Class rules in Spanish can help establish a positive, cooperative atmosphere and are also an opportunity for language learning. This fall with a few of my groups I am going to expand on what I usually do by adding an activity suggested by All Together We’re Better. It involves making a paper chain. I have included an explanation and the printable below.

I keep my class rules in Spanish very simple. They are in the nosotros form and describe how we act in class:
Caminamos. – We walk.
Nos escuchamos – We listen to each other.
Nos hablamos con respeto. – We talk to each other with respect.
Hablamos sin gritar. – We talk without shouting.
Guardamos nuestras cosas. – We put things away.

After we talk about the rules and how they make Spanish class more fun for everyone, I teach the rules with a rhyme and actions. Below are two versions of the rhyme.

The first rhyme is very simple. It is just the rules ordered for rhythm. The words rhyme because of the verb forms. The second version has more language, but is also very simple. We recite the rules and do the actions. The actions remind children of the meaning of the Spanish words they are saying.

Rhyme 1
Caminamos. (Walk in place.)
Nos escuchamos. (Turn toward each other, hand to ear.)
Y con respeto nos hablamos. (Say “gracias” to the person next to you. Just model a quick gracias and go on to keep the rhythm of the rhyme. Kids get good at saying it quickly.)
Nuestras cosas las guardamos. (Act out putting things away.)
Y sin gritar hablamos. (Say this line a little more quietly.)

Rhyme 2
En la escuela caminamos, (Walk in place.)
Así vamos a llegar.
Con respeto nos hablamos,
Así vamos a trabajar. (Say gracias to the person beside you. See note above.)
También nos escuchamos, (Turn toward each other, hand to ear.)
Sin gritar vamos a hablar.  (Say this line a little more quietly.)
Guardamos nuestras cosas, (Act out putting things away.)
Así las vamos a cuidar.

Below there are links to printable versions of the rhymes that look like this:

Paper Chain Activity
All Together We’re Better describes an activity where kids make a paper chain with the rules on the links. The concept is that the rules are like promises we make to work together. I like the hands-on activity of making the chain and the opportunity to talk about the rules (there are pictures to represent them on the printable).

One way to use the chain is when a rule is broken, to break a link with that rule. Then, teachers go over it with the child or the group and repair the chain when they have found a positive solution.

I think that even without breaking the chain, the activity of making it, and having it available as a visual reminder of the rules, is valuable. The extra step of breaking the chain is something that each teacher has to evaluate depending her situation.

I adapted the activity for Spanish language learners and my limited class time:
– Because many of my students do not read yet, the links in our chain have pictures to remind children of the meaning.
– I have limited class time, so I print the rules and cut them apart. The kids make the chain. We talk about the rules while they are making the chain. This gives me the chance to be sure they understand the pictures and relate them to the rule.
– I print each rule on different color paper.

Link to Printable Class Rules in Spanish

Class Rules Rhyme 1  (shorter)

Class Rules Rhyme 2 (longer)

Link to Spanish Class Rules Activity

Printable Spanish Activity – Paper Chain

You may also be interested in this post: Spanish Activities for the First Days of School

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Nanitas is Francisco Rodríguez Gómez’s website dedicated to his Spanish poems for children. Rodríguez Gómez is a poet, musician and teacher from Cádiz, Spain. He has published many collections of children’s poems and makes some of his work available on Nanitas.es.

When I choose poetry to use with children learning Spanish, I look for poems that are relatively short and concrete, with familiar vocabulary. Children do not have to know every word in a poem before we talk about it, but the main idea should accessible.

The poems on Nanitas are available as Word documents, so they can be edited if you want to add exercises or information. Choose Poemas on the right sidebar. These are a few of the poems that are most accessible to Spanish language learners.

– Poema para un año – This poem is about the months of the year. It includes the regional usage “la calor,” which you would want to explain or change. Calor is usually masculine.

– La tabla – This poem is based on the multiplication tables. It is easy for children who know how to multiply, and it is a good way to practice rhyme, rhythm and numbers.

– Tengo para mi niño

– Romancillo de María Casilda – This poem tells the story of a little girl who spills oil on her skirt. It has simple language and great rhythm.

– Los signos – A poem about the signs for mathematical operations (+, -, X, :, =)

– A María – A short, pretty poem about a little girl who makes a necklace of shells. There is a typographical error in the Word document, but you can correct it.  In the second line, change the word collas to collar.

In addition to Spanish poems for children, Rodríguez Gómez includes some activities based on his poetry. I find the poems themselves the most useful material on Nanitas, but check the sections Jugueteando and LeoColoreo if you are looking for activities. You may find something you can use or adapt.

You may also be interested in this post: Spanish Poem for Children – Rimando ando

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Attention getters are chants, rhymes or songs to get kids listening or quiet down a group. They are a huge help with classroom management. Also, attention getters in Spanish, or consignas, can be a fun, easy way of incorporating more language into limited class time. If you have favorite attention getters in Spanish, please share in comments!

There are many kinds of attention getters. Some involve rhythms and clapping, but I use rhymes or songs with words because I want the kids to produce as much Spanish as possible. Lots of attention getters are call and response, but you can also have everyone join in and say them together.

For my youngest students I keep Spanish attention getters very simple and make sure they know what we are saying. First, we practice them as a group. Then they pretend to be talking and not listening, and we try it. This is fun because, of course, they are listening extra closely.

Below are a few simple Spanish attention getters that you might want to try. You can find more online. EducacionInicial has a set and so does Erika Valecillo.

Attention Getters in Spanish

Maestr@ – Clase, clase
Estudiantes – Sí, sí

Maestr@ – Hola, hola
Estudiantes – Caracola

Maestr@ – Uno, dos, tres, ojos a mí
Estudiantes – Uno, dos, tres, ojos a ti (a usted).

Maestr@ – Atención (clap as you say the syllables)
Estudiantes – Por favor (students clap as they say the syllables)

Maestr@ – Zapato zapatito
Estudiantes – Dejo de hablar poquito a poquito.

