Ways to Teach Baby Spanish

I recently came across a blog called My Bilingual Kid. In his blog, Josh notes that even though his son is too young right now (4 months old) to do the activities in my Spanish colors lesson plan, he looks forward to using them when he's older.

Es verdad - It's true, I wrote those lessons when my twins turned 3 years old, but I offered ideas on how I interact in Spanish with my 17 month-old. Usually he's napping when I do Spanish Time with my girls.

So here are some simple ways you can teach and interact in Spanish with your baby (infant/ toddler.)

1. In the morning, sing a Spanish “hello” or “good morning” song.

2. Gently lift your baby up and down say “arriba” “abajo.”

3. Open and close your hands and say “abierto” “cierre”

4. Name the food and beverages you give in Spanish.

• Aqua = water
• Leche = milk
• Jugo = juice
• Jugo de naranja = orange juice
• Jugo de manzana = apple juice
• Jugo de uva = grape juice
• Cereal = cereal
• Bread = pan
• Rice = arroz
• Galletas = crackers/cookies
  

5. Make simple comments and ask simple questions when it’s eating time.

• Here you go = Aqui tienes
• Let’s pray (say grace) = Rezamos
• Mmm, yummy = muy rico
• Almost finished = Casi terminado
• Finished? = ¿Terminado?
• Want more? = ¿Quieres mas?
• Yay! You ate all = ¡Comiste todo!
• No more. = No mas.
  
• Do you want something to drink? ¿Quieres algo beber?

6. Diaper time is the perfect time to sing the Spanish alphabet song or the songs you learned from the Boca Beth cd’s .

7. Go over the parts of the body in Spanish and ask, for example, ¿Dónde está tu nariz? Where is your nose?

8. I like to see the big smile on my 17 month-old’s face when I take him by the hand and say “Corre, Jaden, corre.” Run, Jaden, run. And we run (at his pace of course) across the room.

There's a whole lot more that we do and as I think of them I'll post up some more ideas for how you can teach your baby Spanish.

¡Hasta luego!

Jessica