A great way to help our kids explore the world and expand their horizons is through teaching them different languages and cultures. Proven advantages of mastering two or more languages are not only the fact that you can talk to more people, but also, your communication and intellectual skills become stronger.
For this purpose, there are games designed to put the fun in learning, while helping children around the world learn new languages and realize the joy of speaking a foreign language.
Below are some great examples of games that stimulate children to communicate through Spanish and put your child on the fast-track to becoming bilingual.
Spanish school bus for kids
This is a great game designed to help kids learn Spanish vocabulary quickly. It embraces the Montessori approach of self-guided activity and co-operative play. It develops kids’ creativity through exciting, colorful and engaging features that go beyond teaching basic vocabulary. Kids learn 300 words of different colors and shapes, and also get to master nouns, verbs and adjectives.
It also inspires a liking for Spanish through the introduction of fun facts about Latin-American culture, such as; historical figures, catchy Spanish tunes, and land marks. There are challenging questions to accelerate language potential as kids get older. It’s a great game for kids from the age of 6 onwards. Get in on iTunes for free.
Pili Pop Español
This is a super-fun game created by language experts to help kids master Spanish vocabulary through discovering new words, and helps kids improve their pronunciation, and various themes such as dress-up, sea animals, cooking, and art.
Pili Pop’s goal is to motivate kids to practice Spanish on a daily basis. Kids learn to identify and articulate common Spanish words through fun and challenging activities, e.g. assisting a chef in the kitchen
It’s great for Ages 6+, the basic version is free and subscriptions start at $10 per month on iTunes.
Sharpen your children’s bilingual abilities with these lovely and enlightening games; and don’t forget to thank me.
Los que comen los ratones/What Mice Eat
This is an interactive app that features a curious mouse who has memory problems. Kids take part in building up the story, which has interesting and unforgettable characters and pleasant surprises.
It is bilingual making it the perfect option for beginners. It offers an interactive experience for kids between the age of 4 to 5 with sound, music, animation and lots of fun, at only $2 on iTunes.
This is a game without high scores and limits, so kids get to play and learn at their own pace. A favourite peculiarity feature of the game, is seeing words transforming into what they describe; such as, “grande” (big), grow larger, and “flor” (flower), open and bloom in an effort to help kids grasp the word’s meaning, content and usage better.
It is great for kids from the ages 2-5 and it’s free on iTunes.
Juana y los amigos de la granja/Juana la Iguana Goes to the Farm
A winner of the Parents’ Choice Recommended Award, this is a wonderful app that features Latin America’s favorite lizard, Juana la Iguana, as she gets to teach kids about the farm, fruits, vegetables and farm animals. It also contains counting, matching games, memory games, animated dancing and beautiful songs for toddlers.
Children get to learn words like “Please”, “Thank you” along with different colors, fruits, and animals just like Juana and her friends. Warm, passionate and funny, Juanna demonstrates to kids that, “with passion, all things are possible”.
Ana Lomba’s Spanish for kids; La Gallina Roja
Created by early-language education expert and author; Ana Lomba, La Gallina Roja is filled with lovely illustrations that captivate kids as they follow the story of a red hen and her friends on an adventure. The story is broken into different lessons, and teaches kids to speak Spanish language, just like La Gallina Roja.
It is recommended for kids from age 4 and above, and it is free on iTunes.