Maestr@ – Denme cinco
Estudiantes – Por favor (as they raise their hands)

Maestr@ – Denme cinco
Estudiantes – Boca cerrada, miro y escucho (holding up one finger for each word)

Maestr@ – Hada hada
Estudiantes – Ahora no digo nada.

Maestr@ -¿Qué te pasa, Calabaza?
Estudiantes – Nada, nada, Limonada.

Maestr@ – Porque sí, porque no
Estudiantes – Calladito me quedo yo

Maestr@ – Serrucho serrucho
Estudiantes – A mi maestra escucho

Maestr@ – Pez, pez
Estudiantes – A callar esta vez

Maestr@ – Tapa, tapita, tapón.
Estudiantes – Cierro la boca ¡Ya está!

You can do the next two all together:

Levanto una mano,
levanto la otra,
me cruzo de brazos
y cierro la boca

(Sing to the tune of Are you sleeping?)
La lechuza
la lechuza
Hace ¡Shh!
Hace ¡Shh!
Todos calladitos
como la lechuza
Shh, shh, shh.

You may also be interested in this post: Class Rules in Spanish – Rhyme, Activity and Printables

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This Spanish poem for kids is by Douglas Wright of Argentina. I love his poetry because it is direct, conversational, and relevant to the lives of children. Many of his poems are excellent for Spanish language learners because the vocabulary is simple, there is lots of repetition, and there is a significant cultural component in the descriptions of daily routines in Argentina. You can find more of his poetry on his blog El Jardín de Douglas.

Bien tomados de la mano is about how nice it is to go through life with a good friend. Douglas illustrates his work and the illustration that goes with the poem shows two friends holding hands. The image will help kids understand the literal meaning of the first stanzas. By the end of this Spanish poem, they will see that bien tomados de la mano, holding hands or hand in hand, is figurative as well as literal.

This poem is a great springboard for talking about friendship and the idea that even simple things are fun when shared with a friend. Caminar, mirar los árboles, and mirar el cielo serve as examples for kids to make their own list of things that they like to do with friends.

This Spanish poem for kids also works well to teach or reinforce the structure Qué + adjetivo = How + adjective. Students can write original sentences based on Qué lindo es mirar los árboles: Qué divertido es jugar al fútbol, Qué rico es comer helado, Qué difícil es levantarme temprano.

The poem also includes the structure Qué lindo que es caminar, where the second que is for emphasis. If children are writing their own sentences, they can choose one thing that they feel strongly about to express more emphatically by adding the second que. Beyond individual sentences, Bien tomados de la mano has a structure that can be adapted for students to write their own Spanish poems, or to create a poem as a class.

As always, many thanks to Douglas Wright for his permission to share his Spanish poetry for children with my readers!

Bien tomados de la mano by Douglas Wright

Qué lindo que es caminar,
bien tomados de la mano,
por el barrio, por la plaza,
¿qué sé yo?, por todos lados.

Qué lindo es mirar los árboles,
bien tomados de la mano,
desde el banco de la plaza,
en el que estamos sentados.

Qué lindo es mirar el cielo
bien tomados de la mano;
en nuestros ojos, volando,
dos pájaros reflejados.

Qué lindo que es caminar
bien tomados de la mano;
¡qué lindo, andar por la vida
de la mano bien tomados!

You can find more Spanish poems for kids by Douglas Wright in these posts: Spanish Poem for Children – Rimando ando and Spanish Poem for Children – ¡Qué grande era todo! for Beginning Spanish Learners

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Douglas Wright is a poet, author and illustrator from Argentina. I love his Spanish poems for kids learning the language because many of them use common vocabulary, natural syntax and short sentences. He sets many of them to music, and kids can easily memorize the words of these Spanish songs by singing along. He shares his work on his blog El Jardín de Douglas.

Douglas has an ear for what is pleasing to children and to adults, too. He has done a loose translation of the classic song You are My Sunshine by Jimmie Davis y Charles Mitchell. The song reads like a poem and can certainly be used that way. Douglas has also recorded it and put it in his post, so kids can listen and sing along. Listen to Tú eres mi sol here.

I like singing this Spanish song with kids because it is a happy, familiar tune. This Spanish translation uses sol, mañana and brillar, with lots of repetition. In the translation, the first verse it about the sun, and the second verse is sung to someone comparing that person to the sun and asking her to sing along. The structure is an easy one for kids to understand, as a poem or as a song.

As always, many thanks to Douglas for his permission to share his work on Spanish Playground and for this lovely song to sing with my students.

Tú eres mi sol (de la mañana)

El sol que brilla
por la mañana
alegra todo
mi corazón,
brilla conmigo,
brilla que brilla,
alegrándome
esta canción.

Tú eres mi sol
de la mañana,
canta conmigo
esta canción,
canta conmigo,
canta que canta,
alegrándome
el corazón.

You may also be interested in this post: Spanish Poem for Children – Rimando ando

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Spanish has a wealth of traditional finger plays, rhymes and songs for children. Kids love games with actions, and these are perfect language learning tools. Music, movement, and rhyme combine to enhance a child’s understanding and retention of Spanish.

Below are a few of my favorite finger plays to do with preschoolers. I have included videos, translations and a printable version of the Spanish rhymes.

Saco una manito (una manita)
In Mexico and Spain, the diminutive of la mano (hand) is la manita. In other countries, it is la manito. It doesn’t matter which one of the two forms you sing, as long as you are consistent.

This is one of the first finger plays that Spanish-speaking children learn. It can be recited as a rhyme or sung. The first video recites the finger play and in the second you can hear the tune. The song on the second video is from the CD Cantando con Adriana Vol. 2 by Adriana Szusterman.

Saco una manito. La hago bailar, / I take out one hand. I make it dance.
La cierro, la abro y la vuelvo a guardar. / I close it, I open it, and I put it away again.
Saco otra manito. La hago bailar, / I take out the other hand. I make it dance.
La cierro, la abro y la vuelvo a guardar. / I close it, I open it, and I put it away again.
Saco las dos manitos. Las hago bailar, / I take out two hands. I make them dance.
Las cierro, las abro y las vuelvo a guardar. / I close them, I open them, and I put them away again.

