How to Teach Spanish With Games

Games teach students basic words in Spanish.

In many high schools, foreign language classes are required for students. Teaching Spanish to students who have never spoken a foreign language may be tricky, but games make learning a new language fun. Depending on the grade level, you can use games to teach students basic words or sentences, so that they're having fun while increasing their understanding.

Things You'll Need

• Printer
• Coin/bean

Instructions

1. Offer students worksheets that allow them to match words with pictures. Give them a certain amount of time to get the activity done, and offer a piece of candy as a prize. For older students, utilize printout lists that feature English words and Spanish words, and ask them to match up the correct words.

2. Provide each student with a Lotto printout from Enchanted Learning. Use a game card that features pictures without any words on it. You will call out words like "Manzana," and the students will use a coin or bean to cover up the apple picture. Once they get four covered pictures in a row, either vertically or horizontally, they shout out "Loteria!" which is Spanish for Lotto.

3. Offer students the use of the computer and Internet during class to play Spanish games online. 123TeachMe offers a variety of games to play, including Memory, which incorporates tools, numbers, holidays, food and other Spanish vocabulary words.

4. Teach students basic Spanish words as a class, and then create or print out word search games featuring those words. In searching for the words on the page, they'll need to remember the correct spelling. For an extra challenge, list the words to find in English, so that students must first translate, then locate the Spanish word.

References

• Enchanted Learning: Spanish Activities
• Enchanted Learning: Lotto!
• 123TeachMe: Spanish for Kids
• SpanishTown: Spanish Language Word Find Puzzles