I believe so much learning happens through play, and when we are playing with our children in Spanish we are equipping them with more language.
Confession, there are times when I’m playing with my daughter where I don’t know a certain vocabulary word. Yup, even though my Spanish is advanced, I’m still learning alongside my daughter. Not a bad skill to be modeling, am I right?
So I’ve created topic related vocabulary posters that are based on a certain play theme. I’m calling them Posters for Play I’m starting off with the topic of food. My daughter will play for hours with her play kitchen. Like all toddlers, she likes to eat all day long, so we are constantly talking about foods. I print off the poster(s) and place them in that play area. I believe that the more you practice saying a word the more chances you have of memorizing it. So while I’m playing and need a word, I can glance at the poster. Read on for where to find these posters and how to optimize their use in your home.
Research shows that text rich environments are key to raising successful language learners. So these posters are a piece to that!
We have had so many of my mono-lingual English speaking family visiting this month, and these posters have been super useful during play time with my daughter. These posters help my family know how to say different foods in Spanish if they want or even translate what my daughter is telling them like “uvas”. This whole Posters for Play series is a great addition to any family with young ones looking to add more Spanish regardless of what your bilingual level looks like.
How to use:
Print off the posters on cardstock, laminate, or place them in plastic protectors to keep them for longer. Hang on the wall, sides of cabinets, shelves, or toy where it’s visible during play time. Use the vocabulary as much as possible during play time. You and your child’s vocabulary will grow!
As this Comidas set is 4 pages long, I ended up printing them on cardstock, hole punching them at the top, adding a ring and hanging them from a 3M hook that I attached to the side of my child’s play kitchen. This way they’ve been mobile as well.
Ideas for playing with the posters:
We have used these posters in so many ways, so I’ll share a few.
- Menu: Use the posters like a menu to tell your child what you’d like to “eat” and have them serve you up or vice versa.
- Scavenger Hunt: Ask your child where a certain food item is on the page like “uvas”. Then have your child hunt for their play kitchen grapes to match it.
- Book: Just read it like a book with your child practicing what each item is in Spanish and English. All the better if you can get your child to repeat the words aloud.
- Store Hunt: Take a clipboard and the pages (do not cut the flashcards out for this one). Head to your local store and have your kids cross off the ones they find.
Ideas for how to use the flashcards in a fun way:
These posters are available as a bundle with flashcards in my shop. So how can you have fun using the flashcards too?
- Games: Print the flashcard sets twice and use them to play games like Go Fish and Memory.
- 𝗣𝘂𝘇𝘇𝗹𝗲𝘀: For toddlers: Cut up each flashcard into 2 pieces (half way through the graphic horizontally). Practice putting the puzzles together and practice each ones Spanish and English names.
- Talk preferences: You can discuss “What do you like more– apples or oranges?” and arrange the cards in order of least favorite to more favorite.
- Labels: Help your kids stay in the target language if they need something from your kitchen by labeling your shelves where you keep these foods and kitchen items.
- Guessing Game: Draw a flashcard from a pile without looking and hold it to your forehead. Ask yes or no questions to your child to guess what food it is.
Been wanting some play food items for your home? Here’s the ones we have from Amazon:
Start including more Spanish in your home by heading over to my shop and browsing my growing Posters for Play collection!