Si yo pongo mis dos manos para arriba
Si yo pongo mis dos manos para arriba is a rhyme that children learn in preschool in Latin America. The actions perfectly reinforce the meaning of the words and it is an easy rhyme for little children to learn.

Si yo pongo mis dos manos para arriba, / If I put my two hands up
mis dos manos tocan el cielo. / my two hands touch the sky.
Si yo pongo mis dos manos para abajo, / If I put my two hands down,
mis dos manos tocan el suelo. / my two hands touch the ground
Arriba, arriba, el cielo, / Up, up, the sky
abajo, abajo, el suelo. / down, down the ground.
Mis dos manos dicen chau, / My two hands say goodbye
y se van a descansar. / and go to rest.

Cinco ratoncitos
Kids love Cinco ratoncitos because the mice have to run and hide when the cat comes to eat them. It is a beginning counting rhyme that only goes to five.

Cinco ratoncitos / Five little mice
de colita gris / with little gray tails
mueven las orejas, / move their ears,
mueven la nariz. / move their noses.
¡Uno, dos, tres, cuatro, cinco, / One, two, three, four, five,
corren al rincón! / they run to the corner!
Porque viene el gato, / Because the cat is coming
a comer ratón. / to eat mouse!

Mi carita redondita
Kids love this song, especially the part where they get to pretend to sneeze. It is good for teaching parts of the face and related verbs. The verbs in the fourth line vary in different versions, but they are always some combination of llorar, cantar, hablar and reir. The last line varies too, between palomitas de maíz and heladitos de maní. The lyrics below are the ones I teach to my preschoolers. There are many other videos of preschoolers and classes singing Mi carita redondita on YouTube and many have the lyrics on the screen. Just search the title of the song.

Mi carita redondita, / My round face
tiene ojos y nariz, / has eyes and a nose
y también una boquita / and also a mouth
para cantar y reir. / to sing and laugh.
Con mis ojos veo todo / With my eyes I see everything
con mi nariz hago atchís! / with my nose I go achoo
con la boca como ricas palomitas de maíz / with my mouth I eat delicious popcorn

La araña pequeñita
There are many versions of this traditional finger play in Spanish. In some of the variations, the spider is spinning her web or climbing a wall when the rain comes. I teach the version that closely matches the English words. It is the one that has been recorded by José-Luis Orozco, Susan Barchas y De colores and Cantarima.

La arana pequeñita subió, subió, subió. / The little spider went up, up, up
Vino la lluvia y se la llevó. / The rain came and washed it away
Salió el sol y todo lo secó. / The sun came out and dried up everything
Y la araña pequeñita subió, subió, subió. / And the little spider went up, up, up

You can find more resources for teaching and expanding on this rhyme at the end of The Itsy Bitsy Spider in Spanish

Photo Credit: jessleecuizon via Compfight cc

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The poem Los pollitos by Argentine author Olegario Víctor Andrade is fun to read with children learning Spanish. Andrade lived in the 1800s, so all of his original work is in the public domain. This is my printable of the poem Los pollitos with questions.

I use this poem with classes in the spring, often when we are learning the traditional song Los pollitos. I have printable materials for the song here. These are a few of the features that make the poem effective to use with Spanish learners:

– Common adjectives: bonitos, chiquitos, preciosos, tiernos, graciosos
– Common verbs: pían, corren, saltan, buscan, vienen, van, se pelean
– Lots of rhyming words. Ask kids to find words that rhyme with pollitos (menuditos, chiquitos, finitos, bonitos), preciosos (sedosos, graciosos), van (pan), cesar (pasear).
– The poem is fun for children to illustrate, especially the second and third stanzas because they have lots of action.
– Kids can act out the poem as the narrator, the chicks, doña Clueca, and the cat. They can be the characters or use puppets.
– The poem lends itself to comprehension questions: ¿Cómo son los pollitos? ¿Qué hacen los pollitos? ¿Por qué se pelean? ¿Quién los vigila? ¿De qué los defiende doña Clueca?

Los pollitos de Olegario Víctor Andrade

Son preciosos
mis pollitos
menuditos.
Son tan tiernos,
tan chiquitos,
tan sedosos,
tan finitos,
que en el mundo
no hay pollitos
tan bonitos.

Pían, corren,
hurgan, saltan,
buscan, chillan,
vienen, van,
se pelean
como locos
por un pedazo
de pan.

La señora
doña Clueca
los vigila
sin cesar.
Los defiende
de los gatos
y los saca
a pasear.

Son tan tiernos,
tan chiquitos,
tan sedosos,
tan finitos,
que en el mundo
no hay pollitos
más graciosos
más bonitos
que mis pollos
menuditos.

You may also be interested in this post: Spanish Poems for Kids – 17 Activities for National Poetry Month

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Douglas Wright is a well-known children’s poet and illustrator from Argentina. He writes some of my favorite Spanish poems to read with children. His poetry is based in the natural world and a child’s experiences. The poems have familiar vocabulary, patterns, and rhythm and rhyme to help children who are learning Spanish appreciate the sounds of the language.

If you are looking for Spanish poems about spring weather, Douglas Wright recently published Hoy, el día dice “viento” on his blog, El Jardín de Douglas. He also has another poem called Llueve, llueve, llueve, llueve.  Because these Spanish poems are about wind and rain, they can apply to spring weather here in Wisconsin, and possibly where you live. Of course, Douglas Wight is writing about fall in Argentina, something you may want to point out to kids.

Douglas has generously given me permission to share his poetry on Spanish Playground. Thank you! Be sure to visit his blog where you will find many Spanish poems for children. After the poem, you will find suggestions for using it with Spanish language learners.

Hoy, el día dice “viento”

Hoy, el día dice “viento”,
viento fuerte y sonoro,
y las hojas de los árboles
responden “viento”, a coro.

Hoy, el día dice “viento”,
viento de acá para allá,
y nubes que piensan “viento”
pasan sobre la ciudad.

