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Looking for a few ideas for simple kindergarten Spanish lessons? Introduce your children to a foreign language at home, even if you don’t know how to teach (or speak) Spanish. Read on for a list of activities, books, and videos that will get your little one started with Spanish!
Kindergarten Spanish Lessons
Our kindergarten year was very exploratory. We chose an around-the-world curriculum that really worked to introduce my kids to a huge variety of cultures, experiences, and foods. My son’s interest in Spanish came about after we learned about South America and listened to the Samba station on Pandora!
Since then, his interest in foreign languages has grown, and my younger children are eager to learn along with him. I credit this to the gentle and fun introduction to Spanish we used in kindergarten. Kindergarten Spanish lessons can be very simple and enjoyable.
This post includes all of our favorite resources for kindergarten Spanish lessons that can be taught by anyone. My Spanish experience is limited to a couple years of high school Spanish – I am FAR from fluent. I did find that some of my skills were reactivated, but mostly I am learning right along with the kids.
(1) Use picture books for your kindergarten Spanish lessons
First stop, library! Ask your friendly librarian to point you to the foreign language section. You will find vocabulary books and introductions to Spanish words and phrases. Your child will find these fun to page through, but honestly it’s not my preferred way to teach kindergarten Spanish lessons. Naming objects and learning phrases in isolation will only take you so far. For kindergarten, especially, we LOVE using the Spanish versions of favorite picture books.
When you use familiar picture books, your child already knows and loves the story. Seeing a beloved book in Spanish is a fun way to introduce vocabulary and translation skills – beyond learning words and simple phrases in isolation.
Translated picture books give your child a unique opportunity to fully understand and enjoy what they are reading – even when they’re reading or being read to in a new language. These are also a very EASY way for parents to introduce Spanish – zero preparation required.
Below I’ve listed a few of our favorite picture books along with some of the concepts you will find inside.
Bilingual Eric Carle Books
These are fun as they have the English and Spanish translations in one book. You can double down on reading and Spanish instruction on the comfort of your own couch. These books are a great introduction to simple sentences, vocabulary, and phrases that can be used in daily life also.
The Very Hungry Caterpillar, La oruga muy hambrienta, for learning the days of the week and food words.
Brown Bear, Oso pardo, oso pardo, ¿qué ves ahí?, and Polar Bear,Oso polar, oso polar, ¿qué es ese ruido?, for learning animals and color words.
From Head to Toe, De la cabeza a los pies, for learning body parts, animal words, and verbs like turn, bend, kick, etc.
Mo Willems books in Spanish
If your child loves Mo Willems (all 3 of mine did or do!!!), introducing Spanish with The Pigeon and Elephant and Piggie will be a lot of fun! These books are translated into Spanish, so if you don’t know the story or you personally don’t speak Spanish, it might be handy to pick up the English version to refer to as you read. However, reading in Spanish from the beginning and figuring out the story as you go can also be a fun exercise.
Elephant & Piggie Books in Spanish are fantastic for practicing conversational Spanish, short phrases and sentences, and exlamations.
Don’t Let the Pigeon Ride the Bus, ¡No Dejes Que la Paloma Conduzca el Autobus!, is such a fun book to read and interact with, and your child may already know this one by heart!
Knuffle Bunny, El Conejito Knuffle: Un Cuento Aleccionador, was one of my oldest’s favorite stories, and reading it in Spanish gave the adventure a new twist. This is one that you might want to have the English translation handy if you haven’t read it before.
Dr. Seuss Books in Spanish
Not every Dr. Seuss books lends itself to easy translation. There are a handful that we picked up from the library that had a lot of “Seussy” nonsense words that made things a little confusing. However, if you have a big Seuss fan, your child may not be bothered by this in the least. Other Dr. Seuss books, however, are perfect for Spanish introduction. A few we enjoyed:
Ten Apples Up on Top, ¡Diez manzanas en la cabeza!, for counting and conversational Spanish phrases.
Green Eggs and Ham, Huevos verdes con jamón, is a fun one for learning all kinds of objects and vocabulary from the world, plus there is a lot of repetition within the book that will have your child recognizing the words and phrases as you read the first time through!
One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish, Un Pez Dos Peces Pez Rojo Pez Azul, is one of the first books that my kids memorized in English, so it was fun to introduce them to a Spanish version. This book also has a ton of usable phrases, vocabulary, and adjectives inside.
Other favorites
You will likely find most of your child’s favorites translated into Spanish, so if the above list doesn’t speak to you, go with the books you know and love first. These are a few of our other favorites:
The Snowy Day, Un Dia de Nieve, one of our favorites after we moved from Florida to Ohio! This book includes longer sentences and a bit more story telling than some of the other picture books we read. Makes a great bedtime story on snowy nights.
