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Let's Go Shopping! {Jugando en Español}

Welcome to the first post in the series "Jugando en Español."  

When the minority language is not often spoken children tend to communicate with their peers in their community language. In this new series I will share with you simple play ideas to encourage, and foster a Spanish speaking environment.   


Spanish immersion play dates can be very successful, but you need to set just one basic common ground rule: Habla, habla, habla solamente en Español (Talk only in Spanish!)  

I am very happy that little one has Spanish speaking friends. However, since they too are in school I find that they tend to gravitate towards speaking in English when they are together.  So I set up an area for them to go shopping y todo está rotulado en Español. :)  This helps build their Spanish vocabulary. 


Little one has lots of play food, and I sorted them in baskets.  I priced each basket, and wrote the names with prices on a card.  We also had a cash register with pretend money. 

I gave each one some money, and a brown bag.  One of them was the cashier, and the others were the shoppers.  They had fun shopping, and also pretending to be the cashier. All of their conversations were in Spanish!   

They were practicing their Spanish while playing! They were also learning new vocabulary words, and learning basic math skills to pay for their groceries en Español.  

The kids had a blast! 

Do you use play to learn a new language? If so, please share! 

You can also check out one of my favorite bloggers For The Love Of Spanish series Spanish Through Play for some wonderful ideas.