Hoy, el día dice “viento”,
viento loco, en remolinos,
que viene no sé de dónde
y se va por donde vino.

Hoy, el día dice “viento”,
“viento” dice la mañana,
viento que agita y golpea
los paños de mi ventana.

Hoy, el día dice “viento”,
y hasta los rayos del sol
se sacuden con el viento:
¡todo es viento el día de hoy!

Using Spanish Poems with Language Learners

These are a few activities you can use with Hoy el día dice “viento”. May can also be adapted for Llueve, llueve, llueve, llueve or other of Douglas Wright’s Spanish poems for kids. What works for your child or class will depend on the age and language level.

– To help beginners understand, have props for hojas de los árboles, nubes, paños de mi ventana, rayos del sol (paper cut outs of a tree with leaves, clouds, window with panes, sun with rays).

– Once children are familiar with the poem, have them say the first line of each stanza or aay “Hoy, el día dice viento” together. Then you finish the stanza.

– Talk about the weather where you live using the same concept: ¿Qué dice el día hoy? ¿Lluvia? ¿Sol? ¿Frío?

– If you do calendar time and talk about weather, you can include this question as a part of your routine.

– Kids can illustrate the poem, include the things that are mentioned and label them.

– Make your own Hoy el día dice poem together. Decide what the day says, and choose objects that reflect what the weather is like.

– Point out the rhyming pairs in each stanza (every second and fourth line). sonoro-coro / allá-ciudad / remolinos-vino / mañana-ventana. Often rhyme in Spanish is assonant rhyme, where only the vowel sounds from the stressed syllable to the end of the word are the same. Ask kids to identity which pair these words would rhyme with – loro, oro, toro, tesoro, lloro/ soledad, verdad, oscuridad/ pino, vecino, tocino, termino / campana, rana, semana.

If you are working with children who have more Spanish, ask them to identify:
– What words are used to describe wind? (¿Cómo se describe el viento en el poema? – fuerte, sonoro, loco)

– What things does the wind move? ( ¿Cuáles son las cosas que mueve el viento? – las hojas de los árboles, las nubes, los paños de la ventana, los rayos del sol)

– What verbs describe how things move in the wind? (¿Cuáles son los verbos que describen como las cosas mueven con el viento?  – pasar, agitar, golpear, sacudirse)

You  many also be interested in this post: Spanish Poems for Kids – 17 Activities for National Poetry Month

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Award-winning author Rita Wirkala recently sent me two wonderful collections of her Spanish poems for kids. Mis primeros poemas and Poemas para chicos y grandes were written specifically for children learning Spanish.

Poetry teaches the sound and rhythm of language, grammatical structures, vocabulary and culture. As children recite poems, they produce language they can not yet use spontaneously. Like music, Spanish poems should be an integral part of elementary language programs. Mis primeros poemas and Poemas para chicos y grandes are part of the All Bilingual Press curriculum and are used by hundreds of public and private schools including the John Hopkins University Center for Talented Youth. These Spanish poems for kids are an excellent supplement to any program and a wonderful choice to share with children at home.

The success of using poetry with children learning language depends on selecting appropriate poems. Unfortunately, they can be very hard to find. Many poems written for native speakers are too difficult and abstract for Spanish learners. This is why I am so excited to share these Spanish poems for kids on Spanish Playground. Mis primeros poemas and Poemas para chicos y grandes have dozens of accessible poems that will enchant young Spanish learners.

Outstanding Features of the Spanish Poems for Kids

• Mis primeros poemas and Poemas para chicos y grandes include drawings with a close text-to-illustration correspondence that helps create comprehensible input. In other words, the focused drawings support the text, so children understand new language based on the pictures.

• The books include high quality audio CDs. The audio exposes children to native speaker pronunciation and rhythm. The speaker reads the poems with wonderful expression that makes the poems easier to understand. These CDs are an excellent resource for all teachers, including native speakers. It is important for children to hear different voices, and the professional recordings of these Spanish poems for kids are a perfect way to provide that exposure.

• Coloring the illustrations enhances learning. Kids spend more time and focus more completely on the pictures and the poem as they color. Coloring provides time to process the language at a deeper level and associate it with the illustration. Coloring also lets children make these poems their own.

• These Spanish poems for kids include vocabulary and structures common to elementary programs. These are a few of the topics each collection covers.

Mis primeros poems: Colors and school objects; Clothes, descriptions and preferences; The body, expressions, feelings; House and furniture; Months, seasons, weather; Outdoors, animals, nature.

Poemas para chicos y grandes: En la sala de clase, Los días de la semana, Las estaciones, Las partes del cuerpo-La ropa, Comidas y bebidas, La casa, Las actividades

• Many of these poems are funny! There are unexpected twists to keep kids engaged and laughing.

• The themes of these Spanish poems for kids, especially those in Mis primeros poemas, are centered in a child’s reality. This relevance helps children identify with the poetry and ensures that the language is useful.

• Most of the language in the poems is concrete and effectively teaches Spanish vocabulary. The figurative language in the poems creates clear images that are supported by the illustrations.  The poem below, La margarita, is a good example of the figurative language in the poems – very accessible, especially with the drawings that accompany the poem.

• Many of the Spanish poems for kids are short. They are perfect for children to memorize and recite. This is especially true of Mis primeros poemas. For example, this poem about daisies has just four lines:

La margarita

La margarita es una flor
hecha de luna y de sol.

Sus pétalos de blanca luna
y el sol en su corazón.

Rita Wirkala, Mis primeros poemas

• The poems are structured to take advantage of repetition with variation. Often the stanzas repeat key grammatical structures and vocabulary while building on the content. This structure maximizes comprehension of new language.

• Both books include an extensive glossary of the language used in the Spanish poems for kids. This is provided as a reference for parents.

These poems are wonderful to share with children in any setting. In addition to being perfect for Spanish learners, they will delight native speakers. Learn about about these books and other quality language materials by visiting the All Bilingual Press website.

