Although we love to say that we celebrate Hispanic Heritage every single day here on SpanglishBaby, we have to admit to loving Hispanic Heritage Month because the celebration just goes on overdrive. Case in point is Disney ¡Ajá! This oh-so-exciting and oh-so-awaited online destination by Disney gathers in one place a slew of online games, printables and full episodes of  many of our kid’s favorite shows in one place and all ¡en español!

Are you as excited as we are? Disney ¡Ajá! is definitely bookmarked on my browser now and I know it will become one of my girl’s favorite online destinations (along with her current obsession of Club Penguin in Spanish!).

I can bet you anything she’ll probably squeal when she sees the Teen Beach Movie game “Motociclistas Contra Surfistas.” Her favorite Teen Beach Movie song plays as soon as you click the game. ¡Le va fascinar!

There’s also games under “Juegos y Actividades” featuring Princesita Sofía, Planes, Jake, Jessie, La Suerte de Charlie, OZ, Phineas y Ferb, Doc McStuffins, Stan, El Perro Bloguero , Crash y Bernstein y Gravity Falls.

Oh, and how about karaoke in Spanish to sing-a-along to some Disney classics like Peter Pan, Cinderella, The Lion King, The Little Mermaid and Tangled? I’m sure I’ll be getting into this one with her too!

Of course, Mickey Mouse y sus amigos had to be part of the fun too. There’s a set of cute printable coloring sheets to choose from.

And now you don’t have to mess with SAP or search for Disney Junior, Disney Channel and Disney XD shows in Spanish on YouTube because you can find a great selection of them on the Disney ¡Ajá! video section.

Like this episode from Doc McStuffins!

Mala pata / La mona burbuja on Disney Video

Yo digo ¡Ajua! de la emoción!

How about you? Check out Disney ¡Ajá! and let us know what you and your kids love about it!

This is one announcement that has us incredibly excited and hopeful that the mission we’ve all embarked in together to teach Spanish to our children is being taken seriously by those companies we rely on for educational and entertainment resources for them.

We’re thrilled to be PBS KIDS Parent Ambassadors and be able to break the news to you that they just announced more than 25 PBS KIDS games are now available in Spanish. Join the Cat in the Hat, Curious George and Sid the Science Kid for fun games and stickers en español. ¡Qué emoción!

Kids can now play games from their favorite shows in Spanish; the games from each series are grouped into collections that are all linked by a common theme and math curriculum. The collections of games now in Spanish include:

Curious George – Busy Day (16 games)

Join George on his very busy day as he learns about numbers and counting and is introduced to addition and subtraction.

Sid the Science Kid – Sid’s Super Fab Lab: Science Fair (9 games)

Check out the science fair displays with Sid and his friends, and play games that involve measuring (temperature, weight, and size), sorting, symmetry, addition, and finding patterns.

The Cat in the Hat Knows a Lot About That! – Cat’s Math Safari(2 games)

Help the Cat in the Hat collect the missing pages of his Animal Safari Book. You’ll have to use shape recognition and spatial skills, counting and measurement.

The games are all enhanced with researched-based improvements to level selection and instructions. ESL students or children learning Spanish will learn math skills that will benefit them not only at home, but also in the classroom. The games are part of the Ready To Learn Initiative, an early learning project of PBS KIDS and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), funded by the U.S. Department of Education to support the development of early math and literacy skills in children ages 2-8, especially those from low-income families.

You can check out all of PBS KIDS online games in Spanish HERE. Additional games in Spanish are also available there, including Spanish language-learning games from web-original series Oh Noah! and Maya and Miguel.

We’d love to know if you and your niños check out the games and share with us which one is their (and your) favorite! Let us know with a comment below or tweet us @SpanglishBaby with the hashtag #bilingualkids.

While Lego have never gone away, it seems they’re experiencing a resurgence in popularity. This past Christmas, every boy under the age of 12 that I know, had Lego on their wish list – my own 11 year old included.

Although Lego sets can be expensive, it’s one of those toys I’m willing to spend money on because of the quality. Mixed in with my son’s Lego collection are many of the Lego bricks which I played with as a child, and I believe that some of those once belonged to my father.

My personal preference is for the classic Lego sets and Lego City, but there are all kinds of sets these days including Star Wars, Harry Potter, Cars, Toy Story, Indiana Jones, Thomas the Tank Engine, Lord of the Rings, Batman, Spiderman, and many others.

Loved around the world by both boys and girls, Lego is known for its durability, quality and the fuel those little bricks provide to the imaginations of young and old alike, but did you know that Lego can also be a great tool for parents raising bilingual children?

Fun Fact: “Lego” comes from the Danish phrase “leg godt” – which means “play well.”

How Parents Raising Bilingual Children Can Use Lego

When playing with Legos you can use your child’s target language to talk about the brick colors, their size, and how many you need; and since the objects you can build with Lego bricks are endless, the vocabulary your child can build is equally immeasurable!

Fun Fact: Lego bricks are manufactured in several locations around the world. Molding locations include Billund, Denmark; Nyíregyháza, Hungary; and Monterrey, Mexico.

In addition to the colorful, interlocking construction blocks themselves, Lego has a website in Spanish. The Spanish-language website includes products, news, and a “juegos” (games) area for the kids which is worth checking out. The games include categories such as “acción”, “estragia”, “aventura”, “creatividad”, and “preescolar.”

For younger children (ages 1 ½ to 5 years old), check out the Lego Duplo website in Spanish. Lego Duplo are larger-sized Lego blocks which are easier for little hands, (and don’t pose a choking hazard.) The Lego Duplo site also has a fun “juegos” section, downloadable coloring pages, and videos.

Want to play in a language other than Spanish? The website is available in over a dozen languages. Go to the Lego.com homepage and click in the upper right hand corner where it says “Change region.”

Does your child play with Lego? How do you incorporate language learning into playtime with toys that aren’t necessarily advertised as “bilingual”?

{Photo by  p_a_h }