What do soothing anxiety and boosting language skills have in common? They happen when playing board games! I have 6 Spanish games (some that I created) so not only can you boost your kids’ language skills, but you can also receive some other amazing benefits from playing board games with your kids.
I was amazed at some of these benefits. I had no idea playing board games could soothe anxiety which is something I struggle with. And I love helping my kids increase their frustration tolerance level and their attention span. It’s also a great way to spend time with them.
Normally my lessons build on one another, but you don’t need to have completed any of the lessons to start playing The Airport Race or the flashcard games. The Airport Race continues practicing the airport vocabulary from my last lesson and the most commonly used present tense Spanish verbs. The game includes English translations, so you don’t have to know Spanish to play it.
The game called El juego de mentiroso (The Liar Game) does go with a lesson to practice specific (and commonly used) Spanish phrases, so the lesson needs to be completed before playing that game. It’s super fun, so I hope you’ll be able to play it soon! Check out my Start Here page for how to start teaching your kids Spanish (even if you don’t know Spanish yet) and work your way to this game.
Download the FREE printables and instructions here:
4. Video: The Partner Listening Game
This Is How I Used Spanish Games to Help My Kids Learn Spanish
La carrera por el aeropuerto (The Airport Race) 🏁
I created this game so we could practice the airport vocabulary and commonly used Spanish verbs in a different way than just with flashcards. Aidan loved it! He even took it to a friend’s house to play.
His friend took Spanish for a few years, so Aidan was confident his friend would be able to translate the cards and spaces. But when I picked Aidan up, Aidan told me he ended up translating because his friend hasn’t taken Spanish in a while and forgot a lot of what he learned. I asked Aidan if he had to look at the English translations, and he said no. Then he said to me, “your work is paying off.” Yes, it is!! 💯
He’s not easy to please, so him liking the game is a win for me! He did have a few suggestions to make the game “spicier” 🌶️ (as he put it). I included one of his ideas to make the game “spicier” in the instructions.
Overall, I kept the format and instructions of the game pretty simple so even younger kids (early elementary) could play it. I won the first time we played and was impressed that Aidan didn’t lose it when he lost. It’s no joke that redheads have tempers. 👨🦰 =🌋
Instead, he wanted to play it again. And we laughed so much when we were playing! It was so fun. It was also pretty quick, so if you’re looking for a way to spend positive time with your kids but not take up a ridiculous amount of time (hello, Monopoly), then this game fits the bill.
I hate it!!
Plus, you can start learning Spanish even if you haven’t done any lessons yet. I included English translations of all of the Spanish phrases on the board and on the cards. And if this is your first Spanish activity and you don’t know Spanish yet, you can use Google Translate to hear the pronunciation of the words.
El Juego de Mentiroso (The Liar Game)
This game is to practice the phrases “me gusta,” “me encanta,” and “paso.” There is a gameboard and then a card for each space. The card asks a question like, “¿Qué te gusta comer? (What do you like to eat?)” and then the player takes a slip of paper that says lie or truth. Depending on what that slip of paper is, you say the truth for your answer or a lie. Then the other players have to guess if you’re telling the truth or not.
Aidan and I laughed a lot playing that game too. Some of the questions were easy for us to trick each other, but some questions were super easy for the other player to guess. A couple of the questions I got were too challenging to lie about (Aidan knows my habits too well), so he easily won the points on those rounds.
This is a game you need to know the vocabulary, so you’ll want to complete the lessons through this lesson before trying this game.
We’ve only played this game once so far, but I can’t wait to play it again!
The Listening Partner Game
Yep, the most boring name in the world. This is where you don’t want to judge the game by it’s title, though. My students love it! It’s a perfect way for kids to practice listening to Spanish and can be played either with a partner or by yourself. I also have a video of the game in case you’re not sure about pronunciation.
Aidan loves it too! He has to beat the timer instead of playing against a partner. This is another game that you would need to complete through this lesson before playing. But the first one I made is from one of my earliest lessons, so you would only need to complete a couple of lessons before playing.
Flashcard Games
And, of course, there are the flashcard games which you and your kids probably already know how to play but are also fun (well, except Go Fish 😆): Go Fish, Memory (also known as Concentration), and Flyswatter.
I have flashcards for almost every lesson so you could easily pick a set or two of flashcards and start learning Spanish with these games. In case you haven’t played them before, I have instructions on this page. Here are my two favorite flashcard sets:
Playing Spanish games will help your kids learn Spanish while reaping benefits such as increasing their attention span. You can choose from one that I created or from a few well-known favorites. Not sure where to start? Playing one of the flashcard games is a great way to begin learning or to continue building your Spanish vocabulary!
Do you know anyone who wants to learn or practice Spanish with fun and unique Spanish games ? Please share with the buttons on the left!
Have you played any of these yet? Tell me about it in the comments below!
What a fantastic idea to use miniature figurines and building people as game pieces! Thank you for sharing this great idea.
Thank you! I love all the different facial expressions in the Lego people. So fun to use them!