Disclosure: The company sent me a copy of this product to be able to write the article. I may have been compensated for my time. All of the ideas and opinions are my own.

The post Spanish Poems for Kids: All Bilingual Press appeared first on Spanish Playground.

I wrote these simple rhymes with Spanish color words for my youngest learners. I mostly teach colors in the context of stories and games. These short poems and coloring sheets are an easy way to focus more specifically on Spanish color words and introduce other vocabulary.

I have posters of the rhymes with pictures and rectangles of color with the Spanish color words. We read the poem as a group, saying the color word together. After just a few times, they can chime in on many of the other words too.

The rhymes all follow the same pattern. These are the four that you can download and print using the links below.

El color rojo

La manzana es roja
Roja es la fresa.
La mariquita es roja
y también la cereza.

El color amarillo

El sol es amarillo.
Amarillo es el pollito.
El maíz es amarillo
y también el patito.

El color verde

La hoja es verde.
Verde es la oruga.
La iguana es verde
y también la lechuga.

El color azul

El mar es azul.
Azul es el pájaro.
El cielo es azul.
y también el arándano.

Spanish Color Words – Four-Line Rhymes to Color

El color rojo

El color amarillo

El color verde

El color azul

You may also be interested in this post: Spanish Color-By-Number: Easy Picture for Día de los Muertos

Photo Credit: Jan van der Wolf via Compfight cc

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These  five short Spanish poems are by Douglas Wright, a well-known children’s poet and illustrator from Argentina. He writes some of my favorite poems to read with children. His poetry is based in the natural world and a child’s experiences. The poems have familiar vocabulary, patterns, and rhythm and rhyme to help children who are learning Spanish appreciate the sounds of the language.

These short Spanish poems are all about fall and are perfect to read with children at this time of year. In addition, Douglas Wright illustrates his poems. These short Spanish poems each have an illustration of a fall day that will help children understand the language and engage with the text. Click on the titles below to see the illustrations on El jardín de Douglas, the author’s blog.

These features make the poems effective to use with Spanish learners.

• The poems are short. Each is just four lines.
• The poems are accompanied by an illustration that clarifies the meaning.
• The rhyme is easy to hear and produce.
• The rhyme and rhythm help children acquire correct pronunciation.
• The vocabulary is accessible, but children will also learn a few new words.
• There is vivid imagery of fall leaves. Children will be able to imagine the leaves as a yellow carpet, taking flight with the wind or flying, dancing and shining.
• These short Spanish poems have vocabulary that is commonly associated with fall: el otoño, dorado, las hojas, el viento, caerse, amarilla, la brisa, la lluvia, las hojitas.

As always, many thanks to Douglas Wright for permission to share his work on Spanish Playground!

Short Spanish Poems by Douglas Wright

Otra vez está mi calle… 1
Otra vez está mi calle
salpicada de dorado,
el otoño está de vuelta,
el otoño ha llegado.

Las hojas de otoño…
Las hojas de otoño
que están en el suelo,
cuando llega el viento,
levantan el vuelo.

Otra vez está mi calle… 2
Otra vez está mi calle
hecha una alfombra amarilla,
otra vez llegó el otoño,
otra vez mi calle brilla.

La brisa hace llover…
La brisa hace llover
una lluvia amarilla:
¡son las hojitas de otoño
que vuelan, bailan y brillan!

Las hojas de otoño…
Las hojas de otoño
todas se han caído
y rumbo al invierno
volando se han ido.

You may also be interested in this poem by Douglas Wright: Spanish Poem for Children – Rimando ando

Photo Credit: Ian Sane via Compfight cc

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My students have lots of fun playing and experimenting with rhyme. Spanish rhymes are easy to make and recognize, partly because of verb forms: habló, bailó, cantó, hablando, bailando, cantando, etc.

Playing with Spanish rhymes, children explore the mechanics of language. They find out how language works and become familiar with the relationship between sounds and letters – information that helps them decode the sounds that make up words when they are reading.

Playing with Spanish rhymes also helps build vocabulary and develop sound discrimination. Both skills are crucial to the development of strong literacy skills.

In Spanish, there are lots of rhyming phrases that children use to greet each other and when they are playing. They are fun to say and an excellent way to practice pronunciation and rhythm. Spanish rhymes like ¡Hola, Crayola! ¡Adios, carita de arroz! are some of the first spontaneous interactions in Spanish that I hear between students. These are some of the most common phrases. You can download a printable list below.

– Hola, hola, coca cola.
– Hola, crayola.
– Hola, cacerola.
– Hola, caracola.
– Hola, radiola.
– Hola, hola ratón sin (con) cola.
– Hola Manola, ratón sin cola.
– ¿Qué te pasa, calabaza?  Nada nada, limonada.
– Estoy feliz como una lombriz.
– Zapatito roto, cuéntame otro.
– Estoy más a gusto que un arbusto.
– Te conozco, mosco.
– Bien dicho, bicho.
– A otra cosa, mariposa (to move on to the next subject or activity).
– Eso eso, pan con queso.
– ¿A dónde vas Conejo Blas? (originally from a song by Cri-Cri, Francisco Gabilondo Soler)
– ¿Qué te parece, trece?
– Me extraña, araña.
– No sé, José.
– Te explico, Federico.
– En fin, Serafín.
– Ya te digo Rodrigo.
– Ay qué risa, Tía Felisa.
– De nada, empanada.
– Hasta la vista, turista.
– Vete, filete.
– Adiós, granito de arroz.
– Adiós, carita de arroz.
– Adiós, corazón de arroz.
– ¡Chaoito, pescadito!
– Ciao, bacalao.

Several of these Spanish rhymes are based on the word hola.  Children use them to greet each other and say them with enthusiasm and affection. Other rhyming phrases are based on common expressions like bien dicho (Bien dicho, bicho), or ¿que te parece? (¿Qué te parece, trece?).

I do an activity where kids complete the rhyme by adding the final letters of the second rhyming word. I do another activity with the two parts of the rhymes on cards and kids match them. I’ll share those later in the week.

