Looking for a last-minute activity to do with your kids? How about a fun learning game? I created this Spanish conversation hearts memory game for the kids to learn some new Valentine-themed Spanish words. This game can be customized to your child’s needs too.

Here is what you’ll need to create your own:

• Scissors
• 8 card stock squares measuring 4×4
• Heart shape to trace
• Marker

Let’s get started!

• Trace and cut the heart on each square.
• Choose 4 Spanish words to use in your game.

Customizing your game:

Write each one of your words twice – one on each heart (you will have 2 matching hearts). Or write the word in Spanish on one heart and in English on the other heart

We used the following words: amistad, amor, beso, and amigo.

Arrange on a flat surface and let’s get ready to play!

It was the perfect activity to play while we waited for lunch to finish cooking. My kids enjoyed learning the words as we played. We pronounced them in Spanish and explained the meaning in English.

I hope this game encourages bilingual play and that a few new words are learned too.

Happy Valentine’s Day!

Secret Message Valentines for Dia del Amor y Amistad! I love that in Spanish a common way to to translate Valentine’s Day is saying “Day of Love and Friendship.”

My boys love all things spies, secret agents, mission impossible…. So when  I told my oldest that we were going to write secret messages to his dad and brothers, he was on board.  This is even a super easy Valentine’s card you can have kids make in class or to give to classmates.

I am always looking for simple  ways to make 40 plus Valentines for my boys classmates. One of our desires as parents is to help our boys see that Valentine’s day is not just for lovers but a time to share “nuestra amistad y amor” with our friends, neighbors, those in need…

What you will need for our Secret Message Valentines are basic things you can find around your house.

Supplies:

• white card stock paper shaped into hearts
• white crayon
• water color paint

The “invisible ink” is the white crayon.  The watercolor paint is what helps uncover the secret message!

1. Write your message with the white crayon on your white card stock paper. Make sure you press down hard when writing.

2. Make cupids arrow and attach over heart.

2. Give your Valentine their secret message and let them know that they will need water color paint to uncover the message. Or you have the water color paint on hand and let them paint over it in front of you.

In celebration of Valentine’s Day or Día Del Amor y la Amistad we are sharing these Spanish language Valentine’s Day cards with you! These can be printed, cut and then folded to make cards, or even be printed on sticker paper for added fun. They would also make cute notes for Valentine’s Day gifts. There are so many possibilities and they are our FREE gift to you to enjoy and share.

For a printable version of both sets of cards click here.

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

Our amiga Sara and her friends have done it again! They’ve put together the most adorable and catchy bilingual tune with accompanying video.

Check it out below and share the amor with your children, friends, teachers and anyone whose corazoncito can be strung to this bilingual beat.

¡Feliz día del amor y la amistad!

Check out all the Valentine’s goodies we have for you here and visit Music With Sara for more cool music en español for our kids!

Oh, and our Valentine’s Pinterest board is really cute too!

January is over and Valentine’s is right around the corner. As I’ve said before I’m not a huge fan of this celebration, but I do think it’s a great time to do fun things with my kids. So I loved the idea of creating our own messages in Spanish on the large conversation hearts by Brach’s pictured above.

I figured that it’d be not only fun, but it’d be a great Spanish vocabulary lesson for my kids.

First, I showed them the idea concept behind the conversation hearts and I gave them an example by writing the word AMOR on one of them with the red food-safe pen that comes in the box. Then, I told them that before we got started we had to come up with a list of words related to love, friendship and Valentine’s Day in Spanish. We had so much fun coming up with words!

In all honesty, I figured most of them would come from Vanessa, since she’s the eldest. But boy was I in for a big surprise! It was actually my 3.5-year-old son who came up with the majority of the words on our list. Check them out:

Vanessa wasn’t too thrilled, but then she came up with a few phrases herself (such as ¿me quieres? and eres mi amor) and we were ready to get started. My first-grader did an amazing job writing these words onto the conversation hearts. (And her little brother has fun scribbling on them too!) So not only did we get to brainstorm some vocabulary, but Vanessa had a chance to practice writing all these words in Spanish too.

I must say I that my favorite part of Brach’s Conversation Hearts, which are available exclusively at your local Walmart, is their large size — perfect for little hands with plenty of space for those just learning to write. ¡Quedaron súper lindos!

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

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.

And what better way to do that than through books! Some of the ones on this list are strictly about Valentine’s Day, while others are just about feelings and love in general. Find them, along with tons of other great ones, in La Tiendita. (FYI, the first one on the list is my FAVORITE children’s book about amor!)

Fonchito y la luna by Mario Vargas Llosa

El Día de San Valentín/Valentines for Vinnie by Greg Roza

Un día del amor by Sujatha Lalgudi

El Primer San Valentín de Clifford by Norman Bridwell

On Valentine’s Day/Día de San Valentín by Judith Mazzeo Zocchi

El ladrón de estrellas by Begoña Ibarrola

El dragón frío by Ana y Andrés Guerrero

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

Bebe Bilingual want to wish you all a Feliz Día de San Valentín with a little gift. They have provided us with this free printable for our niños to enjoy! For a color Valentine card version of the printable above  check out the Bebe Bilingual etsy shop. They are available in Spanish and French!

