Games and Spanish Learning

You don’t have to create brand new games to help your children learn and practice Spanish.  By using classic, fun games that you may already own, kids will have a blast practicing their bilingual skills!  Playing fun, easy games is a great way to build confidence and practice the language in a relaxed environment.  Kids will learn Spanish and have fun with games you may already have in your closet!  Here are a few of our favorites that we play while teaching Spanish to children.

CandyLand:  this classic simple game is always a favorite with young children and very easy to incorporate Spanish.  Even if you are not a bilingual parent, the simple objective of the game and repetition of colors and counting is an excellent practice

Memory:  There are many different versions of this classic game.  If you have the original, it has a plethora of pictures to practice a wide range of vocabulary

Pictionary:  Kids love this interactive game.  You can use the original Pictionary, or merely make your own list of items to draw.  Depending on our child’s vocabulary or the theme you want to practice, this is so much fun and allows everyone involved to produce the language by guessing.

HeadBanz:  This is a new game that has become popular within the past few years.   This is an excellent game for communication and comprehension practice, as it involves lots of speaking.    If the players are not fully bilingual and cannot give clues in Spanish, simply play in it English, but try guessing the picture in Spanish.  This is a great game for elementary kids and older!

Guess Who?  This game focuses on descriptions, so it is a perfect adjective practice.  The players have to guess and eliminate people based on descriptions.  

Pictureka!  Bonus, the playing cards are bilingual!  The set that we own, has English and Spanish words on all cards.  It is a good practice for identification and vocabulary development.

Taboo! This is an older game that my high school students loved!  It can be fun for elementary age kids and older. It involves a lot of speaking and players must have good comprehension and fluency.  The objective is to give clues by using a wide variety of words and phrases and not saying certain words on the cards.  It is an excellent game for bilingual speakers!

Battleship:  If you want to practice numbers and letters, this is the perfect game!   It is slow moving, but for kids that know numbers and letters, they can focus and play this fun game of strategy!  Give kids phrases to practice while playing…. Está cerca- it’s close, or está lejos-  it’s far.

Connect Four:   Simple and repetitive practice for counting.  Great for all ages!

Mastermind:  This is such a fun game of strategy and guessing.  The color combinations offer a good opportunity for color repetition and recognition, as well as memory strategies.

Sorry!  This is just as much fun as CandyLand and often older children relate better to this game.  The primary focus is colors and counting, but you can also incorporate communicative phrases using ‘ lo siento- I’m sorry”, when you knock an opponent home.

3 Libros For your Bilingual Library this Christmas!

These books by Alma Flor Ada and F. Isabel Campoy are treasures that shouldn’t be missed!  Whether you are a teacher or bilingual parent, adding books to your library is an ongoing process and these texts are sure to be a highlight for your children.

All three books uniquely highlight the Hispanic culture and traditions, with beautiful storylines and illustrations.   If you are looking for materials to supplement your teaching curriculum, or merely to enhance and reinforce your children’s bilingual development, these holiday books are definitely worthwhile. As always, my children were enthralled by the whimsical illustrations and enticing stories.  We love any chance we have to enhance their bilingual literacy exposure.  My young Spanish students have been enjoying singing the Spanish villancicos as well.  What a fun way for children to learn Spanish!

To read further about these books, including personal notes from the authors, please visit www.almaflorada.com and www.isabelcampoy.com. To order your own copies for your bilingual library go to www.delsolbooks.com.

Merry Navidad. Christmas Carols in Spanish and English

By  Alma Flor Ada and F. Isabel Campoy
Illustrated by  Viví Escrivá
English Translation by  Rosa Zubizarreta

Come share the joy of a His­panic Christmas!

In this warm and vibrant col­lec­tion of tra­di­tional Span­ish Christ­mas car­ols, or vil­lan­ci­cos, noted authors Alma Flor Ada and F. Isabel Cam­poy bring to life the hol­i­day tra­di­tions of Latin Amer­ica and Spain. The cre­ative Eng­lish adap­ta­tions by Rosalma Zubizarreta both cap­ture the spirit of the orig­i­nals and add a new dimen­sion to the songs. And Span­ish illus­tra­tor Viví Escrivá‘s spir­ited illus­tra­tions are per­fect back­drops for the lyrics, adding rich hol­i­day flavor.

Come sing along! ¡Feliz Navi­dad! and Merry Christmas!

Celebrate Christmas and Three Kings Day with Pablo and Carlitos
Celebra la Navidad y el Día de los Reyes Magos con Pablo y Carlitos

By  Alma Flor Ada and F. Isabel Campoy
Illustrated by  WALTER TORRES
Available on CD:  Stories to Celebrate / Cuentos para Celebrar
Series:  Stories to Celebrate / Cuentos para Celebrar

BOOK DESCRIPTION

Story:

Car­l­i­tos writes a let­ter to the Three Kings, los Reyes Magos, ask­ing for lots of presents. Later, he decides to write a new let­ter and gives up some of the things on his wish list in exchange for a big­ger gift for his older brother, Pablo, who is very good to him and is teach­ing him how to ride a bike. The Three Kings are truly wise and sur­prise Car­l­i­tos and his brother with just the right gifts

Non-fiction section.  Information about the celebration of Christmas and Three Wise Men Day is included in a non-fiction section highlighted with interesting and colorful illustrations

The Golden Cage

By  Alma Flor Ada
Illustrated by  Viví Escrivá
English Translation by  Rosalma Zubizarreta
Available on CD:  Stories the Year ‘Round / Cuentos para todo el año
Available on Cassette:  The Golden Cage / La jaula dorada
Series:  Stories the Year ‘Round / Cuentos para todo el año

BOOK DESCRIPTION

A grandson’s desire to find the best gift for his grand­mother results in an explo­ration of giv­ing, love, and free­dom. A good story for dis­cussing extended fam­i­lies, as well as ill­ness and disabilities.

