During these last weeks of December before winter break, I’m sharing some activities and ideas for you to use in your classes. This first activity is a simple puzzle with basic Christmas vocabulary. It is a great way to review colors. After coloring and cutting out the pieces, you can describe one of the pictures of the puzzle and ask your students to find it. If using the black and white version you could say “dice “¡Jo, jo, jo!”, ask a volunteer to tell you the name and describe the colors she used to color it. You can also set up a timer and organize a competition around putting the puzzle together. Whoever wins the competition will have to name all the vocabulary in the puzzle. This is a simple activity that works great with grades K-1. There is no right or wrong way to put it together.
If you have ever taught preschoolers you already know that they need to move a lot! Moving is part of their learning and growing, so why not use it as a tool to engage them? Here are five songs that are part of my Spanish & Movement program.
La Pelota: I use a big inflatable beach ball with this song. I toss it around while we practice the phrases “pasa la pelota” and “tira la pelota.” I also have small inflatable balls for children to use in pairs. I do have to admit that it gets crazy, but children love it. Something that works great for me is modeling the phrases before playing the game.
Burbujas: Through teaching Spanish to babies and toddlers I discovered these awesome bubbles by Gymboree (please note that I am not associated with them or endorsing their brand, but the reason I do really like their particular bubble formula!). The best bubbles need to be light enough to float and hang in the air and not pop immediately when touching other bubbles. This is so that children can capture them and then pile them up on their hands in bunches, giving me time to count and also practice repeating “más, por favor.” I haven’t yet met a preschooler who doesn’t like bubbles!
La Batalla del Calentamiento: This song is great to practice naming the parts of the body while moving. I love adding other parts of the body that are not included in the song. I also sing the song without the music and ask the children to choose a part of the body they would like everyone to sing in class.
El Ritmo del Tambor: Use TPR to introduce the vocabulary of the song to the class. Start playing the drum. Have the group stand in a circle and follow every movement in the song: baila, camina, marcha, salta, corre, duerme and despierta.
Danza de Paracaídas: Nothing like parachute time! If you don’t have a play parachute, a big piece of fabric works well, too. Click here to find more ideas.
If you are looking for more tips for teaching Spanish to preschoolers, I have a whole post dedicated to that topic. Please click here to visit the link to it!
I consider myself lucky that I get to see my students for 5 days out of a seven-day cycle schedule. I always start my class with a greeting song and since the school year has started I have now used about five songs. YouTube is always a great place to find all those songs. I am sharing with you the ones that I have used so far, and I know for sure that my students love, and some that I plan to use in the future!
A few months ago I shared a story I wrote using some yoga poses. Now I am sharing five easy poses to add to your repertoire that will be great to use just as a “brain break” in class. I don’t really do a full yoga session in class, but these are great to get your students moving while also exposing them to more vocabulary. I am always surprised to see how much more they can remember when we take the time for quick brain breaks in class. I also use the cards to play a game in which the children have to do what I say, but not what I do. They love it!
These are the new yoga poses that I am using with my students. I hope you like them! Click HERE to download them all!
How to print? Drag the pictures individually to your computer’s desktop and you will be able to print from there. Thank you to Educlips for illustrating these yoga poses so beautifully!
El Día de los Muertos is celebrated in many countries around the world on November 1st and 2nd. This holiday is celebrated nationwide in Bolivia, mostly on November 2nd, and is known as “El Día de los Difuntos.” They celebrate the return of the souls of their ancestors. In preparation to receive them, people typically set up altars with pictures, candles, flowers, fruit, and a special bread called “Tantawawas” which in the Quechua language means babies made out of bread. They also have a bread called “Tantachachis” which means grandparents made out of bread. This tradition is also shared with Perú, Ecuador, Argentina, and a specific region of far south Colombia called “Nariño,” where this kind of bread is called “guaguas.” Bolivian Tantawawas have a specific characteristic in which the faces placed on the bread are made out of clay.
This video below explains how this beautiful holiday is celebrated in Bolivia. People go to the cemeteries to paint graves and decorate them. They also set their offering at home where it is important to have horses to help the souls arrive to the table. There are also stairs made out of bread to help the souls go back to the sky. The videos below have been helpful for me to educate myself about this holiday, as well as exploring Bolivia’s official website for tourism and culture. Please feel free to watch the videos to learn more.
Get inspired and create your own Tantawawas in class. I know time is limited, so I recommend you use modeling clay with your students, acknowledging that we need to be respectful of this tradition and share with your students why a different material is being used in class.
I was able to find white and brown clay. I mixed them up to produce a shade closer to the real bread. I drew the face of the Tantawawa on a piece of white paper and cut it out to place it on the Tantawawa shape. Here are the results:
¡Hola! I am Carolina, a Colombian elementary Spanish teacher based in Boston, MA. Fun for Spanish Teachers is the result of my passion for teaching Spanish to children and my desire to inspire collaboration and creativity in a vibrant teaching and learning community. It’s the perfect stop if you are looking for songs, games, teaching tips, stories, and fun for your classes.
To provide the best experiences, we use technologies like cookies to store and/or access device information. Consenting to these technologies will allow us to process data such as browsing behavior or unique IDs on this site. Not consenting or withdrawing consent, may adversely affect certain features and functions.
Functional
Always active
The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network.
Preferences
The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
Statistics
The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes.The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
Marketing
The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes.