Llama Llama Red Pajama, La llama llama rojo pijama, is wonderful for recognizing and practicing rhymes in Spanish which can help your child grow a little confidence when speaking.
Pout Pout Fish, El Pez Pucheros, is a beautiful translation that keeps the familiar rhythm of the story and explores under-the-sea vocabulary and a lot of descriptive adjectives.
(2) Workbooks & Worksheets for Kindergarten Spanish Lessons
Keep in mind that this introduction to Spanish should be fun! If the sight of a worksheet sends your child running in the other direction, or if you’re working on taming that handwriting, worksheets might not be the most appropriate introduction to Spanish.
However, I have two kids that LOVED worksheets around the preschool/kindergarten age. Coloring every inch, pointing to the words and tells me what everything is, drawing lines to connect, and hanging it on the fridge! Using worksheets with my younger kids was a no-brainer. It is a good way to introduce vocabulary, give your child a chance to practice independently, and show you what they know!
Similarly to using familiar picture books, I’d encourage you to use a familiar style of worksheets or workbooks for your kindergarten Spanish lessons. If your kindergartner loves circling the picture or connecting words with pictures in their English reading lessons, they’ll probably also enjoy it in Spanish!
Spanish Workbook Recommendation for Kindergarten
If you’re looking for a Spanish workbook or worksheets for kindergarten, I recommend checking out the Teach Them Spanish! series by Carson Dellosa. These contain black line worksheets that are great for copying, coloring, and learning Spanish.
You’ll find that the worksheets are similar to what you use in your reading instruction – tracing, reading, connecting to a picture, counting, and coloring. This series includes workbooks for grades K-5, so you can start early and build year after year.
Teach Them Spanish! is available on Amazon or through the Carson Dellosa website. At the time of this post, the printed versions are the same price, however the Carson Dellosa website also offers an ebook version which is great if you’re teaching multiple children or planning to use this again with a younger child and do not want to re-purchase.
(3) Singing Spanish Songs
Another fun way to introduce Spanish into daily life is to sing familiar songs in Spanish. Singing will help your child recognize and practice new vocabulary and Spanish phrases in a very low-pressure, comfortable way. These are especially great if you have a child who feels unsure or is hesitant to experiment with speaking Spanish aloud.
One of the first Spanish songs I introduced was feliz cumpleaños (happy birthday). Five years later, my kids still bust out with “Felize Cumpleaños a ti” at every birthday dinner – even when we are not actively teaching Spanish!
We loved singing Spanish so much that I put together a free resource with familiar songs in Spanish that you can sing with your child. Watch videos and pick up the free printable from the post: 7 Easy Spanish Songs to Sing – Lyrics, Videos, plus a Free Printable!
(4) Spanish Shows for your Kindergarten Lessons
Additionally, you can find great shows that will get your kids learning Spanish words and phrases pretty quickly. Don’t be afraid to use immersion with your children! They will understand what’s going on in Spanish-only shows and can benefit from hearing the accents and picking up some language as they follow along.
Some great shows for your kindergarten Spanish lessons:
Little Pim – you can rent episodes on Prime or find it on Hulu and Roku
Aprende Con Sesame – Sesame Street in Spanish! Stream it with Prime
Dora the Explorer and Go Diego Go are both streaming on Prime
Finally, you can stream almost any kid’s show on Netflix with Spanish audio find out how to configure your device.
(5) YouTube Channels for your Kindergarten Spanish Lessons
Last but not least, we loved using YouTube for kindergarten Spanish lessons. There are a wide variety of resources in addition to the channels below, but these are our top favorites:
Winged Lion has charming songs and videos for young children. Here you can view many of the English and Spanish versions. Winged Lion also has a Spanish-only sister channel, Leoncito Alado with an even larger collection of videos.
Sésamo is Sesame Street’s Spanish-only channel. If your kindergartner still loves Elmo, this is a great place to start. Videos range in length from about 2 – 12 mintues. This is a fantastic, commercial free channel that you can feel good about leaving on while you take a shower!
A Tiempo Preescolar is a cute channel with videos that my kids love. They have short clips as well as full length episodes with songs and conversation completely in Spanish.
More Spanish from the Resource Room:
Ashley helps parents who want to homeschool find the resources they need to successfully teach their children. Ashley is a former teacher, current homeschooler, published author, and designer behind Circle Time with Miss Fox printables as well as the creator of this website, The Homeschool Resource Room.