Who doesn’t love Pocoyó?…..

That’s right: that would be impossible. The cutest little guy in a blue hat has a new interactive storybook to share with you and your kids. Las Mil Puertas is an adorable app that makes a Pocoyó episode come alive. All of our favorite characters – Elly, Pajarito, and the hilarious Pato – show up in this story about the mysterious doors that always have something different behind them. Pato jumps into one of the doors and disappears, and Pocoyó has to find him.

Change the language to English or Spanish, and then choose to put the book on AutoPlay, have it read to you while you control page turns, or read it yourself. Of course, there is an animated surprise on every page for your niños who like to touch every part of the screen.

This is a great app because the graphics, music, and voices match up with the clean look of the Pocoyó show that we’re used to. I will anxiously anticipate more apps like this in the future, especially if they involve Pocoyó’s cute little speaking voice in Spanish and Pato’s eyes popping out of his head!

Find Pocoyó: Las Mil Puertas in iTunes

Available for iPad and iPhone

Recommended for ages 4 and up

Price: $1.99

Check out more Pocoyó apps and activities on the Zinkia Entertainment website

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.

Celebrate this Valentines Day or Día del Amor y la Amistad with one of our niños favorite TV amigos: Pocoyo! The cards feature Pocoyo and his friends Elly, Pato, Loula , and Sleepy Bird for a total of five different cards. These super cute cards are a great option for our kids to share this Valentine’s Day.

Click here to download a printable version of these cards and visit the Pocoyo site en español for more fun activities and games.

Check out all the Valentine’s goodies we have for you here and our Valentine’s Pinterest board is really cute too!

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gsjSsiQxfrY&feature=PlayList&p=CFB6D64AF3847FF9&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=20
We are obsessed with Pocoyó…we truly are.  We actually have a little ritual we call “La Hora de Bailar” where we put on El Baile de Pocoyó and our little dictator of a toddler makes both papá and mamá stand up in front of the screen, holds both of our hands and has us jumping and dancing with her and Pocoyó.  You could call it cute;  I´m not so sure.

In any case, it´s time we share with you another one of our favorite Pocoyó episodes:  El Gran Tobogán or The Great Slide.

Tobogán is the more formal translation for “slide” in Spanish.  I actually call it a deslizadero and my husband calls it resbaladilla.  But since I’m the one who spends 99.5% of the time in the playground with Camila, I’m sure deslizadero will be the word she’ll learn in Spanish.

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Photo by *spud*

Basically, every expert on the subject agrees that if you want your child to learn a new  language, just exposing them to “educational” media in that language won’t-on its own-increase their chances of learning it. For maximum language absorption, children need to be actively involved with caregivers, family and/or friends who verbally interact with them through play and daily activities.

That being said, media can be a useful tool for reinforcing the minority language if it’s an activity in which parents can actively engage with their children. If your kid already watches TV, it’s recommended that you choose programs in the minority language. This is a HUGE topic of discussion, and one we’ll be talking about in much more detail in later posts. For now, I want to introduce you to our:

VIDEO OF THE WEEK

Every week we’ll browse the web to find a children’s video en español to share with you. The idea is that you can use these as a source of quality, educational and, of course, FUN videos to share with your child.

Our very first video comes from la madre patria of Spain: Pocoyó -  a sweet and curious, 4-year-old preschooler. His joy and curiosity for life lead him into countless adventures with his friends: Pato, Loula, Pajaroto and Elly, the big pink elephant. Pocoyó stimulates a child’s imagination through playful interaction and lots of laughs. I just love to watch it with Camila and ask her to dance like Elly, la elefante ROSA, and watch her clumsily turn around and around in circles.

We’re posting the Spanish version, but the beauty of Pocoyó is that it’s available in 11 languages!

One of our favorites; yours to enjoy:  El Baile de Pocoyó

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BnUnv6dhBGY

Do you have favorite videos you and your child watch together? Please share with all of us links to your favorite on-line children videos in Spanish.