Spanish Rhymes for Kids: A Printable List

Spanish Rhymes – Fun Phrases

Of course, there are lots of other fun rhymes to teach kids learning Spanish. Try these jump rope rhymes or these simple color poems.

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April is National Poetry Month! Celebrate with these short Spanish poems about spring. They are by Douglas Wright, a well-known artist, poet and author from Argentina. He generously shares his work on his blog El jardín de Douglas and gives me permission to share it on Spanish Playground.

Douglas Wright illustrates his work. Kids love the drawings, and the art helps them understand the short Spanish poems. Click through on the title of these poem to see the illustrations on El jardín de Douglas.

No los veo
No los veo, no los veo,
pero sé que están ahí;
entre las ramas brotadas
escucho sus PÍ PÍ PÍ.

Teaching Short Spanish Poems

I use short Spanish poems like No los veo this way:

1. I read the poem aloud to the children.

2. We look at the illustration and talk about ramas and the verb brotar. Las flores brotan, las plantas brotan, las hojas brotan..¿Qué brota en las ramas? Las hojas.

3.  I ask questions. I ask them ¿Qué estación es? and then ¿Qué es lo que no ve el hablante del poema? They can answer this question easily based on the pí, pí, pí and the illustration. I use this moment to point out that the word los in the phrase No los veo is referring to pajaritos.

¿Qué es lo que no ve el hablante del poema?
Exacto, no ve a los pajaritos. No los veo, no los veo…está diciendo que no ve a los pajaritos.

– I ask ¿Por qué no los puede ver?  The illustration clarifies this really well. Por las hojas.

4. I recite the poem with simple actions.
No los veo, no los veo (hand above eyes looking for something)
pero sé que están ahí (nod head yes, and point up into an imaginary tree at ahí).
entre las ramas brotadas (arms up and out to represent tree branches)
escucho sus pí, pí, pí. (hand cupped to ear listening).

5. We recite the short Spanish poem together with actions. I do this step as an echo.

6. Make shape poem with printable. We make trees with the words of the poem on leaves. I have included the PDF for the simple activity that I use. You can print the leaves on green paper or kids can color them light green. Children can also add a nest or birds hidden behind the leaves.

Download the printable for this poem: Spanish poem printable activity – No los veo by Douglas Wright

Douglas Wright has many other short Spanish poems. This one is about how spring blossoms can look like butterflies.

¿Mariposas en un árbol?

¿Mariposas en un árbol
o flores de primavera?;
no sé si son mariposas
o son flores que aletean.

This poem is about spring and how it can make us sneeze.

Ya llegó la primavera

Ya llegó la primavera
y hoy me vino a saludar;
yo le respondo el saludo
¡dele y dele estornudar!

As always, thanks to Douglas for letting me share his poetry on Spanish Playground! Read about two more of his poems about spring, and be sure to visit his blog for lots more poetry to share with kids.

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This year, we celebrate Poem in Your Pocket Day on April 30. It is part of National Poetry Month and encourages us all to share poems. The idea is that you carry the poem in your pocket and read it to the people you meet during the day. Read more about Poem in Your Pocket Day on Poets.org.

The annual event is a wonderful language learning opportunity. Here are ten reasons why language learners should participate by reading a poem in Spanish.

Poem in Your Pocket Day

• is an event kids can prepare for. They can practice reading the poem in the days leading up to April 30.
• creates a supportive atmosphere. Teachers and friends at school will be expecting to hear kids read poems.
• gives kids a real audience to read aloud to.
• provides lots of repetition as kids read the poem to different people. You can set a goal for kids to read their poem to a minimum number of people.
• lets kids explain what the poem is about if they read to someone who does not speak Spanish. Teaching and explaining reinforce learning.
• can be an opportunity to practice specific vocabulary or structures. You can look for short poems related to topics you are working with or write your own rhymes.
• can introduce kids to Spanish language poets. You can choose short excerpts from poems to share with children.
• introduces children to the rich tradition of reciting poetry publicly (called declamar) that exists in Spanish speaking cultures. Learn more about this tradition and see video examples of children reciting poems.
• raises awareness of different languages, literature and language learning.
• gives children the chance to hear teachers and parents read their favorite poems!

I wrote the four short rhymes below for young Spanish learners to share on Poem in Your Pocket Day. They all consist of a two-line conversation between an animal and the speaker. I wrote them to give kids practice with le dije and me dijo. The printable version has pictures to support the language.

Download the printable version of the poems.

Yo le dije al pez,
— Es divertido pescar.
Me contestó el pez,
—¡Yo prefiero nadar!

Yo le dije al conejo,
— ¡Que orejas largas y bonitas!
Me contestó el conejo,
— Pero oyes bien con tus orejitas.

El perro me dijo,
— Me gustaría pasear.
Yo le contesté al perro,
— Vamos juntos a caminar.

El pájaro me dijo,
— Tengo alas para volar.
Yo le contesté al pájaro,
— A mí me gusta caminar.

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This is an easy poem Spanish poem about fall. It is about leaves falling in autumn. I made it up to include the key vocabulary we had been learning and added actions to reinforce the meaning of the words.

Preschoolers love dramatic play, and poems like these are an excellent way to encourage it. Include props that you use with simple poems in your dramatic play area. For example, for this Spanish poem about fall, you would have leaves available. You will see children incorporating what they have learned into their dramatic play. Learn more about the benefits of dramatic play.

I call this Spanish poem about fall Yo soy un árbol. You can download a printable of the poem..

My kids like to act out this Spanish poem about fall because they like dropping the leaves. I give each child two leaves. They can be real leaves, paper, or the artificial ones you get at craft stores. I got artificial fall leaves on sale and took them off the plastic branches. They have lasted for years and the bare branches have come in handy for talking about fall, too.

Spanish Poem about Fall with Actions

Soy un árbol. (Arms out like branches, each child holding 2 leaves.)
Tengo hojas. (Wiggle the leaves.)
Viento, viento, viento (Sway from side to side.)
Una hoja se cae. (Stand still and drop one leaf.)
Viento, viento, viento (Sway from side to side.)
Otra hoja se cae. (Stand still and drop the other leaf.)
Soy un árbol. (Arms still out like branches.)
No tengo hojas.

