I’m so excited to share this video project I was hired to host for eHow on their Mom channel. We shot a total of 10 videos all under the main theme of Get Involved. As a mom raising a bilingual and bicultural child, I’m well aware of how important it is for us to be completely involved in how and what our children are learning. Everything from the music and apps we choose for them, to making sure the DVD is being played with the Spanish track on, to making huge sacrifices to immerse them through travel and education, being involved, present and having a commitment is key.

And now that my girl is on her first official summer break (she’s a kinder graduate!), videos like these below are helping spark the creative flame to fill in those long summer days with fun, memorable and educational activities.

There are 10 videos in total as part of the series:

1. Fun Lessons With Common Household Items – With these simple crafts projects, you can teach your children about everything from music to nature to light and color.

2. Making Music From Natural Objects – Show your kids how to make musical instruments using common objects found in nature like grass, twigs, rocks and fruits and veggies.

3. Raising Kids Who Care: Volunteer Opportunities for Kids – This simple advice will help you select the best volunteer opportunities for your children.

4. Sneaky Ways to Boost Problem Solving Skills for Kids – These three activities help teach your children essential problem-solving skills.

5. Taking Math Outside: Sidewalk Chalk Math – Do your kids dread doing their math homework? Make it fun by doing math problems with sidewalk chalk outdoors.

6. Childhood Startup: Teaching Your Child About Money – These simple activities teach your children how to save money, make financial goals and become financially responsible.

7. Fun Science Experiments You Can Do with Your Child – Using common household ingredients, you can create safe science experiments that teach your children about density, chemical reactions and more.

8. Fun Science Activity for Kids: Making Elephant Toothpaste – This delightful experiment teaches kids about chemical reactions.

9. Fun Science Activity for Kids: Making a Lava Lamp – Using common household ingredients, your kids can create a homemade lava lamp.

10. Fun Science Activity for Kids: The Parachute Egg Challenge – This fun experiment teaches kids about gravity and air resistance.

Season 43 of Sesame Street premieres on Monday, September 24th on PBS Kids and we were excited to see that Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor, an inspiration to all women and Latinas, will be making her second appearance on the show. This time around, she’s on the “Word on the Street” segment talking about the word “Career,” perfectly suited for the beloved “Wise Latina.”

The new season will feature an exciting segment, “Elmo: The Musical!”, a new S-T-E-A-M curriculum, and visits from guests including Halle Berry, Don Cheadle, Amy Ryan, Casey Affleck, Melissa McCarthy, Steve Carell, Jon Hamm, Eric Stonestreet, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, David Hyde Pierce, Timothy Olyphant, Maya Rudolph, Dax Shepard, Blake Griffin, Matt Kemp, Zac Efron, Ed Helms, Kristen Bell, Paula Patton, Mario Lopez, Wendy Williams, Colbie Caillat, rock band Train, Common, and more.

As soon as I read the press release, my thoughts wandered to recollecting all the Latinos who have made a celebrity VIP appearance on Sesame Street throughout its last 42 seasons. The list I compiled is truly amazing and I share it with you below and for easy reference as a list of Latinos on Sesame Street on our You Tube channel (which, by the way, you should be subscribed for fun videos that celebrate our cultura and el español!!) Scroll through these videos with your child and let’s celebrate Latinos on Sesame Street!

Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor and Elmo

Rico Rodriguez and Elmo: Magnify

Gustavo Dudamel and Elmo: Stupendous

Juanes Sings “Muévete

Sofía Vergara: Baile

Jessica Alba and Elmo

Cameron Díaz: Habitat

George López with Elmo and Abby: Liquid

Zoe Saldaña and Elmo: Transportation

Natalie Morales and Abby: Floats

Eva Longoria and Elmo: Exquisite

John Leguizamo is Captain Vegetable

Celia Cruz Sings Songo’s Song

Gloria Estefan and Rosita Sing a Song

Joe Torres and Elmo: Walk

Tito Puente

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?

In 1974, film directors Adolfo Torres Portillo and Fernando Ruiz, who had previously worked at the Disney animation studios, animated the classic story of the Three Wise Men who go on a journey to find baby Jesus to welcome him to this world and shower him with gifts.

What´s beautiful and unique about this film is that Mary and Joseph are portrayed as native Mexican Indians and there are plenty of scenes where the folk costumes of the areas are portrayed. Also, most of the score and original music, such as “Las Posadas” song, were created using traditional regional Mexican styles.

If you´re looking for a simple, well-done animated film in Spanish to teach your kids the Reyes Magos story, then we recommend you get the DVD (affiliate link); it will be an excellent addition to your classic-and even historical!-film library.

We found on YouTube the film in several parts if you want to check it out immediately since the celebration is now only days away. Here´s the first eight minutes of the film:

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d8nFkT1EovM&feature=results_main&playnext=1&list=PLE36003A39C848DD9

For more Reyes Magos goodies check out these posts:

Books + Libros: Reyes Magos

Celebrate Reyes Magos at Disneyland Resort 

Thanks,

Rebekah”

Hi Rebekah. I have a very similar problem! My husband is Colombian and we are raising our son bilingually. Unfortunately, since my husband is perfectly comfortable in English as well as Spanish (and I suppose the same is true for your husband), it is very easy for him to slip into English when speaking with our son – especially since our son is more fluent in English and tends to want to speak more English than Spanish. Unfortunately, one of the best solutions for your problem is mainly in the hands of your husband. If you can get him to speak Spanish exclusively to your daughter, you would see her proficiency improve and she might feel more comfortable speaking the language. You don’t say how old your daughter is, but I would guess that her reluctance to speak Spanish doesn’t really have much to do with not seeing the need to speak it. She is most likely just more comfortable/proficient in English. You can also buy books, videos, toys and other materials for her in Spanish as a means of “sweetening the pot!” We offer our son “free screen time” (i.e., extra time on the computer) if he plays games or views videos in Spanish. Some of his favorite sites are:

SuperSaber: http://www.supersaber.com/

Club Penguin (in Spanish only!): http://www.clubpenguin.com/es/

Isla Megatrix: http://www.antena3.com/islamegatrix/

GoGoLingo: http://www.gogolingo.com/

BrainPOP Español: http://esp.brainpop.com/
As for Dual Language Immersion schools, I don’t know what area you live in, but you can research that for yourself with an excellent database from CAL – the Center for Applied Linguistics. The searchable database is called the “Directory of Foreign Language Immersion Programs: and it can be accessed online at: http://www.cal.org/resources/immersion/. Good luck!

Lori Langer de Ramirez.- -Bilingual educator who began her career as a teacher of Spanish, French and ESL. She holds a Master’s Degree in Applied Linguistics and a Doctorate in Curriculum and Teaching from Teachers College, Columbia University. She is currently the Chairperson of the ESL and World Language Department for Herricks Public Schools, New York. Lori is the author of Take Action: Lesson Plans for the Multicultural Classroom and Voices of Diversity: Stories, Activities and Resources for the Multicultural Classroom, as well as several Spanish-language books and texts. Her interactive website (miscositas.com) offers teachers over 40 virtual picture books and other curricular materials for teaching Chinese, English, French, Indonesian, Italian, Spanish and Thai. Her areas of research and curriculum development are multicultural and diversity education, folktales in the language classroom and technology in language teaching. You can read her answers here and submit your own question for any of our experts here.