For a printable version of the bilingual Valentine’s printable click here. 

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

Layered gelatin and in particular, creamy layered Jell-O is very special to me.  Not only is it a fun treat to enjoy but it also brings back so many vivid memories of Valentine’s Day during my elementary school years in Mexico.

Valentine’s Day in Mexican schools was celebrated somewhat differently than in U.S. schools.  It was more of a gift exchange between students in which they had the option of participating if their family was economically able.  To be included in the gift exchange, one had to write their name on a piece o paper and place it in a festive box located on the teacher’s desk.  The box was decorated with red and white construction paper hearts, glued-on red gumdrops, Smarties and dried macaroni.  

Valentine’s Day cards did not exist in my school and were only exchanged among married or engaged couples.  If you really wanted to make a good impression on your Valentine and their family, the card was accompanied with flowers, expensive jewelry or American chocolates.

My family could not afford a fancy plush toy or chocolates in order for me to participate that year. But my mom did manage to create these beautiful, individually sized creamy gelatins for the entire class. It was the most coveted gift and it was wonderful that everyone had the opportunity to enjoy one.

To this day, the classmates I’ve kept in touch with have remembered my mom walking into the class with a tray full of gelatin treats arranged on a platter in heart formation.  

Now that my son is in school, my mom has shared with me this simple and inexpensive recipe to make for his classmates this Valentine’s Day.

I used polymerose heart-shaped molds but keep in mind that this treat can be made in any other plastic or aluminum Jell-O mold and to follow the unmolding instructions at the end of this recipe.

Wishing you a happy and memorable Valentines Day!  Enjoy!

Ingredients

Creamy Cherry layer

Makes 6

1- 3oz package of cherry flavored Jell-O

1 cup boiling water

1 cup cold milk

Sweet cream gelatin

1 tablespoons (2 envelopes) unflavored gelatin

¼ cup cold water

¾ cup boiling water

¾ cup sweetened condensed milk

Creamy Orange layer

1- 3oz package of orange flavored Jell-O

1 cup boiling water

1 cup cold milk

Instructions:

Creamy Cherry Layer

In a medium mixing bowl, add 1 cup boiling water to cherry gelatin mix, stir 2 minutes until completely dissolved.

Stir in 1 cup milk until combined.

Divide mixture evenly in six heart-shaped polymerose heart shaped molds (approximately 5 tablespoons of cherry mixture in each mold).  Each mold is approximately 2.9” (W) x 2.9” (L) x 1.8” (H).

Refrigerate until set.  Approximately 1 hour.

Sweet cream gelatin

Meanwhile, in a separate bowl, sprinkle unflavored gelatin over 1/4 cup of cold water and allow the gelatin to absorb the water.

Stir in 3/4 cup of the boiling water until gelatin is fully dissolved. 

Stir in sweetened condensed milk until the mixture is smooth. Refrigerate mixture until slightly thickened.  

Gently spoon approximately 4 – ½ tablespoons of the white mixture into each heart-shaped mold over the cherry gelatin layer. Refrigerate until set.  Approximately 1 hour. 

Creamy Orange Layer

Meanwhile, in medium mixing bowl, add 1 cup boiling water to orange gelatin mix, stir 2 minutes until completely dissolved.

Stir in 1 cup milk until combined.

Divide last layer among each heart-shaped mold (approximately 5 tablespoons of orange mixture in each mold).   Refrigerate until firm.

To unmold: 

Fill a large basin with warm water and immerse the mold in the warm water for approximately 10 seconds.  Be careful not to spill water onto the gelatin.  Slightly pull the gelatin away from the inside of the mold with wet fingers.

Place a large, chilled platter upside down on top of the mold.  Hold the mold with one hand and the other hand on the plate, carefully invert.  Peel away mold carefully.

In the mood for besos y abrazos? Your day is here. Remember to celebrate el día de San Valentín (or Día del Amor y la Amistad) with all of your Valentines, young and old. It’s a good opportunity to discuss the proverbial ties that bind and the reason we are all making such great efforts to raise well-rounded, bilingual kids: ¡AMOR!

Keep the love alive by starting a collection of LOVEly books like the ones below. Find them, along with tons of other great ones, in La Tiendita.

Para los niños:

El Día de San Valentín/Valentines for Vinnie by Greg Roza

Un día del amor by Sujatha Lalgudi

El Primer San Valentín de Clifford by Norman Bridwell

On Valentine’s Day/Día de San Valentín by Judith Mazzeo Zocchi

Para los padres:

El amor en los tiempos del cólera by Gabriel García Márquez

De amor y de sombra by Isabel Allende

La Maestría del Amor: Una Guía Práctica para el Arte de las Relaciones by Don Miguel Ruiz

100 Love Sonnets: Cien sonetos de amor by Pablo Neruda

Un Día/One Day by David Nicholls

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

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!