish that represent the holidays for us using Scrabble letters. If you don’t have a set of Scrabble, you can get one for less than $20 at Walmart. While it may feel weird to get a board game just for a craft, think about the compliments you’ll get on your unique ornaments.

Other than the actual wooden tiles, you’ll need some Christmas-themed ribbon, a gun glue and any other trinkets you may want to include and you can find all of it in the crafts section of your local Walmart. We got some jingle bells and we ended up doing two different types of ornaments. One with the words spelled out horizontally using colorful foam sheets as the backing and one with the words  spelled out vertically using ribbon as the backing.

The first thing we did was come up with a list of words in Spanish that we associate with the holiday season. Then, we grabbed the ribbon of our choice and we laid down each letter attaching it to the ribbon with a bit of glue. We left a bit of space between each tile because we wanted the polka dots to come through, but you don’t have to. We also left extra ribbon on top to make a loop to hang the ornament.

My favorite part of this craft is that the options are endless and the kids get to practice their spelling in Spanish!

Celebrate winter and all the new wonders it brings with your niños and these printables. This set of printables in Spanish includes an activity sheet for the seasons of the year to practice reading and retention, and a winter snowman activity perfect for learning geometrical figures.

Click here for the full printable version of the activities previewed above. 

For more Spanish educational materials for niños visit Monarca Language and like them on Facebook.