Now what?

For the summer, I have a few fun activities planned, and you can adapt them for your own students or family!

Spanish Bingo: I present the students with 20 words that are illustrated in a grid, with the Spanish word beneath each one. They will color and repeat the words, and then cut out the squares (you can use index cards, cut outs from magazines, or stickers, or even The Memory Game, just look up the words beforehand.) On a separate grid or BINGO Cards - we do 4 x 4 so there are only 16 spaces, and no free spot - we place each picture. As the word is called out (in Spanish), the student flips the card over as his "marker." Four in a row wins! Of course, the student must name the items in Spanish to get the prize!

Spanish Activities: Remember, the key to acquiring a second language is motivation. So, keep this summer nice and light - we're making piñatas, maracas, and  other instruments, as we learn some simple words (even one a day!) and phrases to go along with each activity. To reproduce this simplicity, you can use  Spanish Fun Activity Calendar, 
Flip Flop Spanish Flash Cards: Verde (Cards), 
Spanish: Level 3 (Skill Builders (Rainbow Bridge Publishing)) , 
or Let's Learn Spanish Coloring Book (Let's Learn Coloring Books) 

Remember, the key is fun and light! Just using CD's over the summer will also help it all to stay fresh in your head. Have fun this summer with Spanish!

 

El día de las madres!

NOTE: In this post, I'll translate many of my words to Spanish, along with pronunciation. Perhaps it's a review for you, or you can make flash cards and use them today yourself  in your speaking!

Today (okay yesterday; ayer ah-yehr) was Mother's Day! So what am I doing awake at 4 am? Well, cleaning up the bathroom of course! (claro! klah-roh)

I had a FABULOUS Mother's Day. I didn't wash a dish (un plato, oon-plah-toh), sweep (barrer, bah-rehr) the floor even once (I usually sweep after every meal and snack time, which is five times per day), change a diaper, make a single crumb of food for ANYONE (including myself!), or fold a stitch of laundry. My sweet hubby really outdid himself! He went to bed early tonight, hee hee! 

My children gave me a bud vase to hold all the flowers (las flores, lahs-floh-rehs) they pick for me daily. Of the four children, the only little girl, Gertie, 3 years old, is the most avid flower picker. She is very opinionated and strong-willed and we often butt heads, but today was different. She continually told me, "Happy Mother's Day, Momma" and if I was lounging on the couch, or swinging in my new hammock (la hamaca, ah-mah-kah)- how my husband was able to get that, I'll never know (no sabré nunca, noh-sah-breh-noon-kah) - sweet little Gertie would stand by me and stroke my forehead cooing, "Sweet sweet Momma, you just rest."

We did have one mishap: toothpaste all over the toilet seat. No problem, I just tossed the cover in the laundry room for cleaning on a non-mother's-day-day. Well, PROBLEM. Precious Gertie is accustomed to getting up at night, feeling her way down the dark hallway to the dark bathroom, lifting the fuzzy toilet seat lid, and doing her business and heading back to bed, no assistance necessary. Apparently, the uncovered top of the toilet lid feels just like the seat rim. So she hoisted herself up there, just find that there was nowhere for her business to go! Imagine what happens when you plug up the end of a water hose with your thumb. YEP. Lots of tears, 8 month pregnant (embarazada, ehm-bah-rah-sah-dah) Momma flinging myself out of bed to find out what's wrong, and slipping (but not falling!) on the wet wet wet (muy mojado, moo-ee-moh-hah-doh) floor.

I cleaned her up, found another TURTLE (la tortuga, lah-tohr-too-gah) pajama shirt (thank you to Oma for getting the little ones the same shirts and sizes!) and carried her back to bed. As I laid her down, she sweetly said, "Sweet sweet Momma, Happy Mother's Day." It helped my knees (las rodillas, roh-dee-yahs) to not hurt as much as I scrubbed the floor a few moments later.

Makes me cry even now. What a blessing, cleaning bathrooms at 4 in the morning!

I would LOVE to read about your mother's day blessings, language related or not. Enjoy this pic of our little girl - We have learned so MUCH from her... mostly patience!

Fence Learning!

We did math in the back yard the other day, but this can be used for Spanish too!  I had the kids color in the big numbers first (you can have them say the Spanish numbers as they color), and they had a GREAT time. 

 It was fun, and I'll be doing it more and more with algebra and multiplication and all kinds of stuff. Nothing like running and thinking at the same time (not Jake's, 4 years old, strong suit!) - He would actually stop in the middle of the yard, think, run two steps, think again, look at his fingers, run a little more, and then realize he was nowhere near the answer, and dart over there. Mitch, 6 years old, had to always be moving. I've never seen someone jog so slowly! Hilarious, but he did it! Only missed one question. Gertie, 3 years old, not pictures, giggled and giggled as she touched the numbers I called out. No mistakes at all with her either! Wow! And she didn't stop! She saw the answer, and ran to it without hesitation. Wonderful!

So, take this idea, and change it up - use pictures of animals to practice Spanish vocabulary, and apply the same differences for different ages. Having the children create their own cards or pictures first builds confidence and helps them to "own" the activity. You can use flash cards, if you don't run from too far away, and you can practice Spanish numbers all the way up to as high as you can count. 

Enjoy! I would love to hear how this fun outside activity works for you!