Teaching by example is the motto of my parenting style. I have certain traits I consider fundamental that I want to pass on to my daughter, Little L. If I don’t lead with my actions, how can I expect more from her?  As parents, we also need to find support in tools like books, toys, videos, and other quality activities that can help our children develop, learn, and grow.

One of the traits that it is incredibly important to me is sharing, and this Classic Wooden Tea Set by Lakeshore Learning is just the perfect toy to help me teach Little L, in a fun and engaging way, more about what sharing means.

Since she got this sturdy and super-well-made wooden tea set, we have played every single afternoon with it. I have been able to teach her how to serve tea for her and others — en español. She has used the tray to serve “pastries” to her dad. Little L has also gotten creative, stirring her tea using the small wooden spoons and feeding her dolls with them. Most pieces come apart and can be connected by velcro, which is perfect for kids her age to pull apart and try to put the pieces together again. The set includes 25 wooden pieces from realistic teacups and saucers, to cake and biscuits, everything Little L needs to throw her own fantastic tea party. Seeing her enjoy, get creative, and share so well with her doll friends, shows me that she is ready for a real tea party and this tea set has been the inspiration for her next birthday party. I have been incredibly satisfied seeing Little L love her Lakeshore Learning tea set, being open to share and letting her mind fly away as she imagines countless ways of playing with it.

The Giveaway!

We are giving away one Classic Wooden Tea Set to one lucky winner. All you have to do is leave us a comment letting us know who you’d like to share this prize with. Then, enter the Rafflecopter below.

Giveaway ends November 5th

a Rafflecopter giveaway

In our family, card games and language go together. Whether we are playing escala cuarenta in Peru or cribbage in Wisconsin, there is constant banter and conversation. When my kids were little, simple card games often led to delightful interactions. Now that they are older, I appreciate the language and social skills they learned from the games.

Children of any age can play Batalla de Velocidades and Batalla de Tamaños. They are based on the traditional game La guerra (War) in which two players each have a stack of cards and turn over the top card at the same time. The higher card takes the lower card. If the cards are the same, players put three cards face down and then another face up. The higher value card takes all of the others.

With these printable cards, kids compare the speeds of animals or the area of countries. The information is on the cards, so the comparison is easy. Before they start, players decide which cards are going to have more value. Bigger and faster do not have to win. As children know from Aesop’s Tortoise and the Hare fable, the fastest animal does not always win the race. They can choose to have slower animal cards take faster animal cards and smaller countries be of more value than larger countries.

There are 12 animal speed cards and 17 country area cards. To play, print 4 sets on card stock and cut them apart for a total of 48 animal cards or 68 country cards. The cards are in black and white, so kids may want to color them.

The PDF’s below include information about using articles (el, la) with country names and about agreement when numbers are used as adjectives.

Click here for the printable Animal Speed Cards (Batalla de Velocidades)

Click here for the printable Country Size Cards (Batalla de Tamaños)

Speaking Spanish with Kids as You Play

Depending on the age of the players and their level of Spanish, you may want to talk about the vocabulary and the numbers before you play. Kids do not have to say any numbers to play the games. They can tell which card wins just by looking at the numbers. The information is interesting though, and the country cards in particular are a low-pressure way to practice saying large numbers.

If the vocabulary is new, talking about the words before you play lets kids hear the words pronounced correctly. For children who read in English and are learning Spanish, there is a tendency for written language to influence their pronunciation, especially with cognates like Japón and Rusia. Batalla de Tamaños is an excellent way to learn the names of countries in Spanish and how to pronounce them.

In addition to vocabulary and numbers, children will practice comparisons with these games. Below are examples of sentences you can use as you play.

Batalla de Velocidades  (Animal Cards)

La jirafa corre más rápido que el cerdo.
El elefante es más veloz que la ardilla.
El león le gana al conejo.
Gana el león.
La cebra corre 40 millas por hora. El ratón corre 8 millas por hora. La cebra le gana al ratón.
La cebra no corre tan rápido como la chita.
El canguro corre más despacio que el caballo.
El caracol es muy lento. Es más lento que la ardilla.

Batalla de Tamaños  (Country Cards)

Rusia es más grande que Egipto.
Canadá le gana a Estados Unidos.
Gana el Perú.
Italia es más pequeña que la India.
Estados Unidos es más grande que la Argentina.
El Perú es más pequeño que la India.
Kenia tiene 224,081 millas cuadradas.

