Spanish Lesson Ideas –Activities
1. Bears Game - There are plastic bears and colored cups in the cabinet. Spread the bears out on the floor. Depending on how many kids, tell them they can pick a certain number of bears to take back to where they are sitting on the lines. Then hold one of the colored cups up, have them say the color in Spanish and the kids bring up their bears if they are that color to put in the cup. Then count in Spanish the number of bears in the cup. Repeat with the other cups
At school, I have plastic bears. However, this can be modified for whatever theme you might be doing (i.e. plastic bugs, marbles, whatever you have on hand). For some reason, they never can get enough of it. After they are fairly comfortable with one to ten, I start having them help me count all of the bears together.
2. Dice Game – There are inflatable dice in the cabinet. You roll the dice and count the dots in Spanish. Then have the kids do something like jump that many times while counting in Spanish. We do things like hop on one foot, jumping jacks, spin around, pat your head, clap, etc….
At school, I have several pairs of large dice. I think you can get some foam ones that are larger than normal, but aren’t huge at the dollar store. But regular dice could work. It’s also a good way to get the wiggles out.
3. Colors game – There are laminated pieces of paper that are different colors. They have animals on one side. The names of the animal are underneath the picture. You can either use the animal side or just the plain side. Put these up around the room – as many as you like. There is also a bucket with colored pom-poms. You will need this to draw the colors. You can play this game a couple of ways.
a. Sometimes, we play music and they can dance around while the music is playing. Once you stop the music, they are to go to a color. You pull a color out of the bucket, have them say the color in Spanish and anyone at that color has to sit down. If you’re using the animal side, you can see if the kids remember the animal name or not. The four year olds know some of the animals really well.
b. Another way to play is to tell them how you want to travel to their next color/animal – like take baby steps, tip-toe, giant steps, skip, etc. We also are to do this very quietly so that we don’t “scare” the animals if you’re using the animals. J Again, you’ll draw a color, but it’s up to you if you want them to sit out. Sometimes we do, sometimes we don’t. Have them say the color and if using the animals, try to say the animal.
I have laminated spaces, but you could make these up for whatever theme you are doing and look up the words on the Spanish Dictionary Link I posted. If you have enough space, they love doing it with the music option. However, they also really like the baby steps, etc. Just depends on how much space and how active you want them to be for the game.
4. Animal Game Board - You can also put the animal cards out on the floor like a giant game board. There is Velcro on the back, so they will stick to the carpet. You will need one of the dice. Have the kids line up at the start and take turns rolling the dice. Then they count in Spanish until they get to their spot. Then they say the animal and the color in Spanish. They’ll need help with this. If they land on a spot that is already occupied, have them move to the next available spot. It gets a little crazy if there are a lot of kids on the same spot. Also, the cards hold up better if they stand next to them rather than on them.
Again, this can be modified for whatever theme you might be working on. Next year I want to do it with body parts and maybe transportation.
5. Books –. The “Spanish is Fun” and “Mañana, Iguana” series are both really good. The kids love these books. They combine English and Spanish – teaching the kids some Spanish words by using the context of the story.
I know you can usually find Iguana books at the library. The kids love them and they are easy enough to read even if you don’t know a lot of Spanish.
6. Sort of like Simon Says – If you have a knowledge of the body parts in Spanish, this is a game they like to play. They don’t quite get the “Simon says” part, so we just do everything the teacher says. Examples: Point to your nariz, Blink your ojos, Hop on one pie, etc. We also have done this in conjunction with the quiet game. You pick the one who is the quietest. Then they get to tell you what they would like the class to do. After the class does it, then that child picks the next one that they think is the quietest. They know how the quiet game works so that part shouldn’t be an issue.
7. I Spy – I say “Yo veo con mi ojito algo ____” and insert a color. It means “I spy with my little eye ____”. Then it just follows like a regular I spy game…they just have to know what the color is in Spanish.
Spanish Vocabulary
These are some of the words we will be studying this month. We will start with the colors and then begin working with the numbers.
Common Words & Phrases
Hello – hola (OH-lah)
Goodbye – adios (ah-DEEOHSS)
Please – por favor (POHR fah-VOHR)
Thank you – gracias (GRAH-seeahss)
You’re welcome – de nada (DEH NAH-dah)
Yes – sí (SEE)
No – no (NOH)
God – Dios (DEE-ohss)
Good morning – Buenos días (BWEH-nohss DEE-ahss)
Good afternoon – Buenas tardes (BWEH-nahss TAR-dehss)
Mrs. – Señora (sen-YOHR-uh)
Colors
Red – rojo (ROH-hoh)
Blue – azul (ah-SOOL)
Yellow – amarillo (ah-mah-REE-joh)
Green – verde (VEHR-deh)
Orange – naranja (nah-RAHN-hah)
White – blanco (BLAHN-koh)
Black – negro (NEH-groh)
Brown – café (kah-FEH)
Purple – morado (moh-RAH-doh)
Pink – rosado (roh -SAH-doh)
Gray – gris (GREESS)
Numbers
1 – uno (OO-noh)
2 – dos (dohss)
3 – tres (trehss)
4 – cuatro (KWAH-troh)
5 – cinco (SEEN-koh)
6 – seis (SEH_ees)
7 – siete (see_EH-teh)
8 – ocho (OH-choh)
9 – nueve (noo_EH-veh)
10 – diez (dee_EHSS)
Spanish Songs
“Hola Means Hello” (to the tune of “London Bridge”)
Hola means hello-o-o
Hello-o-o, hello-o-o
Hola means hello-o-o
¡Hola, amigos!
Colors Song (to the tune of “Frère Jacques”)
Red is rojo, green is verde
Blue azul, negro black
Yellow amarillo, purple is morado
Grey is gris, brown café
“Adiós Means Goodbye” (to the tune of “London Bridge”)
Adiós means goo-ood-bye
goo-ood-bye, goo-ood-bye
Adiós means goo-ood-bye
¡ Adiós, amigos!
“Cabeza, Hombros, Rodillas y Pies”(Head, Shoulders, Knees & Toes)
Cabeza, hombros, rodillas y pies.
Cabeza, hombres, rodillas y pies.
Ojos, Orejas, Boca y Nariz.
Cabeza, hombres, rodillas y pies.
“Diez Amigos”(Sung to Ten Little Indians)
Uno, dos, tres amigos.
Cuatro, cinco, seis amigos.
Siete, ocho, nueve amigos.
Diez amigos son.
Links
| Name | Creator | Actions |
|---|
Foreign Language Online Teaching
This has activities for several languages
http://www.apples4theteacher.com/foreignlang.htm
Online Spanish Dictionary
Spanish Dictionary with audio files to help with pronunciation
http://www.spanishdict.com/
PBS Kids: Noah
Has some good videos and games for learning Spanish
http://pbskids.org/noah/index.htm |