Translation:
I’m a tree.
I have leaves.
Wind, wind, wind.
One leaf falls.
Wind, wind, wind.
Another leaf falls.
I’m a tree.
I don’t have leaves.

You can make up simple Spanish poems for any topic. Then add actions to help them understand the words. There are also many traditional short rhymes that work well with kids learning Spanish. Poems, rhymes and songs are the easiest way for children to begin to produce the language. Reciting and singing they use correct structures and learn lots of vocabulary. Of course, adding actions enhances learning.

Do you have a favorite Spanish poem for fall?

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Douglas Wright,  a well-known author and illustrator from Argentina, wrote these two Spanish poems about fall. In addition to his books, he publishes poems on his blog, El jardín de Douglas. He generously gives me permission to share them here.

I love these two short Spanish poems about fall. They are perfect to use with Spanish language learners. The vocabulary is not complicated, and the rhythm helps children read them aloud and recite from memory.

Follow the links in the titles below to the author’s blog and you will find the illustrations for these Spanish poems about fall.  Douglas Wright illustrates all of his poems. The images make the language easier for children to understand. The drawings clarify and reinforce the Spanish and help parents and teachers talk about the poems with kids learning Spanish.

The illustration for the poem La última hojita del árbol, establishes the setting for the poem. You see the narrator of the poem, the tree, and the last dangling leaf. You can talk about how the leaf might last one more day, but eventually it will fall. This is a perfect tie-in to another of Douglas Wright’s poems, El árbol quedó sin hojas.

This second poem, El árbol quedó sin hojas, also has an wonderful illustration to use with Spanish language learners. The poem mentions el cielo de otoño. The illustration shows this sky and helps children answer the question ¿cómo es el cielo de otoño?  In fact, the illustration is a complete visual representation of the poem.

Both of these poems about fall create strong mental images and combine them with clear, concise Spanish language. Children may well find similar images in their own world. The poems give them the language to describe them.

2 Spanish Poems about Fall

La última hojita del árbol

La última hojita del árbol
¿caerá o no caerá?
Yo creo que, si no hay viento,
un día más quedará.

El árbol quedó sin hojas

El árbol quedó sin hojas,
las ramas no tienen nada,
y contra un cielo de otoño:
sólo las ramas peladas.

You may also be interested in reading Spanish Poem about Fall: Dramatic Play and Printable.

Photo Credit: chrisbb@prodigy.net via Compfight cc

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One of the biggest challenges elementary and middle-school Spanish teachers face is finding quality content at the right level. Pomelo Books has published a wonderful anthology of Spanish poems for kids. The Poetry Friday Anthology for Celebrations is an amazing resource for teachers and parents.

Poetry Friday started in 2006 as a way to allow children to enjoy poetry on a regular basis. To that end, Janet Wong and Sylvia Vardell have published several anthologies of poems for children in elementary school and middle school.

Their new book, The Poetry Friday Anthology for Celebrations, is dual language, with 156 poems in English and 156 poems in Spanish. If you are looking for Spanish language material to use with children in class or at home, you are going to love this book!

Anthology of Spanish Poems for Kids

These are a few of the features of The Poetry Friday Anthology for Celebrations that make the Spanish poems for kids an excellent choice for language learners.

• The poems are short, accessible and interesting. This poetry is meant to be enjoyed by children ages 4-12. It is wonderfully appropriate for Spanish learners.
• There are Spanish poems for kids to fit every theme. The editors have tapped into dates to include relevant topics from the first day of spring to National Pet Week to World Egg Day. You can share the Spanish poems for kids in any order. I guarantee you will find material to fit your curriculum.
• The poems have an impressive cultural component to share with Spanish learners. In addition to poems about celebrations such as Día de Reyes and Día de los Muertos, you will find poems about pan dulce, piñatas and more.
• The content reflects our diversity. The poems include and embrace a wide range of ethnicities, religions and experiences. Children will find themselves and their classmates in this poetry.
• An amazing group of poets contributed to the collection. The anthology includes poems by award-winning authors Alma Flor Ada, Jorge Argueta, Margarita Engle, Pat Mora, Jack Prelutsky, Kenn Nesbitt, Marilyn Singer and many, many more.
• The Teacher/Librarian edition has a Take 5! mini-lesson for each poem. These 5 tips include suggestions for reading the poem aloud, ideas for engaging kids in reading the poem aloud, a discussion topic, a suggested picture book, and related poem titles.

The editors have generously given me permission to share a poem from the anthology here.  While all the Spanish poems for kids are different and one poem can not represent an anthology, I do think this poem captures the tone of the collection. It will also give you an idea of the language level.

Día familiar
por Francisco X. Alarcón

el día domingo
lo pasamos en casa
de nuestros abuelitos

junto con tíos y tías
muchos primitos
parientes y amigos

mientras los niños
nos ponemos a jugar
pelota en el jardín

los adultos por horas
comen y charlan todos
a la vez pero callan

cuando Abuelito cuenta
cómo un domingo conoció
a Abuelita en México

su cara entonces
reluce una sonrisa
radiante como el Sol

I recently had the pleasure of hearing Eric McHenry, the poet Laureate of Kansas, speak as part of a 100 Thousand Poets for Change celebration. He pointed out that often we are not patient enough with poetry. We listen to many songs and read many books. When we come across one we don’t like, we don’t declare that we do not like music or novels.

Children deserve the same repeated exposure to poetry that we give them to other forms of art. The Poetry Friday Anthology for Celebrations makes it easy for teachers and parents to offer exactly that, with the confidence that children will find poems that speak to them.

I encourage you to make these Spanish poems for kids part of your routine. The Poetry Friday Anthology for Celebrations will give you more language and content to share with children learning Spanish than any other purchase you can make. For more information and updates, follow Pomelo Books on Twitter and Facebook.