Voltea una carta.
Yo gané.
Tú ganaste.

You can make cards for other animals and countries to add to the sets. Of course, these cards can be used for other games too. So, when summer afternoons get long and kids are looking for something to do, try a game of Batalla de Velocidades or Batalla de Tamaños and have some summer fun en español.

Special thanks to Spanish Playground for providing this activity. Visit their site for more activities to teach Spanish to kids.

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 the same picture or arrangement of objects. It is an excellent way to speak Spanish with your chiquitos.

You can play Igualitos with household objects, pictures, stickers or by drawing. Everyone has the same materials and one player gives instructions to the others, or players take turns. You work together to make the sets igualitos, ¡pero sin mirar! You can make a barrier with a book or sit back to back.

A few ways to play Igualitos

You need a set of objects or pictures for each player.
- Put pictures into a scene. Click here for a printable scene and pictures. You will need to print two copies. Inexpensive stickers work well too, and packages often have several identical sheets.
- Collect small objects (plates, cups, spoons, straws, napkins, apples, etc.). Arrange the objects and give instructions to make the same arrangement.
- Put pictures or objects in a row and give instructions to put them in the same order.
- Cut out paper shapes of different colors. Make a pattern and give instructions to make the same pattern. This works well with stringing colored beads, too.
- Print simple coloring sheets (search draw the details coloring pages). Give instructions as you add details to the pictures.
- Use memory cards to play Igualitos with two players. Give one of each pair to each player. Arrange the cards and give instructions to put them in order.
- Use toys like Mr. Potato Head, the Cootie game, Legos or blocks to play. Describe the piece you are putting on and where to put it.
- For older kids, you can use maps to play Igualitos. Print two copies and draw a route giving instructions as you go.
- Make a grid (3×3 or 4×4). Use stickers or give instructions to draw simple objects in different squares: En A-4, pon un sol. Dibjua una cara feliz en C-1.

Tips for playing Igualitos with children learning Spanish

- If you are printing pictures, use cardstock to give them more weight. You can also put a tiny piece of double-sided tape on the pieces so they do not move too easily.
- Explain that you are trying to make the same picture or arrangement of objects.
- Before you begin, talk about the pictures together so that your child hears the words.
- Start with five objects or pictures. Add more when your child understands the game.
- At first, give instructions to your child so she will hear the language. This will help her when it is her turn to give instructions.
- When you have placed all the pictures, take away the barrier and compare. ¿Son igualitos? Talk about any differences.

Special thanks to Spanish Playground for providing this activity. Visit their site for more activities to teach Spanish to kids.

One of our favorite animated characters, the lovable Pocoyó, is celebrating the Olympics with a suite of games, printables, videos and all-around-fun with the Pocoyó Games 2012.

When you visit the Pocoyó Games site  – available in Spanish, English, Portuguese and Italian — your child can have fun doing any and all of this:

• Pocoyize! Create your own avatar and have it flaunt a tshirt with the flag of the country you’re rooting for. Once you create your avatar, you can represent your country in the Pocoyó Games and also download a personalized video with Pocoyó and his friends!
• Enter Mundo Pocoyó — the show’s virtual land — where you will find a whole lot of Olympic-themed fun.
• Download and create your own diploma or certificate with a drawing of your favorite sport. Then upload it to the gallery for your chance to be one of the 5 winners of an original Pocoyó print from the show.
• Download Pocoyó Olympic-themed activities
• Download a fun Pocoyó Olympic Games screensaver and wallpaper
• Música! Yes, you can download for free a set of Música Pocoyó Games 2012 to get the family in the Olympic spirit!
• There’s many, many videos featuring Pocoyó y sus amigos playing Olympic sports. Check out the full collection in Spanish below.

If you are looking for Spanish language games to play with your niños this summer, try picture cards. The pictures help kids understand the Spanish they hear, so they learn new words as they are having fun.

You are probably familiar with games like Memory, where players turn over matching pairs, or Go Fish where players ask each other for cards to make pairs. You will find ten games to play with picture cards on this printable activity sheet.

If your child is a beginning Spanish learner, use cards with common words. There are many printable picture cards online; try searching ESL flash cards or matching cards. You can also draw you own or cut pictures from magazines. There is a set of printable summer picture cards with the activity sheet to get you started.

If your child is attending an English language school, you can make picture cards for the vocabulary she learned during the year, like the planets, the life cycle of the frog, or early Americans. You can also choose words related to a book she read or to an upcoming trip.

