Suffering with cabin fever? Oh no! I wanted to share some of the activities we are currently using in the classroom with you to help you beat the winter and bring the fun inside your classroom or home!The first topic I wanted to share with you is the house!

We share the basic house vocab:

House – Casa        Cuarto- bedroom   Sala – living room     Cocina – kitchen  Baño – bathroom

Table – mesa        Chair- silla                Sofa – sofá          Bed – cama

We used flashcards to show the vocabulary, made into a memory game! Children all ages love memory games!

We sing the House rap ©  Claudia Krusch (pointing to the parts of the house, the children love it!)

La casa, la casa, la casa tiene un piso, un piso, un piso, la casa tiene un piso

La casa, la casa, la casa tiene una puerta, una puerta, una puerta, la casa tiene una puerta

que abre y cierra, que abre y cierra, la casa tiene una puerta

La casa, la casa, la casa tiene una ventana, ventana,  ventana, la casa tiene una ventana

La casa, la casa, la casa tiene un techo, un techo, un techo, la casa tiene un techo

Casa Tag- they will tag the part of the house, after you say the name, I give rewards for each correct answer.

Doll House Fun – even the boys have fun, because I brought some legos and we populated the house, they needed to place the doll or lego in a room and tell me the name of the room! Sooo much fun!

Legos were also used to build the favorite room of the house. Below are some pics of the amazing job they did!

We add the winter vocabulary and placed cotton and fake rain the “house” coloring page we used!

One of the students who is 6 worked on so many details in the room, it looked like an architect did it! Children never cease to amaze me!

Hope you enjoyed our activities and that you will use them and share your experience here on our blog!

Claudia Krusch

EasyLearn Languages

Dear Readers,

Many parents ask me, is there Halloween in Spanish, well the majority of Spanish speaking countries do not  have Halloween as it known in the US. They have Dia de Los Muertos which is a party and celebration to pay respects to the dead and celebrate death!

Spanish and Foreign Language teachers translate materials this time of the year to bring a little bit of Halloween to their classes!

I decided to share some of the words we used this week and let you know we have sets of flashcards and worksheets available for purchase on the website.

Spanish

Bruja – witch

Calabaza – pumpkin

Calavera- Esqueleton

Murcielago – bat

Fantasma – ghost

Bruxa – witch

abobora – pumpkin

Caveira- Esqueleton

Morcego – bat

Fantasma – ghost

Suggestion on activities: bring real pumpkins, place on the floor and tell the children they will go pumpkin picking and they need to count the pumpkins. They can paint pumpkins and tell the colors. You can use our memory cards to play memory game or throw mini pumpkin erasers on cards on the floor and say the word where they fall. We bought large pumpkins and they had to throw balls on pumpkins and say the color before they hit the pumpkins.

Videos on youtube, like Halloween para peques and others.

Happy Halloween – Feliz Dia de Las Brujas, Feliz Dia das bruxas

Dear Readers,

This month we decided to bring our Spring activities to the next level!

Children started this week, by contrasting the differences between winter and spring and singing a song about weather….we make hand motions and sing about lluvia(rain), sol (sun), viento ( wind) y nubens( clouds). We read a book called Primavera and they saw the trees with leaves and the bugs and birds who came back!

We also did a coloring page with  a Mariposa ( butterfly) and a flor ( flower) and the kids would color and draw on the worksheet. You can easily make it at home with coloring page drawings.

I bought a collection of bugs and bug cat and nets and we went bug hunting, saying the name of the bug, color and comparing sizes.

Off course if you child never had Spanish before and you are starting, I would recommend just doing colors for now…..

I made a memory game with pictures of bugs and they had to match and say the name of the insect, Mariquita( lady bug), Escarabajo ( beetle), mariposa ( butterfly), abeja ( bee), saltamontes ( grasshopper).

I will be happy to answer questions and send the worksheet, if you wish to have it at home!

Saludos,

Claudia Krusch

EasyLearn Languages CEO

Dear Members,

This time of the year brings the best memories of my childhood. When my mom used to stay hours in the kitchen preparing the seafood dishes for Easter! My dad would spend hours stirring Vatapá, Camarão, arroz branco, farofinha…..makes my mouth water. Those sounds and smells still surround me when Easter times come, so I try to make this a special time for my son as well…bringing some of the traditions like purchasing the one pound Easter Egg at the Brazilian store….making sea food on good Friday and working on a two hour sweet bread which allows me to share some of my memories with him.

If you wish to share some traditions with your child or use some interesting materials in the classroom, I would suggest:

Use bunny songs which can be found in YouTube:

De olhos vermelhos or Coelhinho da Páscoa, words for the songs can also be found online

Memory game with Easter vocabulary like, coelho, cesta, ovos, chocolate, colorante, páscoa

Print easter egg from online free coloring pages and cut them in three parts, have the children put pieces of the eggs together, this can also be used to review colors on the eggs.

I hope my ideas help you share Easter traditions!

Feliz Páscoa!

Claudia Krusch

Director of EasyLearn Languages Programs