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I recently wrote about The Poetry Friday Anthology for Celebrations published by Pomelo Books. This wonderful collection has 156 poems in English and in Spanish. The poems are for children ages 4-12 and cover a wide variety of topics. The book is perfect for a school, class or home library.

The Poetry Friday Anthology for Celebrations provides teachers and parents with poetry to read with children learning Spanish. The poems are short and focused, with vocabulary related to a specific topic. They are also concrete enough to be used successfully with language learners.  Read more about The Poetry Friday Anthology for Celebrations here.

Pomelo Books is very generously giving 10 copies of the Teachers/Librarian edition of The Poetry Friday Anthology for Celebrations to Spanish Playground readers. Enter the giveaway using the Rafflecopter below. Read the official giveaway rules here.

It is one of those conversations I can’t forget, although I wish I could. Don’t you ever do anything with ideas?  I was doing my student teaching. An English teacher asked me that question – Don’t you ever do anything with ideas? – as we stood chatting at the copy machine. Taken aback, I reassured her that of course we did. Inside, though, I cringed, because it wasn’t true.

If only I had been using The Poetry Friday Anthology for Celebrations! I imagine my confident answer: Of course! We use poetry to work with all kinds of ideas. The poems relate to the National Social Studies Standards and themes, so we talk about culture, power, global connections, science, you know, so many important concepts.

The Poetry Friday Anthology for Celebrations did not exist then, and I doubt the answer I gave was very convincing.  Now though, things are different. I am so happy that this book is available, along with many other excellent materials. Language teaching keeps getting better!

Be sure to enter the giveaway to win a copy of The Poetry Friday Anthology for Celebrations. For more information and updates, follow Pomelo Books on Twitter and Facebook. They also have an excellent Pinterest board with poems that you may want to follow.

Win The Poetry Friday Anthology for Celebrations!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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Recetas graciosas y saludables by Graciela Castellanos has simple recipes in Spanish. Best of all, these recipes are extension activities for short poems. The poems and recipes in Spanish have illustrations and photos, making the book a wonderful language learning resource. Recetas graciosas y saludables is published by Languages4Kidz.com.

In the photo below, you can see the four related components: poem, illustration, recipe and photo.

There are two kinds of readings in this book, poems and recipes. The two are related in that the recipe is for a snack that represents a key element of the poem. The two types of readings use different types of vocabulary, are at different levels of difficulty and let children practice different skills.

The poems are at a range of difficulty with themes that are familiar to kids, such as ants, pirates, and the moon and stars. All of the poems have illustrations to support language learners. For beginning learners, talking about the illustration provides an excellent alternative to reading the more difficult poems.

Recetas graciosas y saludables has kid-friendly, nutritious snacks. The simple, no-cook recipes in Spanish are perfect for beginning readers and cooks. Talking about the photo first will help kids with both reading and cooking. It also makes a great follow-up as kids compare their results to the picture. Eating the snack is the ideal opportunity to re-read the poem and talk about the illustration again. This is wonderful hands-on language learning. Kids will love it!

A Book of Recipes in Spanish: The Essentials

Recetas graciosas y saludables by Graciela Castellanos

The poems in Spanish
– have basic themes.
– are at a range of difficulty.
– have illustrations that support the language.

The recipes in Spanish
– use basic ingredients and vocabulary.
– are a fun, hands-on activity.
– have photos to support the ingredients and instructions.

The snacks
– represent something in the poem
– are nutritious
– are super cute!

Languages4Kidz publishes curricula for both elementary Spanish and English learners. They also publish many content-rich Spanish picture books written by Graciela Castellanos. The Languages4Kidz Spanish picture books correspond to thematic units included in most elementary curricula. You can learn more about the Languages4Kidz picture books in this post.

Visit the Languages4Kidz website to learn about all of their elementary Spanish learning materials.

You can follow Languages4Kidz on Facebook.

Disclosure: The company sent me a copy of this product to be able to write the article. I may have been compensated for my time. All of the ideas and opinions are my own.

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Douglas Wright writes short poems for children. Many of them are at a perfect level for language learners. His poetry revolves around daily experiences as children interact with the natural world. Kids will relate to these two poems about night. I love Spanish poems for summer reading!

I like these Spanish poems for summer reading because most kids will be familiar with moon-lit nights and star-filled skies. The poems have familiar vocabulary and are short enough that kids approach them with confidence. Many thanks to Douglas Wright for allowing me to share his poems on Spanish Playground.

Two Spanish Poems for Summer Reading

The first poem is called Bajo la luna. You can find an illustration of the poem on El Jardín de Douglas by clicking on the title below. This is a wonderful poem for children to practice reading aloud and to memorize.

The structure of this poem makes it easy to use. The first two and last two lines frame the middle lines. The first lines establish a general setting. The third and fourth lines mention elements of the landscape – they are the todos in the first line. Readers build a mental picture as the poem adds elements.

Kids today are very familiar with cameras and video. Point out that the poem starts with a wide angle, zooms in, and zooms out again.

Children can use this structure as a model to write their own poems. They can start with a general view, then give specific examples, and then repeat the more general statement.

Bajo la luna
Todos callados,
bajo la luna;
el bosque, el lago,
el cerro, el monte,
bajo la luna,
todos callados.

The second poem is El brillo de las estrellas.  You can find an illustration of the poem on El Jardín de Douglas by clicking on the title below.

This poem is a comparison of fireworks and the stars. Many Spanish learners in the U.S. learn the word cohete for fireworks, so be sure they are also familiar with fuegos artificiales.

Again, children can use the structure of this poem to write their own comparison poems. This is also fun to do as a class. The second and fourth lines rhyme, so you can use the poem to talk about rhyming words.

El brillo de las estrellas
Mejor que todos los fuegos
que llaman artificiales,
el brillo de las estrellas,
esos fuegos naturales.

Illustrating Spanish Poems for Summer Nights

Illustrating the poems is a simple and fun way to reinforce vocabulary. Try using colored chalk on black construction paper. It is a satisfying and easy way to create a night sky.

Photo Credit: DncnH via Compfight cc

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