Tips for playing picture card games in Spanish

- If the words are new, talk about the cards together before you play so your child has a chance to hear them.

- When you play a game, limit the number of new words and include picture cards of vocabulary your child knows.

- Use the words for the pictures on the cards as much as possible as you play.

- Play games where kids hear new words first and then move to games where they produce them. On the activity sheet, for example, play La Carrera or Tira el saquito before playing ¿Qué había?

- Relate the words to each other as you play. Using the printable cards for example, you could say: La pala. Se puede usar la pala para hacer un castillo de arena.

- Cards can include the written word or not. For children who speak Spanish and are learning to read, cards with words make the game a good literacy activity. For Spanish language learners who read in English, you may want to start with just pictures so that the written word does not interfere with pronunciation as they learn the words.

- All of the language you use to play a game is excellent exposure to Spanish. As you play, you can use simple sentences like these:

¿A quién le toca? – Whose turn is it?
Te toca. – It’s your turn.
Me toca. – It’s my turn.
Tira de nuevo. – Roll again.
Ganas. – You win.
Ganaste. – You won.
Gano – I win.
Gané. – I won.

With children who speak more Spanish, talk about hypothetical situations: Si hubiera tirado un seis, te habría ganado. (If I had rolled a six, I would have beaten you.)

- Most important, have fun playing with your child!

Click here for 10 Picture Card Games to Play in Spanish including a printable activity sheet and printable cards.

Special thanks to Spanish Playground for providing these games. Visit their site for more activities to teach Spanish to kids.

Use the words on the cards as much as possible as you play. ¡Diviértanse!

1. La carrera Set out cards as a race track. Add a salida and a meta (start and finish). Roll dice to move pieces along the track. You can add sin gasolina cards (lose a turn) or a number on the die can be a llanta desinflada (flat tire – move back one space).

2. ¿Qué falta? Player A puts out several cards. Player B studies them and then closes her eyes. Player A takes away one card. Player B looks and says which card is missing. If she is right, she wins the card.

3. Tira el saquito. Place cards on the floor. Toss bean bags to try to hit them. Use phrases like Casi le diste al árbol (You almost hit the tree.)

4. Aquí tenemos. Distribute cards around a room. The first player goes to a card, touches it, and says Aquí tenemos un….and names the card. The next player does the same thing and also adds something new by touching a card and naming it. Each player adds to the chain. You can also play by spreading cards on a table and touching each one as you name it.

5. ¿Qué había? Player A puts out 5-15 cards (adjust for age). Player B studies the cards for one minute and then Player A covers them. Player B tries to remember as many of cards as she can.

6. 20 preguntas. This game is usually played without cards, but a limited number of items makes it more fun for beginners. Set out a lot of cards. Player A chooses a card in her head. Player B asks yes-no questions to guess the card. If she guesses in fewer than 20 questions, she gets a point. If not, Player A gets a point.

7. Una sola palabra. Put out lots of cards. Player A chooses a card in her head and gives a one-word clue. Player B tries to guess the card. If she guesses wrong, Player A gives another one-word clue. To make it more difficult, make the rule that no clue word can be repeated.

8. A oscuras. Hide cards in a dark room. Give each child a flashlight to search for the cards. Do not make it too dark. Say the words as the children find the cards.

9. Pesca. Put a paperclip on each card. Children use a stick with a magnet on the end of a string to catch the cards. If you print two sets of cards, kids can try to catch matching pairs.

10. Memoria. To play this classic game, make two sets of cards. Place them face down. Players turn over cards to try to make pairs. The person who has the most pairs at the end wins.

Click here for a printable version of these games.

Click here for summer picture cards without words.

Click here for summer picture cards with words.

Special thanks to Spanish Playground for providing these games. Visit their site for more activities to teach Spanish to kids.

Earth Day/Día de la Tierra is celebrated worldwide on April 22nd. This is a perfect time to sit down with our kids and make learning about taking care of our Madre Tierra fun and entertaining en español.

You can start by pointing out the fun fact that the three Rs (las tres erres) are the same in English and in Spanish!

Recycle=Recicla

Reduce=Reduce

Reuse=Reutiliza

Then, check out these fun online games, activities and videos around the web.

• Online Free Spanish has created a great set of games, puzzles and coloring pages, all in Spanish, to celebrate el Día de la Tierra. Pictured above.

