We’re also offering FREE online classes so that students can continue to learn and practice Spanish from home.  You can check our Facebook page for updates or our home page on the website to join the classes!  To kick off our fast class we sang along to the days of the week song, reviewed weather vocabulary, before covering other topics that included story cards, key vocabulary and high frequency structures and of course lots of fun and singing along!

Now that we’ve looked at how we are helping teachers and students around the world stay connected and learning Spanish, let’s talk about parents at home with kids.  There are lots of great resources floating around about how important it is to keep up a daily routine especially in a chaotic time like this.  Here are some ideas for how to cope with school closures and get (and keep!) a positive routine going in your house. 

We love this colorful and well-organized routine routine by @jessicamchale_life.loves.chaos 

We know that anything you do, no matter how small it seems to you makes a big difference in your kids lives, so here are some ways that you can use our Rock A Lingua resources to keep your kids engaged and learning Spanish in a fun and active way from home even if you aren't a Spanish teacher or speaker. 

When kids are stuck inside it’s important to remember that they NEED to get up and move.  Integrate Spanish in a natural way by making it a brain break/movement break with a Spanish song or movement cards in Spanish.  Two of our favorite brain break songs are:  Un Paso a la derecha /Directions Right, Left... y Alrededor/Around. 

You can also check out some of our other Spanish inspired movement (that includes Yoga for kids in Spanish!) in a blog post all about the benefits of brain breaks here.  

Easy craft tutorials that you can do at home in Spanish:

Over the past year we’ve been working hard on creating easy to do, language focused crafts for kids classes.  Our crafts integrate the vocabulary they’re learning or have learned in a unit and use high frequency structures in a natural and memorable way.  While you’re at home here are some of our favorites crafts that you can check out and do with your kids or if they’re old enough, set them up to do themselves.  Don’t forget that each craft topic has other associated resources (videos, songs and worksheets) to practice the vocabulary before completing the craft.

Colores y preguntas / Craft colors and questions

Download the template and have your students build a "comecocos" to practice colors and Wh-questions in Spanish in a fun and engaging way. Watch this video to learn how to assembly it!

Hora y Rutinas / Craft: Time and Routines

This is a great activity to have kids practice how to say the time in Spanish while practicing daily routines. Watch this tutorial to learn how to build this fun craft!  Download the template here.  

Portaretratos / Craft: My Picture Frame

This craft focuses on simple vocabulary and high frequency structures that require a personalized response... plus, you can make it into an art activity by having kids draw a self-portrait and include different things they like in the picture! 

Kids nowadays love technology and let’s face it… when you ask what they want to be when they grow up, many name jobs like “YouTuber” or “Influencer”.  This activity combines Spanish with the idea of creating a short film (that can be kept private or sent to friends!).  First sing along to the Mi Casa/My Home song (there's an easy and difficult version, making it accessible for different levels).  You can put the lyrics on the screen and sing along before watching the video comic.  Once you’ve practiced the vocabulary it’s time to get crafty with this HOUSE CRAFT!

Get the template here and watch the tutorial here! 

When you’ve finished have your kids create and film a tour of your house in Spanish!  They can send it to their teacher, friends and relatives, or you can watch it together as a family when they’ve finished!

Use picture dictionaries and flashcards

As many of you know on our website we have a library full of picture dictionaries and flashcards related to each topic.  Print out the flashcards and have your kids practice Spanish while coloring in the flashcards.  You will need to print out two sets to be able to play memory when they’ve finished coloring.  You can also play a version of go fish by having kids ask for and collect pairs of each vocabulary word.  We love the idea of playing go fish because you can use the high frequency structure “Tienes una manzana?”  If the answer is yes/sí you have to hand over your card and the player now has a pair that they put down on the table.  If the answer is no/no then the player draws a card from the pile in the center.  Games can be played between siblings or you can make it a family affair! 

Spring picture dictionary 

Spring flashcards 

Online Games

Play one of our online games, available on our website (there are a lot of FREEBIES)!

Sing and dance along to videos/watch video comics

Use the videos from the video library to review vocabulary and sing along.  A lot of the themes also have short stories or video comics, so make sure to check those out, too! 

We hope that these ideas can help you with the sudden changes and new routines.  Just remember, that being positive around your children and helping them stay positive and safe is already a HUGE achievement.  In the next weeks we'll be looking for more ways to help out and hoping that everyone stays safe!  As always, we'd love to hear from you, either in the comments section below or on our Facebook Page!  Sending out good vibes to everyone!