“Color colorcito” is a simple tag game that my kindergarten students love! In fact, they ask for it almost every class! I am still trying to understand why they love it so much, as it is just so simple. I have also used it as a brain break with my 4th and 5th grade students, and they have had the same exciting reaction. I don’t play as often with the older grade levels because we play it indoors in my classroom, where littler bodies have more space.
Before playing the game, it is important to state the rules clearly. If playing it indoors, you might want to ask your students just to walk fast instead of running. I like playing in my classroom because I have so many colorful things in the room, and it makes it exciting for them to have so many options for the colors. I also need to remind them that they need to be careful with the posters, and any art I have in the room and our classroom library. Once the game is over, I ask everyone to check the room and help to make sure everything is how it was before playing the game.
I am lucky that I see my kindergarten students in groups of 8 which makes it easier to keep things under control. That being said, I have also played with my 18 fourth graders and 21 fifth graders and so far we haven’t had any collisions yet. Fingers crossed!
How to Play The Game
There is not really that much preparation, but I like to project slides on the board with the names of the different colors in Spanish, just in case any of the students forget how to say a color.
Pick one student to be “it.” That student will have to say “Color colorcito” followed by a color in Spanish. Students walk fast around the room looking for that color to touch to be safe. The “it” student will try to tag a student who is not touching the color. Then this student becomes the new “it” and the game starts all over again.
I typically play this game for no more than 3 or 4 minutes. It’s a good, quick brain break where everyone gets to participate and move a lot!
Are you ready to try it in your classes? Let me know in the comments how it goes!
You might like this resource on Teachers Pay Teachers:
El Burrito Sabanero is one of the most well known villancicos (Christmas songs) in Latin America. Listening to this song brings back memories of my navidades in Colombia with many of my childhood friends as we gathered around the Nativity scene praying and reciting Las Novenas de Aguinaldo. Although I always thought this song was Colombian, I learned that it was written by a Venezuelan composer named Hugo Blanco. The song was first recorded in 1972 with the voices of the chorus “La Rondalla.” Nowadays you can find many versions of the song. Here are a few versions. Which one is your favorite?
Download the burrito HERE to make props to use while singing the song. Have fun!
If you explore my blog, you will find a few posts related to The Day of the Dead. This celebration takes many forms in Spanish speaking countries, and it also changes names and meanings in the different countries. In some countries, it’s just one more name on the calendar. In others, it is celebrated in some parts of the country, which is the case of Guatemala and Colombia. While in Mexico, it is an important celebration across the country that has been included by UNESCO on its Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.
While incorporating this tradition in your curriculum, it’s important to clarify with school administrators and parents that you are not celebrating this as a holiday in your class, you are just sharing about a cultural celebration that others celebrate (i.e. you’re exploring and honoring others’ traditions, not appropriating them as your own). You might like to read the following posts. Just click on the pictures to read them all!
I named this post “An Activity for the First Weeks of Spanish,” but in reality this activity can be used any time during the school year. This activity is wonderful to get to know a little bit about your students, to make connections, and have fun! It has been adapted from an activity by Responsive Classroom called “Just Like Me.” Sometimes it’s used in the faculty meetings in our school as an ice breaker. I love how simple it is!
I called my Spanish adaptation “¡A mi también!” The first time I played it in my classes I made a PowerPoint with about 20 slides of different things I thought my elementary students would like. I also added a funny slide that I knew would make them laugh. For example, one of the slides says “Me gusta Justin Bieber” which for the second graders was awesome, but not so much for the fifth graders. We all sat in a circle and I read the slides one by one. Any time a student identified with the slide she would jump up and say “A mí también” and then go back to her sitting position. Sometimes it was just one student jumping and other times five students jumping at a time. The rule is that they have to jump and say “A mi también” at the same time. You can also make your students stand up if you feel that it’s safer for them.
Download a copy of the game HERE and get ready to play in class!
While playing this game, my students wanted to stop at each slide and talk about their favorite ice cream flavor, if they had pets, what kind of pets they had, and more! The first day I used the activity we didn’t make it past the 5th slide. Once we finished playing with all the slides in the PowerPoint, I had my 4th and 5th graders write one sentence using “Me gusta/ Me gustan…” for them to get more ideas of what they could say when playing the game the next time. We then played the game with the cards they had written. This game has now become one more brain break in our class, and the children no longer have to write sentences to think about what they want to say in the game. It comes naturally!
This is a short traditional poem that is perfect to teach a little bit of geography of the Spanish speaking countries, and also numbers from 1 to 10.
Use a map to locate Perú. If you have technology at handy, take a virtual trip to Perú using Google Earth. You can find pictures and short videos about Perú. Make sure you prepare in advance, and choose the material you would like to share with your students.
This poem is also used to jump the rope! You can challenge your students to count beyond number ten. It can also be used as a cooperative game to learn names. See videos below!
¡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.
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