 

• Tu Discovery Kids has a whole microsite called “Mi Planeta” dedicated to Earth Day. It includes sections such as Tips Verdes, Santuarios de Animales, games and videos and, yes, all in Spanish (this is the Latin American version of the Discovery Kids site).

 

• Scholastic has a publication called “Let’s Find Out” dedicated to exploring nature. The magazine has a Spanish version which you can order or just download for free, along with a teacher’s guide and extra printable activities.

 

• Primera Escuela has tons of coloring pages to print and there’s a huge section for Earth Day.

 

• The Environmental Protection Agency has a whole section with resources in Spanish for children and teachers to talk about Earth Day. The picture above is of a free downloadable booklet to learn why we must reduce, reuse and recyle.

 

• Check out this very cute video created by a group of school kids in Spain: Las Tres R. Reducir, Reutilizar y Reciclar 

 

• NatGeo in Latin America has created a series of promo spots for Día de la Tierra featuring icons such as Julieta Venegas, Fito Paez, Aleks Syntek and many more. Check out Julieta Venegas´ spot:

For more videos, activities, games and more in Spanish to learn about Earth Day, check out and follow our board on Pinterest.

Share: Have you found any fun ways to learn about el Día de la Tierra?

From our friends over at PBS Kids comes Curious George games en Español!

Here at SpanglishBaby we have been strong advocates and a loud voice expressing to PBS Kids how eager we all are to get more of their quality educational on air and online content in Spanish. It´s great to see these companies taking strides to promote the love of español and language-learning in our kids. Last year we also announce the PBS Kids launch of the Noah Comprende interactive original web series aimed at introducing 6-9 year old children to the Spanish language.

The Curious George show has several on-air episodes which celebrate the Latino culture and traditions through the stories of George´s friend Marco. The great thing about these Curious George games, besides that they are in Spanish, is that they also help our niños with their engineering, math, and science skills.

To play these games click here.

¡Gracias, PBS Kids!

Once your kids start to fathom what cerca and lejos mean, your next step is to expand the concepts by helping them understand where they fit in the world (literally). The Smart Play USA Floor Map Puzzle by ingenio can help you do just that.

Along with cute symbols for each state, the puzzle includes Spanish names for many states and bodies of water. It is the perfect size – big enough to read easily, but won’t cover the dinner table.

My favorite part is that it’s quite difficult to put together. Trying the puzzle with my son meant testing my knowledge of the exact location of each U.S. state! This would be a great activity for older children to introduce younger ones to geography.

After my son and I completed the puzzle, we talked about it for the same amount of time it had taken us to put it together. I pointed out which states are home to all our friends and family members, and explained to him why there’s a caimán icon on the state of Florida. The best part about our discussion? It happened in Spanglish, because the puzzle is labeled in both languages.

If you want your kids to graduate from baby rompecabezas to more intricate ones, this is your chance!

The Giveaway!

This giveaway is now closed. Congratulations to the winner: Lindsey Rose !

We’re giving away one Smart Play Ingenio USA Map Puzzle to one lucky winner.

To enter, leave us a comment telling us which U.S. state would you most like to travel to with your children and why?

That’s all you have to do to enter this giveaway. If you want to up your chances at winning, then this is how you can get additional entries (only after you’ve completed the step above):

**Please leave a separate comment for each so we can count them and avoid mistakes.

1. Subscribe to receive blog updates and subscriber-only content via email and leave us an extra comment letting us know you did so or that you’re already a subscriber. Make sure to leave the comment using the same email you subscribed with.

2. Follow us on Twitter and tweet about this giveaway including this link to the post  @SpanglishBaby and @myingenio. Copy the link to the tweet in an additional comment on the giveaway’s post.

Ex Tweet: Loving the bilingual USA Map Puzzle by @myingenio Enter to win it at @SpanglishBaby

3. Like SpanglishBaby on Facebook and join a thriving community of parents.

This giveaway ends Friday, Dec. 9th, at midnight PST and is open to everyone over 18 years of age in the continental U.S. Check out the Giveaway Rules.

Click on the image or link below to begin download

Shake it up with your kids doing this fun maracas activity to teach and reinforce numbers in Spanish!

Click here to download a PDF with the Maracas Shake it Up activity. The download will automatically start as soon as you click. Check your computer´s download folder to find the files.

Thanks to The Bilingual Fun Company for providing this activity. You can follow them on Twitter and Like their Facebook page which is always bustling with information.

Tell us, are you using and enjoying these activities? We´d love to know!