One of the beloved titles of the series Sto­ries the Year’ Round, or in Span­ish, Cuen­tos para todo el año.

Advantages to Knowing Spanish

My children have been growing up in a bilingual household, and they constantly are hearing the benefits of being bilingual,  however sometimes I think they hear ‘ blah, blah, blah”.  If you are a parent or a teacher of kids learning multiple languages, I am sure you have encountered the episodes that I refer to as “ contra la corriente” … basically doing exactly opposite of what we are encouraging them to do.   It happens to the best of us.

Well, now that my kids are  in elementary school, we at times have episodes of  “contra la corriente’. Other times they love that they can communicate with Spanish speakers.  Or sometimes they are just embarrassed that mom is a teacher and they have to be put on the spot in classes to answer questions, model conversation, etc.  ( lo siento niños!).

 Anyways, I love when we have moments that happen naturally and they can make connections and feel validated about their bilingual brains.  We had 2 nice episodes this week and I wasn’t even around to pester them about it!

 1. My 1^st grade son has a classmate who sometimes has communication problems with the teacher.  My son ( who is very shy), overhead the teacher trying to explain something  and clearly the girl was not understanding.  My son leaned over to the girl and told her in Spanish ‘jugamos afuera”… he didn’t know the word recreo/recess, but instinctively used other common words to explain to her that they would play outside.  He was proud when he told me she understood! 

2. The second story comes from my 4^th grader.  She was taking a standardized test in her class and she was on the geology part of the science portion.  She came across a multiple choice question pertaining to something ‘ terrestrial”.  She did not know the meaning, but she told me she deducted the answer because she knew the Spanish word ‘tierra’ meant earth and she was able to choose the correct answer.  We talked about cognates and root words and how connections can be made from Spanish and English words. She thought that was very cool and is excited about finding more ways to use her bilingual skills.

Yay!  Being bilingual is cool this week for my kids!  We will see what next week brings….

Have you had experiences like this with your own children? Please share!

Practice your children’s bilingual skills with an interactive game of I Spy and your decorated Christmas tree.   Kids will learn Spanish through vocabulary and conversation, as you play ” Yo Veo” while spying certain ornaments on the tree.  This is a great opportunity to reinforce colors, prepositions,  adjectives, etc.    This is a tradition in our home every evening after dinner.  The kids  love to give the clues!  They can start with simple clues. Ex. ” yo veo algo rojo”.  We always ask lots of questions to stimilute more conversation while looking for the item.   Ex: ” ¿Es un animal?”¿ Es grande?  ¿Está arriba o abajo?.  Children will learn and practice holiday words in Spanish as you communicate and interact with this simple, yet fun bilingual game!   You may find yourselves playing Yo Veo in random waiting rooms, school lobbies, or friend’s homes!

The Bilingual Fun Co. is participating in Small Business Saturday and we have some incredible bargains today! EVERYTHING in our Fun Shop is 50% off, plus FREE shipping.  Check out the Combo packages, then let us know which one you would like.  We will bill you directly the 50% savings and free shipping.  Great gift ideas for families that are teaching their children Spanish.  Contact us today!

As a bilingual language educator and mom, I am always on the search for quality teaching materials that will engage children’s imaginations and curiosity, while promoting language development.  I was thrilled to have the opportunity to use Hagamos Caminos series by Alma Flor Ada.    I have been a fan of Ada for many years, and her book  Pio Peep, was my children’s all time favorite! It was read to them each and every night when they were babies and toddlers.  You can ask them today and they can easily recite all of the poems and rhymes in the book!  Now that my kids are school age, this reading series is excellent for them as they are developing and enhanching their bilingual literacy skills.

Hagamos Caminos is a creative reading initial literacy program.  I found this series to be  a simple but highly effective  reading program in Spanish.  The program combines a carefully crafted syllabic approach with enjoyable texts and illustrations.    Currently there are 4 books and 4 workbooks available.  They focus on a range of language and concept development, phonological awareness, consonant and vowel sounds, decoding words and comprehension.    The books with accompanying workbooks are fun and effective in helping children learn to read in Spanish while developing and enhancing fluency and comprehension. 

Both my of my own children are at very different reading levels, however both of them enjoyed and benefitted from the Hagamos Caminos series.  The different levels of this series are perfect for my 7 and 9 year olds and we will be using these books again and again for reading development and proficiency.   The beautiful illustrations and fun activities in the workbooks are engaging for young children, and I have introduced some of stories with my toddler classes with great success and interest.

