What do Legos, Reese’s Puffs, and a research project have in common? After asking some questions to practice Spanish prepositions, I discovered they are all things found under one of my kid’s beds. Good thing we have a cat so we don’t get mice from the cereal. 🐭 Yuck!
I’ve created some simple-to-use activities to teach the Spanish prepositions. Prepositions are super important especially for directions or when trying to find things while travelling. There are listening activities including a video and a hands-on activity for hearing the prepositions in Spanish and seeing them in context. This should help kids learn the prepositions and be able to communicate with them instead of just memorizing them.
I also created reading games using flashcards with pictures showing the prepositional phrases to play Memoria (Memory) or Peces (Go Fish). For reading practice, kids can match the sentence with the picture. I wrote a few stories that include the prepositions as well.
The activities also practice the verbs for this lesson to help your kids continue to become fluent. And, of course, there are instructions with examples on how to use the activities and videos!
This is the fourth chapter of my second workbook. These lessons build on previous lessons, so I highly suggest starting here if you haven’t completed the previous lessons yet.
Download the FREE printables here:
7. Video – Mini-Story: Júpiter
9. Video – El bosque Spanish Story
How I Taught My Kids Spanish Prepositions
Total Physical Response (TPR)
We practiced sees, gives, arrives, and gets off of (transportation) using ASL signs. Then I used the TPR script to have Aidan act the sentences using these words. Before we start, I’m still reminding Aidan to do the action 3 times so I can ask him questions while he is acting to keep it in present tense in his mind.
We also used the TPR script for practicing the prepositions. Listening to each preposition in a sentence and then moving the objects to show the sentence helps make the phrases easier to picture and learn! We used Aidan’s favorite stuffed toy that he named Kavik and my grandmother’s copy of Heidi. It was one of my favorite books as a kid!
Personalized Questions and Answers (PQA) aka Conversation
Then we moved onto practicing the vocabulary with conversation using the PQA script. One of the questions is “What do you see when you go to the airport?” I was thinking along the lines of planes, people, and Starbucks. Aidan answered, “masks.” 😷 I love talking to my kids and students – it is always so interesting (and often fun!) to hear their answers.
Reading
At the end of the PQA script is a mini-story outline. I think this is fun to do with the kids! And it’s great listening and reading practice. Aidan was on a roll again with his story. He did a much better job this time sticking with words he knows and only used a few new words: scientist, Venus fly trap, and worm.
I had to look up Venus fly trap, and I double-checked worm. Good thing too because I was using guisante at first and then realized I was saying “pea” not “worm”. Guisante, gusano sound similar to me, and peas and worms are both gross so there isn’t much of a difference in my book. 🤢
I was using the questions in the script, but Aidan added some other details including the scientist, and I ended up asking most of the questions about that character instead of his main character the Venus fly trap. I left out a couple of things from the script because they didn’t make sense to Aidan’s story. Feel free to adjust the script or add to it to create a story based on what your kids say.
I have included the story we created as an example and/or another reading activity for you and your kids. The printable is called Mini Story Example. If you use the mini-story script that I provided in the lesson to create your own stories with your kids, you can add it to your own Spanish library.
We then read the story El bosque about two friends and their experience taking a walk in the woods. There are 2 versions of the story. Well, actually 3 but I didn’t really count the first one since it’s super short and there isn’t a reading for it.
You can either read the very first one to your kids or have them listen to it on the video I made. Kids can draw the story as they listen to it and then answer the questions on the video about the story. After the questions is what I called the first version of the story. Kids can read the story while listening to it. Then they can complete the activity.
Game
After reading all of the versions of El bosque, you can play the game Agarrar el lápiz (Pencil Grab) that goes with the story. It’s one of my favorites because kids get so excited (and a little crazy sometimes🤪) when they play it due to being in pairs and competing against each other.
There are true and false statements about the story. The teacher then reads one statement at a time, and there is a competition to grab the pencil first if the statement is true. There are more detailed instructions in the printable.
Most kids like it, but kids who aren’t competitive absolutely hate it. I usually let them play against themselves by keeping a tally of the true/false statements. I want games to be fun, not cause anxiety!
Movie Talk and Workbook
The movie talk is based on a Walmart commercial of famous cars arriving at one of the stores and using their pick-up feature. I can’t say I love Walmart, but I loved the commercial! It was so fun to see cars from movies I love like Ghostbusters and shows I used to watch as a kid in the 80s. Ah, Knight Rider with KITT and David Hasselhoff…🥰
Anyhoo, the commercial is a great visual for kids with the vocabulary for this lesson. And the workbook includes the next chapter of the story and 2 activities for the chapter. The movie talk and workbook will be available as soon as I create a store. Still working on that…lol.
Other Resources
Here is a digital flashcard set from Quizlet.com to practice the Spanish prepositions. You can use the set as traditional flashcards or play games.
Here is the cutest activity from Professor Pepper to practice prepositions: ¿Dónde está el señor Gnomo? (Where is Mr. Gnome?). You can move el sr. gnomo around your house and have kids find him.
Knowing the prepositions will help you and your kids communicate better especially if you’re trying to find something while travelling in a Spanish-speaking country!
Did you do these activities? Or know anyone who wants to teach the Spanish prepositions? Please share with the buttons on the left!
Did you and your kids create a story together? Tell me about it in the comments below!
P.S. Are you looking for a quick and fun way to help your kids start learning Spanish? If so, check out my free Spanish for Kids Starter Guide! You can immediately use any of the 9 simple tips to introduce your kids to Spanish. Know what the best part is? You don’t have to know Spanish to use it!