 As always, I was thoroughly impressed with the works of Alma Flor Ada and I am so grateful to her inspiration and creation of effective, high quality language learning materials.  If you are looking for some initial reading materials to help your bilingual learner,  Hagamos Caminos is a fun, effective and worthwhile series. To learn more about all of her work, please visit www.almaflorada.com

 LA FRUTA

Teaching children Spanish through stories, songs, and visuals are key aspects in the Bilingual Fun curriculum.  As we focus on thematic lessons, the topic of Food/ La Comida is always a favorite.  Kids learn the language through making connections with relevant topics and items in their lives.  Teaching fruit/ la fruta is a fun, easy way to teach Spanish to children, while using many communicative phrases and concepts.  Here are some simple ideas to use with your children or students who are learning Spanish:

Using visuals while teaching new vocabulary is effective, while it helps children to make connections and encourages language development.

Teach La Fruta by using the award winning Eric Carle’s The Very Hungry Caterpillar.   We found simple fruit templates, cut them out, colored them, and attached them to popsicle sticks for easy handling.  Or you can create large fruit, cut holes in center, use a puppet or stuffed animal for ‘la oruga’.  Children will love interacting with you as the story comes alive with the hands on visuals.  Be sure to familiarize yourself with the order of the food that caterpillar eats.  Key phrases to reinforce throughout the activity are:

• Tiene hambre- it’s hungry
• Come 2 peras-  It eats 2 pears… etc.
• Counting and colors can be continually identified throughout the story.
• Ask kids  ¿te gusta?  For each fruit to reinforce likes and dislikes.
• Retell the story several times so that children have the opportunity to hold and identify different fruit vocabulary.

La Fruta Song

This is a simple song that promotes pronunciation and fluency practice.  Sung to the tune of Frere Jacques, simply use plastic fruit for visuals.  Take turns having children be the leaders of the song and point to fruit while singing. 

Lyrics:

Fresa, naranja (2x), manzana, limón ( 2x)  plátano  y uvas ( 2x), cereza, pera ( 2x)

Check out this very simple video to teach La Fruta.

 The Latin America Sticker Collection is an exceptionally high quality hardcover package, filled with more 120 reusable, colorful stickers that will keep little hands and imaginations busy.  Children can build sticker stories on the foldout landscape, explore the countries on the full- color map and check the glossary to get the scoop behind the sticker images.

My son happily created a Latin pueblito scene using the vibrant stickers and hardcover scene.  This product is a great tool for language development for kids learning Spanish, as you can create stories and descriptions about the scene the child created.  The rich Latin American culture is depicted in the colorful, fun stickers and can be used as a fun, teaching tool as children learn and play.  Kids learn best when they are participating, and having fun, and I found this product to be a great tool to teach Spanish to children.   Putumayo Kids Latin America Sticker Collection allows the cultural learning to happen naturally while kids are having fun!   My son has already made another scene and we are excited about creating another fun story.  I am looking forward to sharing the sticker book with my Bilingual Fun students for enhancement of their language development.
Visit http://www.putumayo.com/kids/home  for more great products by Putumayo Kids.

My kids enjoying a family dinner and serenade in Mexico.

Although not a latina by heritage, I embrace the Hispanic heritage through my marriage, my children, and my love of the Spanish language! I celebrate Hispanic Heritage all year, but I am thrilled when this month long celebration comes along, as I always find great new ideas, lessons, activities and resources to share with my own children and my many students.

Pinata Game: fun vocabulary practice with audio.

Flags of Latin America:  print, color the flags, and learn about the Spanish speaking countries.

Video of Hispanic Role Model:  Dara Torres

Sing 10 Deditos:  Practice counting 1- 10 with this fun song!

Read a book:  The Best Mariachi in the World,  by J.D. Smith, is a beautifully written story depicting the rich culture of mariachi music.

Noah Comprende on PBS:  cute video series about a little boy who is trying to learn Spanish.

Singing and music is a powerful teaching tool for the language development of children.  I was so pleased to find a great new CD/Sing  along Book that uses familiar nursery rhymes to encourage bilingual language skills!

 As a motivated author and mother, Cindy Parker- Martinez  is on a mission is to bring classrooms and families closer together through reading and singing Classic American Nursery Rhymes while learning basic Spanish and English vocabulary.  “Nothing is more special then participating in activities with children to expand their language and social skills” she says.  With a bilingual husband and two young children, she is passionate about the importance of being bilingual.  Cindy has created a wonderful teaching tool that both Spanish and English speakers will enjoy and benefit from.  Singing the classic American nursery rhymes in both languages encourages bilingual language skills and development.  My own young children have really enjoyed listening and singing along to these  fun, familiar tunes.    I will be sharing these songs with our Bilingual Fun families this fall. The sing along book is a great tool as well, as you can follow along to the music enhancing comprehension and fluency.

The mirrored image layout book with characters inspired language development and includes a 44 song music CD with wonderful invitational follow along sound effects for creative minds. 

For more information and to order your own copy, visit www.classicamericannurseryrhymes.com